steerhorn
Active member
I have a question regarding pasture and hay making that I was hoping all you expert cattlemen/women might help me out with.
I've raised cattle, on a small scale, most of my life, but not until recently, maybe 4 yrs., have I been making my own hay.
I'm sort of new to the whole hay making process. I have a small hay field, approx 8 acres, that I take 2 cuttings off of during the summer. The second cutting is usually around the middle of August. I then let the hay grow, stock piling the grass and clover the rest of the summer /fall for winter pasture. Dividing the field into 2 acre paddocks or so with electric fence, I graze the cows (approx 10 head) on this field through the month of December. May even get a week into January, which means I don't have to start feeding hay until then, depending on how much snow we get. At this time I move the cows to a feeding area where they spend the rest of the winter. You can probably imagine how much manure I accumulate on this hay field in that 4 -5 week period, really noticeable when the grass isn't growing back. I'll frost seed some red clover and timothy near the end of Feb. In the spring, sometime early May, I clip, or mow, the field. The manure is pretty well broken down by this time. Then I'll take my 1st cutting of hay near the end of June.
I've done this for 2 years now, and it seems to be working pretty well.
My question is, (and sorry for the long explaination) , If I were to summer graze this field, of course the cows wouldn't eat where they dropped all that manure, so then is it okay to make hay off this field? I mean, I've been doing it, but always wondered if I should be concerned with anything.
I've raised cattle, on a small scale, most of my life, but not until recently, maybe 4 yrs., have I been making my own hay.
I'm sort of new to the whole hay making process. I have a small hay field, approx 8 acres, that I take 2 cuttings off of during the summer. The second cutting is usually around the middle of August. I then let the hay grow, stock piling the grass and clover the rest of the summer /fall for winter pasture. Dividing the field into 2 acre paddocks or so with electric fence, I graze the cows (approx 10 head) on this field through the month of December. May even get a week into January, which means I don't have to start feeding hay until then, depending on how much snow we get. At this time I move the cows to a feeding area where they spend the rest of the winter. You can probably imagine how much manure I accumulate on this hay field in that 4 -5 week period, really noticeable when the grass isn't growing back. I'll frost seed some red clover and timothy near the end of Feb. In the spring, sometime early May, I clip, or mow, the field. The manure is pretty well broken down by this time. Then I'll take my 1st cutting of hay near the end of June.
I've done this for 2 years now, and it seems to be working pretty well.
My question is, (and sorry for the long explaination) , If I were to summer graze this field, of course the cows wouldn't eat where they dropped all that manure, so then is it okay to make hay off this field? I mean, I've been doing it, but always wondered if I should be concerned with anything.