Reed Canary

[rkm]

I think that is what it is called. Anyone have experience with it?

I just cut a 15 acre field for a guy. What a mess, needed a chainsaw. A lot of tonage, but I don't know what he will feed it to unless he raises beavers.

 

[IluvABbeef]

All I know is that cattle love the stuff, since there's quite abit out in the wet spots in the pastures.

 

[KMacGinley]

Reed Canary grass is awesome in a rotational grazing system, cows go to it first. Good regrowth, real nutritious. If you let it get mature though, you have a problem.

 

[mnmtranching]

There's a lot of the stuff being cut up here. Its one of the so called meadow hay species. Low land, in a dry year like this people can hay the meadows like crazy, and they are. Yeild is high. as far a nutrients, it will get your cows through till Spring. But not as good as upland grass hay.

mnmt

 

[Saltydawg]

My cows won't eat the stuff if it's baled after its mature.

You gotta bale it early which is usually a problem cause it grows in wet spots.

It makes good hay and the cows like it if you get it young. Let it get old however and don't be surprised when they turn their noses up at it in the winter.

 

[rkm]

Yea thats the problem, It should have been cut 2 months ago but it was just too wet. I just now got my equipment back in the area so I could cut it for him. I baled it today, don't look to bad in the bale. He wanted it for his horses, don't know if they will eat it or not.

 

[hayray]

Yea thats the problem, It should have been cut 2 months ago but it was just too wet. I just now got my equipment back in the area so I could cut it for him. I baled it today, don't look to bad in the bale. He wanted it for his horses, don't know if they will eat it or not.

yeah, they eat it. I have baled alot of it for horses and have some horses grazing some right now. But just what everybody else says, at older maturity stages the palatability goes down. If you wait until winter to feed it you will get better use out of it. I also will bale it in the fall for bedding.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I think that is what it is called. Anyone have experience with it?

I rented some reed canary ground due to the drought. The stockers cleaned up up the stuff we got on about 7/1, but they left alot of residual in another pasture grazed in late July. Rather losing money by than starving stockers we went in and cut the rest for bedding. Ended up with more bedding than I wanted... and I don't have any beavers to feed it to.

Just got an inch of rain for the first time in 6 weeks and the reed canary is really coming back now.