Pasturing Hayfields

[ClinchValley86]

Grazing our hayfields this year. I'm not liking what I'm seeing so far.

Have it a bump of goodness early March, maybe 75 lbs of triple 19. It came on, grazed it, now it's creeping. Weather has been cold though. Hoping that's the issue and it's not the ground.

Has a high percentage of legumes and thick with grass. But has a pale green color. Will the legumes start doing their job of fixing nitrogen after a little while without nitrogen fertilizer applied.

Trying to see if I can heal the ground during all this. Might be a silly notion.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Grazing our hayfields this year. I'm not liking what I'm seeing so far.

Have it a bump of goodness early March, maybe 75 lbs of triple 19. It came on, grazed it, now it's creeping. Weather has been cold though. Hoping that's the issue and it's not the ground.

Has a high percentage of legumes and thick with grass. But has a pale green color. Will the legumes start doing their job of fixing nitrogen after a little while without nitrogen fertilizer applied.

Trying to see if I can heal the ground during all this. Might be a silly notion.

I’ve grazed hayfields for years but only after getting a first cutting pulled off. In years we were shooting for two cuttings we only grazed in the fall after the second cutting.

 

[kentuckyguy]

Last year I started just taking 2 cuts off our hay fields and letting things grow from August through September.
The grazing I got off the fields saved me a lot more hay that it would have baled. And it’s by far the cheapest way to harvest it.

 

[ccr]

Grazing our hayfields this year. I'm not liking what I'm seeing so far.

Have it a bump of goodness early March, maybe 75 lbs of triple 19. It came on, grazed it, now it's creeping. Weather has been cold though. Hoping that's the issue and it's not the ground.

Has a high percentage of legumes and thick with grass. But has a pale green color. Will the legumes start doing their job of fixing nitrogen after a little while without nitrogen fertilizer applied.

Trying to see if I can heal the ground during all this. Might be a silly notion.

Don't know what kinda grass is grown for hay in east Tennesse, but on our place here in Texas growing coastal bermuda, the fertilizer recomendation has been 70 lbs of nitrogen per acre. The available fertilizer varies, but with 24-6-12 we put out 300# per acre. We fertilize around the first of May.

Around here it's all dependent on rain, which seems like more times than not, we are usually lacking rainfall, especially in the summer. Last September we didn't get any rain, and it is usually one the wetter months.

A soil test is good to have to know exactly what's needed. Good question about the legumes and the nitrogen.

 

[pricefarm]

About the same here grass was really growing good then the weather turned back cooler. We have got several frosts and the night time temps are in the 30s.

 

[1982vett]

Don’t think your going to see much from 75 lbs of 19-19-19. Just not enough nitrogen to see that green pop. 100 lbs or so of urea now would make something happen.

The better legumes grow the better they can fix the nitrogen. So yes they need nitrogen initially and would benefit.