hay question

old fashioned farmer · Mar 17, 2009

Howdy!

I was wondering if any of you have raised rye grass hay and if so, what fertilizer have you used and which works best with it? I've never messed with it but the farm we just bought has a recently re-seeded field of it and rather than burn it down and put beans in I'm going to go ahead and fertilize it and bale it. I appreciate your assistance. God bless.

--old fashioned farmer

1936 · Mar 17, 2009

Dad had it and the cattle would eat it when it was really, really cold. Good water way grass.

thurlow · Mar 17, 2009

'Google' it up; there's lots of information; it'a a preferred forage/hay crop in much of the world. Is it annual or perennial? The only time I've cut it for hay was a time or two when it 'took over' a wheat field; made lots of high quality hay, 'though I attributed that more to the wheat (cut in hard dough stage) than to the ryegrass.

TractormanNC · Mar 17, 2009

I have some horse customers that just love ryegrass hay. Took a little while to get em hooked on it.

As to what fertilizer works best, I don't know, but I generally use about 200-250 lb of 12-24-24 plus enough 30% nitrogen to get about 80-100 lb of N per acre. The stuff loves nitrogen. HTH.

Ron in NS · Mar 17, 2009

My uncle raises racehorses, and he swears Italian Ryegrass makes the best hay for horses, if that what it's going to be sold for, or fed to. Just a thought.

keh · Mar 17, 2009

Makes good hay if cut at right stage. There is a narrow window of opportunity to cut the hay. If you can't get to it when it is ready it matures fast and quality drops. If the weather is good for curing it does not take much time to cure it.

KEH

Nancy Howell · Mar 17, 2009

I would suggest you do a soil test first. When you get the results, contact your ag agent.

We take soil tests in the fall and again in the spring. That tells us what the soil needs to produce a good hay crop.

RodinNS · Mar 17, 2009

A soil test would be worthwhile to see what you've got for P and K... but generally you can't go wrong by hitting it with 150-200 pounds of AN.
I'd probably err on the low side this year. Look at the price of AN, then make your decision.... but I can't see where a high rate and the associated increased risk would pay off unless everything went exactly right.

Rod

Anonymous-0 · Mar 17, 2009

A cause of hayfever, do some reading on this grass because it can cause staggers in sheep, cattle. alpacas etc because of toxins...but I think these toxins are in the early stages...research...

hay question

old fashioned farmer

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1936

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thurlow

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TractormanNC

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Ron in NS

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keh

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Nancy Howell

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RodinNS

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Anonymous-0

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