How much hay

[bncsimps]

I know this question depends on a lot of variables but I thought I'd ask anyway. I have a pasture(approx 20 acres) that was seeded back in the fall with KY 31 and white clover. The pasture was fertilized to soil testing recommendations and we've had plenty of rain here in northern AL. Applied application for weed control prior to seeding and will do so again in the spring. I plan to hit it with N later this spring as well. From your experience how many rolls per acre can I reasonably expect the pasture to yield? Looking forward to reading your responses. Thanks

BKS

 

[Angus Cowman]

On good yrs I have baled as many as 8 4x5 bales weighing 950lb bales and on bad yrs it has been as little as two

i figure an avg around here with fertilizing you should get 5 bales on the first cutting and alot of time I top dress with 50lbs of N right after the first cutting if they are calling for good rains and I will cut it again in july and then again in october which will usually yield another 5-6 bales between those 2 cuttings , most yrs tho I only get to cut it in late may or early June and in Oct.

so most yrs I get about 7-8 bales per acre total for the yr

 

[grannysoo]

Angus Cowman is right on track.

The biggest factor in your hay production is going to be rain. Properly fertilized, the more rain you get, the more the grass will grow.

 

[dun]

Angus Cowman is right on track.

The biggest factor in your hay production is going to be rain. Properly fertilized, the more rain you get, the more the grass will grow.

And unless you want to hay it you'll end up with more grass then be utilized as quality feed. It isn;t just about quantity, if the quality isn;t there a cow can go down hill with a full belly standing in belly high grass.

 

[BeefmasterB]

On good yrs I have baled as many as 8 4x5 bales weighing 950lb bales and on bad yrs it has been as little as two

i figure an avg around here with fertilizing you should get 5 bales on the first cutting and alot of time I top dress with 50lbs of N right after the first cutting if they are calling for good rains and I will cut it again in july and then again in october which will usually yield another 5-6 bales between those 2 cuttings , most yrs tho I only get to cut it in late may or early June and in Oct.

so most yrs I get about 7-8 bales per acre total for the yr

Up to 8 bales per acre? Dang!! That's great! I fertilize my Jiggs Bermuda with 80 units of liquid Nitrogen per acre, prior to every cutting. So far I've produced up to 4/5 per acre with decent rains.

Dun is right on. I never could understand the point of baling unfertilized hay - little nutritional value. The only way it would make any sense penciled out is if the cost of supplements was less than the cost of fertilizer plus the labor of putting the supplements out.

 

[Limomike]

IF we get the proper rainfall... (thats a big IF) we will get 6-7 big bales per acre around here. The thing about that is we ONLY use natural fertilizer (spread the manure around) and we seem to have really good quality hay in our fields. We planted all our fields with bermuda, fescue, red clover, lespedeza, with a small amount of white clover also.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Up to 8 bales per acre? Dang!! That's great! I fertilize my Jiggs Bermuda with 80 units of liquid Nitrogen per acre, prior to every cutting. So far I've produced up to 4/5 per acre with decent rains.

Dun is right on. I never could understand the point of baling unfertilized hay - little nutritional value. The only way it would make any sense penciled out is if the cost of supplements was less than the cost of fertilizer plus the labor of putting the supplements out.

I may be wrong butI believe the point Dun was trying to make is with fescue if it is let to mature it hasn't got hardly any nutritional value therefore if grazing it can get ahead of the cows and it can look like you have a pasture full of grass and actually they would do just as well eating dirt all you are doing is filling their stomach and they aren't getting any nutrition

That is one reason why I cannot understand guys baling their fescue after they combine it for seed ,I usually start baling fescue around the 15th of May and we run like He77 from then until the 3rd week in June and if it is a good yr I start back on my second cutting the next week and do that until around the 15th of july, then we start again usually the last week of Sept. or first week of Oct.
With the rye,alfalfa and haybeeans we usually only have about 4-5 weeks from the 1st of May till the middle of Oct. that we aren't haying