oats for hay

[footballjdtractor]

hay is short in our area, so today (aug23) I planted oats at 100 pounds to the acre. I hauled lots of manure on the ground before discing it in. has anyone planted oats this late and tried to cut them for hay? how many bales should i expect assuming we get some rain?

 

[MikeC]

It wouldn't happen around here unless it was irrigated.

By the time it got big enough to cut, the weather wouldn't allow curing it.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Do you have a history of winter? :shock:
Husband plants oats every year, but never this late. How did you plant it? 100# to the acre? Not here.
How old was the manure?

 

[mnmtranching]

When soil temps get below about 55 degrees oats all but stop growing. Up here oats planted now won't even make pasture.
And 25 degree temps will kill it.

Your a lot farther South than us, but I would say no, days are getting to short and nights are to cold for good growth.

When is your approx date of killing frost?

 

[millstreaminn]

hay is short in our area, so today (aug23) I planted oats at 100 pounds to the acre. I hauled lots of manure on the ground before discing it in. has anyone planted oats this late and tried to cut them for hay? how many bales should i expect assuming we get some rain?

I planted oats for hay July 14 in Northern Pa. They are just over knee high now and the oat heads are still in the boot. I am planning on cutting this Sunday, weather says 4 decent days. I've cut oats in June and even then they took 4 days to dry, so I am worried about getting them to dry this time of year. The dew doesn't burn off 'till 10 am and the sun isn't as hot as it used to be. I wouldn't look for you oats, planted today to ever make dry hay. Might have to chop or make baleage out of them. JMO

 

[I luv herfrds]

We never cut oats green. Nitrates.
Got over 200 4x5' round bales off 79 acres of oats.
Oats are considered a spring crop up here. We normally plant in May once the frost has passed, still it has snowed on them a couple of times.
We wait to make sure it has cured very well and the beards are white. Stayed green longer this year, even with the heat.
A very touchy grain.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Oats is very hard to dry. I would not try to make hay out of it in the fall.

 

[msscamp]

has anyone planted oats this late and tried to cut them for hay?

No. We generally have our first hard freeze by the end of September, so it just wouldn't work in this area.

 

[ArrowHBrand]

Around here oats are planted in the spring and have already been harvested either combined and the straw baled or one guy I know just bales the entire plant head and all. Most people will then plant some type of hay on their oat ground to get another crop up. I don't plant grain, but it doesn't seem to be a good idea to plant this late it you are expecting to make any type of descent forage crop.

 

[tytower]

The dew doesn't burn off 'till 10 am and the sun isn't as hot as it used to be. JMO

Thats a strange statement . Care to explain what you mean?

 

[Chris H]

Summer(July & later) planted oats in southern Ohio/Indiana will reach maximum growth in 75 days. Some studies say up to 7 tons/acre. Summer planted oats do not head out much, if at all. It takes a significant freeze to kill them. In southwest Ohio we can expect them to grow into November and stay green and high quality grazing through February.

Better plan on grazing or greenchop, I don't see how you can make hay in November from them.

Just curious, have you gotten any rain to get them growing? We planted oats on July 23rd and have never gotten enough rain to get them sprouted.

Here's an article, http://extension.osu.edu/~news/story.php?id=4174

 

[dcara]

millstreaminn wrote:
The dew doesn't burn off 'till 10 am and the sun isn't as hot as it used to be. JMO


Thats a strange statement . Care to explain what you mean?

He may mean that the sun is not getting as high in the sky this time of year, and will continue to have a decreasing zenith until winter solstice. A lower zenith equates to less direct radiation and associated heat

 

[millstreaminn]

millstreaminn wrote:
The dew doesn't burn off 'till 10 am and the sun isn't as hot as it used to be. JMO


Thats a strange statement . Care to explain what you mean?

He may mean that the sun is not getting as high in the sky this time of year, and will continue to have a decreasing zenith until winter solstice. A lower zenith equates to less direct radiation and associated heat

Wow dcara! That is exactly what I was going to say!

 

[footballjdtractor]

the oats have got 5tenths of an inch of rain on them since i planted them. I have not checked them since friday to see if they are up. what would happen if I baled them a little green and fed them up quickly. we have done this in the past with soughum sudan. I guess this method would be similar to green chopping. The area I planted them is an area that we set aside out of a corn field to haul manure on aprox. 3 acres. so far i haven't spent a lot of money on this project. $40seed, 10 gallon of fuel, one day labor.

 

[I luv herfrds]

CHECK THE NITRATES LEVEL BEFORE YOU FEED IT!

 

[millstreaminn]

I cut mine Saturday afternoon. Saturday night they got 1/10th inch of rain on 'em. Tedded Sunday at noon, tedded Monday at noon and am going to go and rake them this afternoon to bale tomorrow afternoon. Calling for thunderstorms tomorrow evening.
Years ago I've baled them when they were tough and fed to my dairy cows immediately. I only had 200 small squares and fed them at 20 bales per day. The final 60 or so were very warm.

I've never had them tested for nitrates but probably should have.