Oh Oh got oats hay again.

Here is the link:

Link

Jim

It does make a good protien, medium-high value feed if you catch it before seeds come out. Not alfalfa, but it competes well with grss hay.

--->Paul

I'll probably end up havin� people throwin' rocks at me for this one. :>(

But, I don't think the words "oats" and "hay" belong in the same sentence together. :>)

I'd wait until it got to the hard dough stage, then chop it and bag it for best nutritional value & substantial tonnage; plus, you would be getting that nurse crop off of there in a hurry so that the alfalfa can produce the first cutting of real hay.

'Course, I'm the guy that is always doing things wrong too. :>)

Allan

I don't think Kelly will invest in a bagger for 20 acres, he's chosen hay for his 2nd job, and below a couple of us are trying to talk him into cattle for a 3rd.... ;) ;) ;) Silage is a full-time, big big operation around these parts for the mega dairies, difficult to do part-time/ small - too much competition from the sweet corn plants who give silage away by the load if you haul it for a small operation.

--->Paul

--->Paul

Friends of mine found nice oat hay, horses refused to touch it for some reason. I can't speak from experience feeding it tho, just what I've heard.

but I would think that the earlier you could get it off the field the better. I would try to get it off before it get too far into "stemming". Would give the alfalfa a chance for 2 cuttings

I know tradition is always letting it go all the way to seed, take the straw, and maybe get a cutting of alfalfa yet. In '98 I seeded 3 plots. Wheat cover. One Brome/redclover, one alfafla underseeded, one direct seed alfalfa no cover. It was one field, just three sections for seeding. Clover and alfalfa were slurry mixed with liquid fert applied by fert dealer.

Underseeded alfalfa has long since been returned to crop ground. Direct alfalfa was the best seeding I've ever done or seen. Took 2 crops off the first year. 2 years ago, ripped it with a parabolic, leveled the field, seeded a 4 grass blend, dragged it. It's still the best producing hay field I have with about 50/50 grass alfalfa. Alfalfa doesn't show any signs of letting up soon. Took 85 small squares off first cutting this spring cut on 5/28, cut @ 10% bud stage.

I had about 1500 bales of oats hay last year of not great quality and sold them all. I dint ask a whole lot for them. I had a laddy who has about 15 head of cattle and 6 horses and a donkey. Buy alot of it. Part of the deal was I would deliver and put it in the feeder for her.
Cows, Horses and the donkey all dug in with gosto.
Would leave the grass and alfala hay untill the oats were gone. I really think its a teat for them.
I also sold some to people looking for grass hay. I'd give the 4 or 5 bales to take home and try out. They would come back and buy 20 or 30 more at a time for a treat.

Do not say 'cows' to your wife!!!!! That is a LOT of work.

Say 'feeder cattle' to your wife. Whole different story. More risk in following the ups & downs of the market, but a _whole_ lot less work!!!! Graze in the summer, feed 1 time a day in winter if you want, and check the water once a day. Can use up your old hay if you have surplus. Of course, I'm talking you into a whole new complex of management & time.... ;)

--->Paul

The mo-co sure helps a _lot_ on these types of crops. It truely does take a bit more than forever to dry it when it's just cut with a sickle. I know, done it both ways.

I hear a lot about tedders from across the country, but they are unheard of in my part of the state.

--->Paul

If you get it right, oats hay is right up there with any other hay - my cattle really love it! I only made a couple bales.

I also planted a plow-down clover/alfalfa mix under my oats last year. While it was way too dry, this was a really low field, so a good mix of regrow-oats, alfalfa (what the aphids didn't eat) and clover came up, which I cut & round baled. Cattle really love it! Didn't quite get as much plowdown value this way, but should have some manure to spread in spring...

--->Paul

I've also made small grains (mostly wheat and rye, but some oats) into hay. I like to cut with a haybine, tedder a time or two, and then bale at 20% or less. I usually figure that the tedder (each pass) and the haybine will each shave a day off curing. It takes 5 days here to cure it normally. I'll use propionic acid if I have to bale it at moisture above 20%, but too dry for baleage. It's not cheap, but it is effective. If you are not set up to use the baleage to feed I'd suggest looking into investing in acid application equipment. Including good digital moisturer tester, scales, acid tank, and pump I spent about $750 to purchase the equip new. Acid runs $1.00 per pound and use 20 to 30 pounds per ton of hay (depending on moisture content). That takes half my profit (sell for $100-$120 and running about 50% of that to expenses) but rained on hay gets me $30 per ton for mulch.