If I plant a one season crop for hay, such as millet, rye grass, soybeans, etc....which crop do the cattle seem to do the best on. Which one produces the most hay?
One Season Hay
- Thread starter Chuckie
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Anonymous
Chuckie":w80bhd0s said:
Well, I use something you have not mentioned. Not sure of the breed, but we locally call it feed oats.
It grows about 4 feet high and has a pretty good head of oats.
We cut it when the oats are milky and bale it like hay when dry.
Cows will turn their noses up at good hay when I throw one of these bales into the field.
Our cows will eat soy beans - but only if forced to.
Never tried the others you mentioned - look forward to responses.
Bez'
OP
OP
Bez,' I have read really good reports on Oats being cut for hay. I seriously thought about planting it. I have never heard of anyone growing oats in this area. We do have a lot of wheat, and I thought maybe these two would have the same characteristics as far as needs. I need to find the reason it isn't being raised here.
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Anonymous
Chuckie":13mdr4t4 said:
A little bit of fertilizer and plant it heavy. Find a breed that grows tall and you are in business.
Not looking for a fancy registered seed here - bin run works fine.
Bez'
bigbull338
Well-known member
if you plant oats be careful.oats are bad about freezing out.so id lean towards the ryegrass.but thats just me.scott
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Anonymous
bigbull338":nserhioq said:
Huh?
I have grown them in the Yukon for heavens sake. It is only an 85 - 90 day crop.
Plant as per normal crop and go.
Bez
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Anonymous
ollie":2n7sd6fv said:
OK - regional differences.
bb
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Anonymous
ollie":32q78hqa said:
Heck I did not even know there was a winter oat. Shows what I know.
Bez'
ollie
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Funny how you dumb Canadians don't know about winter things. :lol: We here in the South. We know winter things. I am of course teasing Bez' . It is shallow soil which burns up under normal circumstances . Most of us south of the middle of Iowa are two weeks away from a drought all the time.bigbull338
Well-known member
bez i sure forgot about the spring oats.round here we pant the wheat an oats in about 30 days.so we can go to grazing in nov or dec.spring crops arnt much good for grazing.to risky to get emm in the ground.scott
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Anonymous
ollie":2la6kg0j said:
I am dumb as a stick.
Way we live here there is only one crop - it better be good.
Plant in late May and harvest - other than corn - in August/September.
Miss out and you are totally hooped.
Feed cows from late September to late May. Put them on grass for the rest of the time and hope you do not run out.
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER buy feed and truck it. Unless of course you have only a couple for pets. Take the cows to the feed. It is far, far cheaper to take the cows once than to continually pay for trucked feed. We have trucked cows as far as 800 miles to feed.
When the growing season is over, we stand in the field and see what it looks like for about a week - then it is buried in snow for the next 6 months on average.
First killing frost usually arrives late August to early September. In the spring frost can come as late as 1 July. I have seen as much as 10 inches of snow in one day in July - unusual but it does happen.
So, naturally I never considered you folks can actually grow stuff in the winter.
Lucky dogs!
Bez'
OP
OP
I found where the University of Tennessee planted oats at the Jackson Tennessee Experiment Station. That is about 30 miles from my farm. There were about 25 different varieties that were planted. The highest yeild, bushels per acre was 158.4 and the lowest was 82.2. Could someone tell me if this is a good yeild. Compare it with areas that oats do well. I am not sure what is a good average on this crop.
ollie
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It would have to be pretty fertil ground to grow that much oats that far south. Better do as Bez says and hay them or graze them. Grazing oats is the best feed I have ever fed. The calves got more bloom in less time than any feed I have ever fed. Better than a show ration. Somed gained 5 or 6 pounds a day with the average around 3 if I remember.
bigbull338
Well-known member
yes thats a good yeld.since oats weigh 32lbs a bu.it would be best baled as hay.scott
OP
OP
If it does better than I thought here, it can be grazed on one field and put in hay on another. The hay field I am speaking of is not fenced in. I have left it open to start a hay field. The oats they reported on followed soybeans. The ground I am planting on is pretty fertile ground. Right now, it has cotton on it and it is about to get 5 ft high. That is too tall for cotton, but they have put the PIX to it, and it will not stop growing. It has put on a lot of bolls. I would hate to have to pick it by hand or chop it with a hoe. It did this before, but they said it was their best yield, so I am happy about that. It might be a good idea to plant bean hay then follow up with oat hay.
On a good year with an average yield, how many rolls do you normally get out of one acre of oats?
On a good year with an average yield, how many rolls do you normally get out of one acre of oats?
OP
OP
bigbull, I was giving the yields of bushels per acre so that it could be judged on how the oats grew here as compared to other areas. I noticed in East Tennessee, the highest yield of oats, same varieties, made from 56.2 to 30.7 bu. per acre. So maybe they do grow well here, but no one grows it. I guess I need to check and see if the experiment station is running an irrigation system on the field. I don't think they are.
bigbull338
Well-known member
you should get 6 bales to the ac.scott
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Anonymous
Chuckie":3n5oipa6 said:
Tough to give you an answer.
How big a bale? How big a crop?
4x4 / 4x5 / 4x6 / 5x5 / 5x6 - makes a big difference.
Hard core or soft core?
Bez'
