plant now for straw thsi fall?

maplehillfrm · Apr 12, 2011

hey guys, I was wondering what can I plant now in nys, to harvest for straw in teh fall,, I think oats would work , rye is a fall planting crop correct? I want to plant a few acres to it now and harvest and then plant winter rye in teh field over the fall and winter to get it ready to plant pumokins in next year, thansk pat

sammydwm · Apr 13, 2011

oats will make a better quality straw

M Nut · Apr 13, 2011

Like mentioned, oats.

maplehillfrm · Apr 13, 2011

(quoted from post at 19:38:11 04/12/11) hey guys, I was wondering what can I plant now in nys, to harvest for straw in teh fall,, I think oats would work , rye is a fall planting crop correct? I want to plant a few acres to it now and harvest and then plant winter rye in teh field over the fall and winter to get it ready to plant pumokins in next year, thansk pat

tnanks guys I appreciate it, I was tinking I could get in the fields this week,,, and nlw the rains came again,, so will have to wait a little while to dry up,, I tink I will try the oats,a nd go from there,,, I was just going to mow and bale them, not combine, will they still make good straw,, I know there is a certain time I have to catch it,, is it before flowering?? I have heard dough stage,, but never knew what that meant,, thanks pat

paul · Apr 13, 2011

That makes good hay? You'd want it mature to be good bedding, and then no grain left in it so combined of course.

If you live in a dry rea I've heard of bleaching it down like you want, but never dry around here so donno how that can work....

---->Paul

sammydwm · Apr 14, 2011

if you want decent straw you will have to combine the oats.
Cutting with the grain on will get you hay. And unless you are equipped to make oat hay you will end up with a mess. It requires a long drydown period (think 7 days at least) and usually lots of tedding.
Cutting it in the boot stage will get you a high protein hay, cutting in the soft dough stage will get you a high energy hay.

maplehillfrm · Apr 14, 2011

(quoted from post at 10:42:56 04/14/11) if you want decent straw you will have to combine the oats.
Cutting with the grain on will get you hay. And unless you are equipped to make oat hay you will end up with a mess. It requires a long drydown period (think 7 days at least) and usually lots of tedding.
Cutting it in the boot stage will get you a high protein hay, cutting in the soft dough stage will get you a high energy hay.

so am I being impractical, to think I can make straw for bedding and mulch for the pumpkns with out combining,, any idea what i can plant for bedding and mulch [weed suppression] for teh pumpkin growing season?

also any idea how many acres I would need to put in to make it worth while for somebody to come in and custom combine it then I can bale for straw ?

I thin there is a guy within like 20 miles,, but that seem slike a long tripo with combine and such,, tahksn pat

Fordfarmer · Apr 14, 2011

Oats cut in the boot or dough stage would be for hay
(or silage), but if you let them mature, you'll get
your straw, whether you combine or mow them. But if
you just mow and bale mature oats, you'll have every
rodent within 10 miles in the bales.
For what you want, I would use oats...and try to
find someone to combine.

GordoSD · Apr 15, 2011

Are you going to bale this straw? If so how are you going to then spread it on the pumkins. Certainly not by hand.

maplehillfrm · Apr 18, 2011

yea I was planning on baling the straw,, some for sale and some maybe to spread on teh pumpkins, I am not totally sure what method to spread yet,, definatly not by hand,, maybe a manure spreader , but I would have to shake out eachbale,, that would suck, or I may get a shredder machine, a friend of my sons uses one on his campgrounds, when he reseeds, puts the bale in and it gets chopped up and blown through a hose,, I think I could do it lite enough between plants ,,,

next year I may try to plant some winter rye, and just kinda knock it down, and plant in teh stubble which should suppress the weeds until teh vines grow,, do you have any suggestions??? tahnsk pat

scotc · Apr 24, 2011

If you don't want the grain, you may be able to give it away in exchange for the combining. The only thing that the harvester would have in it is the combining, so that may work.

plant now for straw thsi fall?

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