what's a good hay to plant for wetter ground?

Nick m · Apr 21, 2015

Have a chance to rent a little 8 acre field that is
really cheap. Problem is, he wants hay in it
because you have to drive across his yard to get
to it. Doesn't want combines/bigger stuff on it.
Also is heavier, damper ground. Might even have
a little clay. I know alfalfa and clay/wet don't mix
well. Looking for some suggestions. This could
lead to another 100 acres, so want to let it pass. In
central lower michigan.

rrlund · Apr 21, 2015

Annual rye grass. I got some seed from Gallagher one time and planted it on some wet ground that's usually resigned to silage corn. It did good. It roots real deep and is supposed to even break up the hard pan.

sd pete · Apr 21, 2015

Reeds canary grass works on swamp ground.

4020 electrician · Apr 21, 2015

Search Byron seeds. They have all different mixes for wet land hay. Seed dealers are in central michigan. A lot of guys around central michigan use their grass mixes and kingfisher alfalfa's.

bobwny · Apr 23, 2015

i agree on the reed canary and rye. ive had good luck with them on heavy wet ground,also would use timothy,maybe a little red clover.good idea to get some legumes mixed in with your grasses.

Tom from Ontario · Apr 23, 2015

If you want a legume in the mix for a longer term, get some birdsfoot trefoil into it. a little slower to get going and reed canary grass will give it stiff competition, but if you look after it, it will go for ten years or more.

hayray · Apr 25, 2015

I second birds foot trefoil. New improved varieties out of Cornell like Pradee and a CAnadian variety Bull. Think twice about reed canary as it does requires very early harvest for quality . Trefoil grows well with clover and alfalfa and clovers. Red clover does fairly well in wet spots.

Texasmark1 · Apr 25, 2015

I planted Rye this year and with all the rain we have had and on clay soil, plus feeding it, the results are stellar I counted the seed pods yesterday: Each plant has a seed stem with at least 10 seed pods alternately attached to the stem. Each seed pod has about 25 actual seeds. Considering plants are just a few inches apart and on a 7" row spacing, that's a lot of reseeding potential. Figure it's good till summer's hot weather hits and then it'll die off to plant itself for another season. Yeah it's listed as annual, but to me all that says is that there is no root activity that lingers and produces foilage the next year. That's ok, seeds dropped will take care of that.

Mark

what's a good hay to plant for wetter ground?

Nick m

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rrlund

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sd pete

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4020 electrician

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bobwny

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Tom from Ontario

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hayray

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Texasmark1

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