When to take cows off hayfield.

[pappy6]

Dun, I totally agree with everyone's operation is different. Been moving some cattle around all weekend as I was able to fertilize Wednesday. Will leave on hayfield till mid week...just need to keep balancing the grazing pastures...good thing they all connect thru gates.

Some of my neighbors never graze their hayfields, and they have to reseed more than I do...I think the organic matter added back to the soil after hay season is a plus....good luck everyone!

 

[Banjo]

If you are doing some strip grazing on those hay fields then it may be a benefit for a little longer, but if its just a continuous grazing pasture/hayfield, it will make less unless you fertilize a lot.

 

[kickinbull]

I decided to try to leave them on "part" of the hay field a little longer to see how it turns out. Of course no two years are alike, so?

 

[novatech]

Farming 101 says to rotate your crops. I have always wondered why hay fields are not done the same way. After all it is a crop. A crop that takes darn near all the organics out of the soil. Commercial fertilizer can't put it back.

 

[dun]

Farming 101 says to rotate your crops. I have always wondered why hay fields are not done the same way. After all it is a crop. A crop that takes darn near all the organics out of the soil. Commercial fertilizer can't put it back.

If it was an annual crop it would make sense. But most hay fields are of the improved type and to get them that way you have a lot more money invested.

 

[Dave]

Farming 101 says to rotate your crops. I have always wondered why hay fields are not done the same way. After all it is a crop. A crop that takes darn near all the organics out of the soil. Commercial fertilizer can't put it back.

It is not the crop that takes organic matter out of the soil. It is tillage. Tillage is the biggest enemy to organic matter.

 

[dun]

Farming 101 says to rotate your crops. I have always wondered why hay fields are not done the same way. After all it is a crop. A crop that takes darn near all the organics out of the soil. Commercial fertilizer can't put it back.

It is not the crop that takes organic matter out of the soil. It is tillage. Tillage is the biggest enemy to organic matter.

Just anecdotal, but I've noticed in the soil tests the fields that we use a wheel rake on have lower orgainc matter levels than the ones we do with the side delivery rake. I think the wheel rake cleans the ground more heavily than the side delivery since the one drags the ground and the other combs the grass stubble.

 

[Banjo]

Farming 101 says to rotate your crops. I have always wondered why hay fields are not done the same way. After all it is a crop. A crop that takes darn near all the organics out of the soil. Commercial fertilizer can't put it back.

Hayfields don't necessarily need to be put in crops occasionally, just taking a hay field and rotationally grazing it would be good for it, or letting it sit untouched for part of the year.
The worst thing about cutting hay I think is that it exposes the soil to extreme heat which dries out the soil which shuts down bioactivity for most of the year.



It is not the crop that takes organic matter out of the soil. It is tillage. Tillage is the biggest enemy to organic matter.

 

[novatech]

Hayfields don't necessarily need to be put in crops occasionally, just taking a hay field and rotationally grazing it would be good for it, or letting it sit untouched for part of the year.

Ditto

 

[Bigfoot]

I'm no agronomist, but I think you do have to feed the microorganism in the soil. I also think manure, and plant waste are your best friends.