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New hay field advice for NOVICE farmer

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reststop

04-12-2008 06:52:30




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As title states, I am new to farming. I have part of the family farm with an 18 acre field I would like to put in hay. It has been rented in the past and was last in soybeans. I am located just south of Louisville, KY.
I would like to produce hay for sale, possible hay that appeals to horse owners. Maybe grass/mix? I would like to go as long as possible before the field has to be reworked. The field will not be used as pasture. I have been collecting used equipment and have most of what I need including a JD/Van Brunt seeder. I would like to disc the field to prepare it as I do not have a good set of plows. There are a few weeds and onions now but not too bad. I do not want to spray.
Looking for suggestions on what to plant and how to plant. All advice welcome. Thanks in advance for your posts. Perhap kyhayman will chime in.

rest

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reststop

04-14-2008 08:13:48




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 Re: New hay field advice for NOVICE farmer in reply to reststop, 04-12-2008 06:52:30  
Guess I didnt add my reply correctly the first time. It is under my original post. Just want to make sure that all thos who replied know I am grateful. Thanks again.

rest



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reststop

04-14-2008 05:01:23




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 Re: New hay field advice for NOVICE farmer in reply to reststop, 04-12-2008 06:52:30  
Wow, what a great response! Concerning some of the ideas that have been brought up, I am considering Timothy or grass mix because of it popularity with the horse owners (at least from what I have read) and because my uncle, a retired farmer from the area suggested it. Since my purpose is to sell the hay, I wish to grow the what the customers want.
It rained here this weekend and has so far been a very wet spring. It would appear that I will have to wait till fall to put my permanent hay crop in. In the meantime I really don't have the equipment or knowhow to put in a crop of beans or corn and leasing poses other problems. I like the idea put putting in oats for hay as a temporary solution. It keeps the field in use and gives me a chance to use and work out any bugs in my "new" hay implements. Recomendations on type? drill or broadcast? Hope it dries out soon.

Thanks to all for your replies and generous offer. This is a great place to pick up a little of the wisdom gather over generations.

rest

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kyhayman

04-15-2008 21:51:06




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 Re: New hay field advice for NOVICE farmer in reply to reststop, 04-14-2008 05:01:23  
Drill the oats, as to variety, not to be a smart... but any kind you can get will have to do. Small grain seed is scarce and expensive. I used Ogle from Southern States the past few years. Seems to do about as well as any. I didnt pick it because I liked it better, but it was the only choice.

Drilling saves a pass with the disc and you dont have to worry about getting the seed in too deep. Plus, with more exact seed placement you can cut your rate a bit. At 4.10 a gallon I hate to even start a tractor if I dont have to.

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FreeRanger

04-12-2008 20:18:41




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 Grasses: Orchard + Tim in reply to reststop, 04-12-2008 06:52:30  
It not too late to plant grass, at least not here in Wisconsin. Too wet yes, too late no way.

I've been in your shoes with smaller fields. Yes I would disc ASAP, prepare a good seed bed, broadcast orchard grass/timothy, then broadcast oats at half the normal rate. DON"T BURY THE SEED. Stir it in by just running spike tooth drag behind small tractor. Harvest the oats and straw. Get really lucky and get small hay crop this fall. Broadcast your favorite clover in the Fall to improve the stand. Realize a good grass field takes more time to develope than 100%Alfalfa field.

I picked up a nice antique drill with wooden wheels that works even better than the hand broastcast method described above. You should see the nice Orchard/Timothy field my nephew planted with it.

100% grass bales are easy to sell at a premium these days. If you are lucky you can get three crops but usually just a good heavy spring crop and then a late fall crop. The clover can be harvested during the summer without damaging the grasses.

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GordoSD

04-12-2008 16:57:32




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 Re: New hay field advice for NOVICE farmer in reply to reststop, 04-12-2008 06:52:30  
If you disk that bean residue you will certainly need to spray the weeds that will follow prior to any planting. How about drilling oats in there no til? Get a soil sample after you cut the oats, work the chemicals in prior to fall planting.

Gordo



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old

04-12-2008 10:52:23




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 Re: New hay field advice for NOVICE farmer in reply to reststop, 04-12-2008 06:52:30  
They have a pasture mix made just for horses, cost last time I got it was around $60 per 50lbs and its a mix of grass and clover, but its best seeded in the very early spring or fall. You could plant oats and bale it just when it heads out and use it for hay then plant the mix in the fall

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reid5365

04-12-2008 10:10:07




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 Re: New hay field advice for NOVICE farmer in reply to reststop, 04-12-2008 06:52:30  
I agree with kyhayman. I am northeast of louisville and would wait till next year to plant. Right now it is way too late to plant anything. Maybe replant the beans and collect the money. Then decide what you want to do in the fall for next year. Horse people like grass mixes. I do just a plain old grass mix. Hope this helps. If you need anything you can shoot me an email, rrch129@aol.com. I dont know if you have a planter or anything but I have a 4 row john deere planter that i have been plates for if you would like to use it.

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kyhayman

04-12-2008 09:03:18




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 Re: New hay field advice for NOVICE farmer in reply to reststop, 04-12-2008 06:52:30  
To me, the biggest guess is on what will happen to fertilizer prices. When I started going to more and more alfalfa mixes nitrogen was selling at a premium compared to phosphate and potash. Now the paradigm is reversed. In today's pricing market I would look seriously at a pure stand of timothy. Seed cost is modest and easy establishment. Drawback is it needs fall planting. I'd look at putting in corn or beans for this year, pocket the money and use it to establish a good timothy stand in the fall.

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hayray

04-12-2008 14:43:11




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 Re: New hay field advice for NOVICE farmer in reply to kyhayman, 04-12-2008 09:03:18  
How did you decide on Timothy versus other grasses? How about Red Clover? I scratched plans on planting any more alfalfa this year because of the facts you stated. I rented our conservation districts JD drill and interseeded medium red into a bunch of acreage and trefoil clear seeded into a fall burn down. How does interseeding that clover work out? I also have plans on seeding a stand of medium red and tetraploid Italian Ryegrass.

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E.B. Haymakin'

04-13-2008 20:06:55




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 Re: New hay field advice for NOVICE farmer in reply to hayray, 04-12-2008 14:43:11  
On the Haying FAQ by Sheeps Creek.....? He states that some clovers have been associated with photosensitivity in equine along with other behavior problems, I think. Check it out. Maybe thats why horse folks don"t like it.



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hayray

04-14-2008 05:34:57




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 Re: New hay field advice for NOVICE farmer in reply to E.B. Haymakin', 04-13-2008 20:06:55  
You are reffering to alsike clover I believe. Alsike is also related to big liver disease in horses. No, alot of the horse people are just being uneducated about hay. White clovers are included in some of the top performing horse pasture mixtures, Findley University just published results on some of their research trials about top performing pasture mixes. Also, clovers get dark and dusty fast once weathered in the the windrow, so I think it is just a visual thing. As Kyhayman was stating, almost none of the horse people buy hay based on TDN, RFV or anything else other than looks. I stopped testing my hay because it never was an extra selling point. I only test hay now for my self sometimes feeding my cattle.

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kyhayman

04-13-2008 10:14:02




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 Re: New hay field advice for NOVICE farmer in reply to hayray, 04-12-2008 14:43:11  
Personally, I really like medium red clover and use a lot of it in mixes for cow hay. I dont like it for horse hay, primarily because the buyers like to freak out over clover and or fescue in horse hay. Its harder for me to market clover mixes. The other real drawback for me is slower curing times. I've had problems over the years getting heavy redclover hay to get to the moisture content I want.

As far as choosing timothy over other grasses, its a marketing and harvesting issue more than anything else though this year the seed cost is significantly less than orchardgrass. At 1.25 a pound and a 10 poun rate I can rent the drill and plant timothy for 20.00 an acre. For me, I dont start cutting timothy until June 1 so it spreads out my harvest window. Market-wise, here at least it commands prices equal to or better than alfalfa for a fraction of the input costs. I do try to fertilize my pure stands with 80-100 units of actual N. Timothy is not my feed of choice. Protein is too low, particularly as late as I normally cut it. But, I've yet to have anyone buy hay from me based on anything but eye appeal and smell. As long as protein content doesnt pay me a premium I try to grow what I can sell the quickest for the best price. As a former ag agent/ag teacher I used to try to educate my customers. It dawned on me one day that they werent paying me to educate them, they were paying me to provide a product as close to what their ideal was as I could provide. So thats the direction I went.

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