You guys tell me if I'm on the right track or not.
We planted a lot of new acreage this past winter in bermuda. Fortunately, it all "stuck" and I now have the basis on that acreage for decent crop of grass this coming winter (May-December).
When the rains start falling again it'll grow fast, along with plenty of broadleaf. I can treat the broadleaf with an herbicide but still find that bermuda gets better (cleaner) every time you cut it. I'm thinking that for areas of bermuda that aren't yet commercial, I'll use my harvesters to remove everything within a few weeks of the first rainfall as the material should be tall enough at that point for a decent cut. I can then fertilize those areas and should see significantly better bermuda coming up.
All of the material collected during that first cutting will go into my silo.
I found this past year that when baling, the edges of my pastures often ended up looking a bit ratty because it can be tough to mow and bale right up to the edge. I also noticed that the crew left more material on the ground than I'd like to see near the fences. This year I'm thinking that I'll use the same harvester to avoid that problem and keep a swath clean and neat along the edges of my commerical bermuda. All of this material too will go into the silo.
Most years I plant grain sorghum.....often later in the winter because we're busy doing other things once the rains start falling. This coming winter though, I'm thinking of planting my grain sorghum first and then concentrating on other projects. Once the sorghum is ready to harvest, I'll cut it with a traditional combine, fertilize it again, and then let the continued rainfall give me a second crop. Depending on the quality of that second crop, I'll either harvest the grain a second time or just use my grass harvester to remove as much of the material (seed heads and plant) as I can. This too will all go into the silo.
Finally, I've got neighbors who plant 2 or 3 acres of corn each year to harvest when the corn is still tender. They do this by hand, and of course, end up with the entire plant still standing. In exchange for dragging a plow over these areas, I can easily negotiate the removal of this material with my harvester and add it to the silo as well.
Sounds like a plan? What am I missing or leaving out of the equation?
We planted a lot of new acreage this past winter in bermuda. Fortunately, it all "stuck" and I now have the basis on that acreage for decent crop of grass this coming winter (May-December).
When the rains start falling again it'll grow fast, along with plenty of broadleaf. I can treat the broadleaf with an herbicide but still find that bermuda gets better (cleaner) every time you cut it. I'm thinking that for areas of bermuda that aren't yet commercial, I'll use my harvesters to remove everything within a few weeks of the first rainfall as the material should be tall enough at that point for a decent cut. I can then fertilize those areas and should see significantly better bermuda coming up.
All of the material collected during that first cutting will go into my silo.
I found this past year that when baling, the edges of my pastures often ended up looking a bit ratty because it can be tough to mow and bale right up to the edge. I also noticed that the crew left more material on the ground than I'd like to see near the fences. This year I'm thinking that I'll use the same harvester to avoid that problem and keep a swath clean and neat along the edges of my commerical bermuda. All of this material too will go into the silo.
Most years I plant grain sorghum.....often later in the winter because we're busy doing other things once the rains start falling. This coming winter though, I'm thinking of planting my grain sorghum first and then concentrating on other projects. Once the sorghum is ready to harvest, I'll cut it with a traditional combine, fertilize it again, and then let the continued rainfall give me a second crop. Depending on the quality of that second crop, I'll either harvest the grain a second time or just use my grass harvester to remove as much of the material (seed heads and plant) as I can. This too will all go into the silo.
Finally, I've got neighbors who plant 2 or 3 acres of corn each year to harvest when the corn is still tender. They do this by hand, and of course, end up with the entire plant still standing. In exchange for dragging a plow over these areas, I can easily negotiate the removal of this material with my harvester and add it to the silo as well.
Sounds like a plan? What am I missing or leaving out of the equation?
