Research Before You Buy

[preston39]

jt,
Youre smart. We get galded places on sides of hills..and we feed hay there which does a wonderful job...after we put a end loader bucket of lime on them...super stopper of erosion also.

 

[fitz]

preston39;

Do you have any trouble getting hay to feeders on hillsides when wet?
Or maybe they're not as steep as to cause any difficulties in feeding.

 

[preston39]

fitz,
Yes we do..don't wanna do more damage than we are trying to repair.

We watch the weather when it is right/frozen...whatever... we pick our spots and place the hay. Then we will let the other ones run a little low and the cows will attack those. It is actually good for them to feed there when it is wet...kinda does a good plowing and mixing job. It serves multiple purposes. We have often had 10-15 bales on spots before hay feeding time has arrived. We try to feed 4-6 bales on the spot for repair during the season.

 

[Bama]

Stack a bunch of bales in those hard to get to areas when its dry. Fence them off with an electric fence. Set the fence far enough from the hay as not to cause a fire hazard. Kinda line up a few then leave a space and line up some more. Put the fence in front and move it back to the next space as they eat the first row.

 

[preston39]

Bama,
Good thought. We have some solar feeders for electric fence used normally in grazing arrangements which we can use. Should work.

 

[Bama]

Don't get it close enough to the hay where a spark could start a fire. I have saw a friends hay go up in flames due to this. But he had it way to close. Hay burns for a long time.

 

[preston39]

Yep...been there too...a lot of work to get it raised harvested and to burn it. Not good.

 

[jerry27150]

i try to roll them from the top of the hill & see where they go

 

[preston39]

jerry,

:lol: That reminds me of loosing one off of the tractor one time and it went straight thru a new section of woven wire fence...cows running everwhere. Couldn't believe it. 1300-1500 lbs down hill is a lot of disaster waiting to happen.

 

[Chuckie]

preston, Is that your bull in the avatar? That is a nice one.

 

[preston39]

Chuckie...,

Sorry I missed your post.

No...but, we have the herd bull of his image and the reason for the avitar choice.

 

[preston39]

We have not aerated because of mixed reviews...as seen here. Under certain conditions it may be an assist. However, as many in our area who like it about the same found it not to be worth the investment and cost of performing.

The principal always made sense to us because it would allow nutrients and water to be available closer to the root base.

Does anyone know of any more recent studies?

 

[johndeerefarmer]

First of all, it's not wise to aerate, plow or anything else while in a drought or recovering from one. If you tear up the grass roots and then it doesn't rain you have killed some of your grass and made the stand worse.

If you have clay or black gumbo type soils, it cracks on its on each summer.
Who needs to aerate?

 

[ALACOWMAN]

the trouble with earth worms is they like moisture. something we aint had a abundence of lately. and its hard to build up a good layer of residue on a hay feild. i only had a limited time to use the areator i purchaced at the bone yard but where i used it theres a conciderable differance. in the growth and the rain we did get went right to work. its just a generic way of puttin back what you take away

 

[Chuckie]

I remember when farmers used to burn the fields off here before planting. Now the left overs from last year are welcome.

Preston, I figured you had missed that post. I bet we all have missed a few here and there.
Chuckie