Your Typical Hay Field Management

[herofan]

I'd like to know some of your typical hay field management routines. I'll throw out some questions to guide, but feel free to include whatever you feel is important:

Do you fertilize every year?

Do you graze it at some point in the year?

How many cuttings do you get?

Do you cultivate and sow seed on any given schedule; let it seed in the fall?

Do you spray for weeds annually?

Do you have a constant hay field, or do you rotate with other crops?

Thanks.

 

[B&M Farms]

I'd like to know some of your typical hay field management routines. I'll throw out some questions to guide, but feel free to include whatever you feel is important:

Do you fertilize every year?
Yes. Chicken Manure in the fall and commercial between cuttings per soil test.

Do you graze it at some point in the year?
No

How many cuttings do you get?
3 to 5 depending on rain.

Do you cultivate and sow seed on any given schedule; let it seed in the fall?
No

Do you spray for weeds annually?
When needed. I spray Bahia in coastal when needed also.

Do you have a constant hay field, or do you rotate with other crops?
Constant

Thanks.

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

I hope this thread gets some more replies because it's a great topic.

 

[hurleyjd]

I have no fields set aside strictly for hay. I rotate graze and bale where there is surplus grass. I have 200 acres that I use. I graze and bale around 500 bales a year. Some tifton 85, some coastal, some comman, and bahai.

 

[herofan]

I hope this thread gets some more replies because it's a great topic.

Thanks. I'm looking to increase my knowledge on how people maintain a decent hay field as the years go by so I can apply the same practices.

For one thing, my brother and I bought some cattle after being out several years, and hadn't done anything to the hay fields in a few years. This spring, the hay wasn't worth poop. We always had fescue and orchard grass in the years past, but it seems like it has taken a trip, and there is some kind of grass that is thin and barely knee high.

I realize that one can't expect much if you don't do much, but I never expected such nothing this year. I pass fields on the road that people simply bush hog once every year or two, and it's flowing with thick fescue.

This fall, we are considering disking, sowing seed, and fertilizing next spring. That is what a lot of people have recommended to revitalize the hay crop. I then want a regiment that will maintain a good hay crop as the years pass.

 

[Bigfoot]

I generly:
1. Fertilize my hay
2. Try to make two cuttings
3. Spray for weeds after the first
4. Move my hay field occasionally
5. Cut any pasture for hay, that is thick enough
6. I will definatly graze a hay field, but any field I plan on cutting for hay has no cattle on it over the winter.

 

[Bigfoot]

Just a thought. Before I went to the expense of reseeding, I'd lease it to someone to plant corn on for one year. Fall in right behind them shelling, and sew it down. You'd make money on the rent, and a bunch of the work would be done for you. I haven't seen your fields to really know, but bet if you got aggressive at controlling the weeds, the fescue would thicken up.

 

[herofan]

6. I will definatly graze a hay field, but any field I plan on cutting for hay has no cattle on it over the winter.

Why no cattle on it over the winter?

 

[highgrit]

A hay field needs working a care. We use a pasture renovator, or shank plow every year or two. I would think if you plowed and put some fertilizer out then harrow it level you'd be back in business. We have fertilizer and 2-4-D mixed together and spread just before green up in the spring. We have one hay field that never gets grazed and a few that we run cows on and hay also. I've been rotary mowing and dragging the pastures behind the cows. The more you work the fields the better they get.

 

[Rniemann]

We do both n much of the ground, hay and then pasture. If you do hay and pasture, it is best to harrow before putting it to bed for the winter. You need to break up the pies! Also, come spring if it was hated and pastured the year bf, you will want to fertilize. It just doesn't ever quite catch up after being used hard the year before. Soil sample is always best even if it is just hay and pasture.

 

[Aaron]

Do you fertilize every year?

Sometimes skip a year, particularly if we put on a lot the year before. But usually every spring with our custom blend, 14-17-11-12.

Do you graze it at some point in the year?

Graze majority of fields late summer until early winter. Only about 80 acres never see cattle on them (no fences). Consequently, our most consistent fields are the ones the cattle have access to.

How many cuttings do you get?

No alfalfa in our fields, so only one cut.

Do you cultivate and sow seed on any given schedule; let it seed in the fall?

If the weather looks to hold on decent, we will leave our cutting to August and by then most everything will be in seed when we cut, seeding the fields as we cut. Quality is down, but our cows have never suffered from it.

Do you spray for weeds annually?

Never.

Do you have a constant hay field, or do you rotate with other crops?

Continual hay. Never have had the time to break old fields, let alone rotate. Plus I hate tractor/field work.

 

[Bigfoot]

6. I will definatly graze a hay field, but any field I plan on cutting for hay has no cattle on it over the winter.

Why no cattle on it over the winter?

I feel like I get better jump on spring growth, and a bigger first cutting. Plus it's winter anyway, I might as well let them winter somewhere else.

 

[dun]

I'd like to know some of your typical hay field management routines. I'll throw out some questions to guide, but feel free to include whatever you feel is important:

Do you fertilize every year?

Usually every other year depending on soil test.

Do you graze it at some point in the year?

Some we do some we don;t. Just depends on what's needed

How many cuttings do you get?

1, fescue doen;t really lend itself to multiple cuttings due to climate

Do you cultivate and sow seed on any given schedule; let it seed in the fall?

Some years we let it lay fallow and reseed by brushhogging it in the late summer/early fall

Do you spray for weeds annually?

Spot spray annually as needed, only had to spray an entire field once and that was after using chicken litter to fertilize

Do you have a constant hay field, or do you rotate with other crops?

Either hay field or pasture. Not a very good crop area due to soil(rocks)

Thanks.

 

[Dega Moo]

We fert alfalfa every year. Get 4 to 5 cuttings, don't reseed, don't spray for weeds. Don't graze.
We fert grass (fescue) every year. Get 3 cuttings generally, don't reseed, don't spray, may graze.

We fertilize based on expected dry matter harvest and if the hay will be fed locally or remotely.

 

[tom4018]

I'd like to know some of your typical hay field management routines. I'll throw out some questions to guide, but feel free to include whatever you feel is important:

Do you fertilize every year? Yes, chicken litter in the fall. At least some nitrogen in the spring, maybe a little potash per soil sample.

Do you graze it at some point in the year? Yes, usually make sure they are off of it by Jan. 1st.

How many cuttings do you get? Sometimes 2, depends on the rain we get.

Do you cultivate and sow seed on any given schedule; let it seed in the fall? Only as needed, usually over seed some clover every year on a rotating schedule.

Do you spray for weeds annually? Usually spot spray as needed.


Do you have a constant hay field, or do you rotate with other crops? For us it is all hay or pasture.

Thanks.

I try to soil sample mine at least every other year.

 

[Tim/South]

I'd like to know some of your typical hay field management routines. I'll throw out some questions to guide, but feel free to include whatever you feel is important:

Do you fertilize every year?
We fertilize heavily in the spring and lightly after every cutting. We have to replace the nutrients we have removed. Some fields require more fertilizer than others. We soil test every field every winter.

Do you graze it at some point in the year?
We once did. We also rotated hay/pasture every three years. Now we pasture all of our grass and cut hay from leased property.

How many cuttings do you get?
With rain and timely weather windows we shoot for 4 cuttings. One Fescue field gets cut twice. Depends on the grass. Mostly bale Bermuda and Bahia.

Do you cultivate and sow seed on any given schedule; let it seed in the fall?
No. All of our hay fields are in established grass.

Do you spray for weeds annually?
Yes. Some more than others. it depends on the health of the soil and the type of weed. We spray pastures as well.

Do you have a constant hay field, or do you rotate with other crops?
All of our hay now comes from designated and established hay ground.

Thanks.

 

[Nesikep]

I'd like to know some of your typical hay field management routines. I'll throw out some questions to guide, but feel free to include whatever you feel is important:

Do you fertilize every year?
Never, other than compost/cow manure

Do you graze it at some point in the year?
Usually the 3rd cut gets grazed on all fields

How many cuttings do you get?
hayfields get 2 good cuts, and a fall grazing, sometimes I'll hay a pasture (got 4ton/ac off a small pasture this year that was too lush to graze)

Do you cultivate and sow seed on any given schedule; let it seed in the fall?
I try and reseed the alfalfa before it gets sod-bound, or about every 6-8 years... I try and keep on top of it so I can do a field a year.

Do you spray for weeds annually?
Never, Thistles, burdock, and big weeds get pulled by hand while irrigating

Do you have a constant hay field, or do you rotate with other crops?
Most of my fields start as hay fields for the first few years, and then become pastures for a few years before reseeding. I also try to overwinter the cows on the next field I'm going to plow up, given I have winterized water in the area

Thanks.

I haven't figured it all out yet, might take me the rest of my life to find out what works best here!

 

[dt34715]

I have Bermuda Grass

Do you fertilize every year? Yes

Do you graze it at some point in the year? Sometimes

How many cuttings do you get? 3 to 4

Do you cultivate and sow seed on any given schedule; let it seed in the fall? No

Do you spray for weeds annually? Yes

Do you have a constant hay field, or do you rotate with other crops?
Constant

 

[herofan]

Thanks for all the responses. Let me make sure I understand one thing I've noticed. Once a grass is established, like fescue, is it true that you will never need to sow more seed as long as you control weeds and fertilize? I notice some don't even let it reseed itself.

 

[Klutch]

Do you fertilize every year? Every cutting, manure or comercial

Do you graze it at some point in the year? typically not

How many cuttings do you get? 5-6, with irrigation

Do you cultivate and sow seed on any given schedule; let it seed in the fall? Generally not, unless the stand become weak, then no till some seed in the spring

Do you spray for weeds annually? Ideally every other fall

Do you have a constant hay field, or do you rotate with other crops? In a perfect world, 5 seasons of grass then 2 seasons of corn for silage,