spreading manure on hay fields

[jdetig1]

does anyone spread manure on their hay fields? does it effect anything like mowing or turning grass yellow? if i do spread some manure should i drag harrow the field after i apply manure to spread it around and break it up. any advice would be great thanks.

 

[novatech]

Assuming you are talking about cow manure. Pile it on. It is low on N. Mostly organic matter. If you want to see the results just look in a well used cow pen where the cows have not use it for a couple of months. Or you can look around any cow pie in the pasture.
Yes I would harrow to break it up.

 

[dun]

I just use a top beater manure spreader and leave it alone afterwards

 

[novatech]

I just use a top beater manure spreader and leave it alone afterwards

What's a top beater?

 

[dun]

I just use a top beater manure spreader and leave it alone afterwards

What's a top beater?

It has blades on top and the bottom, the top ones break the stuff up before it hits the bottom ones

 

[Lon]

we harrow it here too. never heard of the top beater, sounds like it would do a good job.

 

[fargus]

We are the same as dun. Harrowing is a form of "save the marriage" tillage at our place.

 

[hayray]

That is my main source of fertilzer for my hay fields. I also have a upper beater on my spreader, it spreads it good enough.

 

[bigbull338]

ive been watching this thread for a long while,an i still havent seen any1 mention the tons pre ac spread on the hay meadow.you can spead anywhere from 15 to 25 tons pre ac safely.more than that an youll need a soil sample to get the exact tonnage.

 

[hayray]

I try to shoot for 10 tons per acre at least. For me it is what I have available to spread across the acreage I have. I rarely have enough fertilizer or money to spread nutrients based only on soil test recommendations.

 

[msscamp]

does anyone spread manure on their hay fields? does it effect anything like mowing or turning grass yellow? if i do spread some manure should i drag harrow the field after i apply manure to spread it around and break it up. any advice would be great thanks.

Yep, every year. Everything from horse manure to goat manure. We just spread it and leave it alone. Goat manure works the best, we've had some pretty amazing results due to using it. Chicken manure is about the only thing I know of that has the capability of burning your hayfield due to the high nitrogen content.

 

[Stocker Steve]

ive been watching this thread for a long while,an i still havent seen any1 mention the tons pre ac spread on the hay meadow.you can spead anywhere from 15 to 25 tons pre ac safely.more than that an youll need a soil sample to get the exact tonnage.

My wintering area has about 75 tons of cow pies per acre. :shock: Need to spread some of that around.
I have gone as high as 25 tons of litter per acre but it got a little yellow before it turned dark green.

 

[bigbull338]

ive been watching this thread for a long while,an i still havent seen any1 mention the tons pre ac spread on the hay meadow.you can spead anywhere from 15 to 25 tons pre ac safely.more than that an youll need a soil sample to get the exact tonnage.

My wintering area has about 75 tons of cow pies per acre. :shock: Need to spread some of that around.
I have gone as high as 25 tons of litter per acre but it got a little yellow before it turned dark green.

thats way to meny tons of litter pre acre.around here we spread 3 to 4 tons litter to the ac.an thats once a year unless its rye grass in the winter.

 

[Dave]

I have tested lots of cow manure and soil in my day job. And I can tell you that in the case manure from beef cows fed grass hay you would have to spread so much that you literally smother the grass before you would have any negative affects. With chicken manure I have put on ten tons per acre of straight chicken manure from high rise caged layers and it just turned it a very dark green. With most equipment it is pretty tough to get an even application with less than 5 tons per acres.

 

[Stocker Steve]

ive been watching this thread for a long while,an i still havent seen any1 mention the tons pre ac spread on the hay meadow.you can spead anywhere from 15 to 25 tons pre ac safely.more than that an youll need a soil sample to get the exact tonnage.

My wintering area has about 75 tons of cow pies per acre. :shock: Need to spread some of that around.
I have gone as high as 25 tons of litter per acre but it got a little yellow before it turned dark green.

thats way to meny tons of litter pre acre.around here we spread 3 to 4 tons litter to the ac.an thats once a year unless its rye grass in the winter.

I always test litter since it varies so much.
Best way to spread it is will a fail spreader but I don't have access to one.
The 25 tons of turkey litter per went on my Jap millet test plot. Quite a crop!

 

[bigbull338]

i bet that test plot made 1 heck of a hay crop.

 

[Stocker Steve]

i bet that test plot made 1 heck of a hay crop.

Looked like big cattails and kept plugging the baler... It was a bitch.

 

[Hutch]

Do most of you apply your manure in fall or spring?

 

[Angus Cowman]

One of the downfalls of applying large amounts of litter to pasture or hayground is after a few yrs you will have a build up of phosphorous
They reccomend not over 3 tons pr yr and to soil test at least every 3yrs

 

[hayray]

I apply manure alot in the spring when I can get on the fields before growth. My issue is mud and being able to get in and spread manure. Right now we are having freezing temps that are freezing the manure piles up and then mud during the day in the fields when temps warm up. I also spread in the fall and winter. Angus man, I don't see how 3 tons would give you that much P, alot of my manure only test out around 1% or less so that does not leave alot of P in a hay field for removal but maybe you are referring to pasture and then I can see some P accumulaiton. Legumes will remove more P then grasses.