Changed our hayseed order for this spring

We had a 40% alfalfa mix ordered for this year and were changing it to all grasses that are a lot more ice tolerant. It's supposed to yield similar and will be a little cheaper to fertilize since wellbe able to use straight urea. They're still working out the blend so I'm not sure what exactly is in it but it'll be a mixture of fescues and grasses. Glad we only had 15 acres of alfalfa mix planted this year,it's been muddy here the last 2 days we got over an inch of rain with close to that still to come down than there's a flash freezing warning for this evening than very cold tomorrow night. No more legumes for me.

Quoting Removed, click Modern View to see

Green feed does not go through a square baler. Horses do not eat haylage or baleage. Dairy farmers bale huge amounts of green feed and ensile it into baleage by wrapping it in the white plastic. The head stays on just fine. Green feed has to be fed within a few hours or it spoils. The farmer that I worked for as a kid made six inch long bales of green feed by taking all of the tension off. I walked along beside the pick-up with sides on it with a fork and pitched the bales into the truck.

I have a question guys, my dad used to feed his work horses what he called green feed (oats cut not combined) stalk head and all, would there be a market for that with the horse or cattle people? and how much of the head would be lost going through a square baler?

I forget where you are located, it is minus 6F degrees here today. Rain and mud is not a problem, alfalfa can be killed off with a sheet of ice forming and smothering it all winter, otherwise it is pretty hardy up here in Minnesota.

Would think a legume and grass blend would be easier to fertilize, need little or no N, just the P and K and if you want, micros. Without a legume you need more N. cant get away without P and K if you are hauling away hay.

But mostly it comes down to what you can sell, if your buyers want all grass hay then that is the mix to plant!

Just interesting to hear about mud and rain, it's been 2 months since we've had that. :)

Paul

Thank you,we're in eastern Canada,was close to -40 in the wind here a week ago,supposed to dip down to near -20 c tomorrow,first mud we've had here on a couple months too.

Gochta. Here in my part of south central MN we tend to stay cold, while those warm spells like you had circle all around us. Dakotas, Wisconsin, up there in Canada, all get those brief warm spells where it melts. Usually not here, we are some odd cold spot once winter sets in.

We were in the low 30s F here a few days ago so did get a minor warm up, but far from warm enough to make imid. The tar roads were actually frosty and slippery, as they were so cold the slightly above freezing air condesnded on them!

We have had very little snow this year, that is unusual for us, the cold is really sinking in deep, bet we see some bad frost boils and some busted water pipes by spring.

Rye and alfalfa do well here, winter wheat isn't really hardy enough, can work but often doesn't it freezes out.

Paul

boot stage,50-60 percent in bloom are some of the indicators for optimum protein. As much as I strive to use those indicators, the weather window is my controlling factor. I need at least 3 good days to cut rake and bale. So no matter the protein levels I must wait on the weather. After all hay put up without having been rained on is better than cutting at the perfect time only to have it rained on in the field. My customer tells me, the cows will eat what I give them, the horses to or they'll go hungry. gobble

Quoting Removed, click Modern View to see

Timothy is suppose to be cut when "in the boot". That is when the seed head is just emerging from the leaves that surround it. It is not that it gets tough quickly, but when harvest is delayed and it goes past optimum stage, the stem gets very woody, and the leaf production gets slow compared to orchard grass. If you do not have a lot of ground to cover getting it at optimal time should not be a problem.

Grasses are fine if you get plenty of rain, as in Ireland, but if you get a dry year, you will come up very short.

Very true.

How much regrowth do you have on the alfalfa? If it was cut short and not much regrowth I can see where it will suffocate. The grasses will also smother out the alfalfa over time.How old is the alfalfa? We rotate after the 4th or 5th year of alfalfa to corn.

These are new medows from last year under seeded from barley. All 80 acres of 1&2 year old alfalfa we would have had last year got completely killed out last winter to the point you could barely find a couple here and there walking the fields. The fall before that the regrowth was 1-2' tall on the second year stuff and maybe 6-8" on the was new medow. I'm not trying to be a pessimist but after last summers poor crop and the mud rain and hard freezing here this weekend I'm scared what this summer may yield so I'm looking for alternatives.

How much standing water and/or ice is on your field now?

Everything is laying in water looks like a spring snow melt. Mud underneath still pouring rain. Wind supposed to shift and blow hard this afternoon and freeze hard overnight.

I grow alfalfa/grass mix in york, county, pa. Started planting some straight grass 4 years ago to rotate out of the alfalfa. We have an invasive grass called rough stalk bluegrass that migrates into the alfalfa and really messes up the 1st cutting. We always get a 2-3 week dry spell in the summer and the alfalfa makes some great hay at those times. Too much rain, the summer weed grasses grow stalky.

I really like my orchard grass for hay. Even though it matures early, instead of turning to lumber like the climax timothy does, it keeps pushing up lush green. It really helps out when you get held up by the weather.

I planted a couple acres of Timothy this fall. How do I know the best time to cut it? You are saying it gets tough quickly?

Try to get it before it is out in head if you want the protein.