Crop Rotations and Hayfield restoration

I have about 20 acres of upland hay ground that I have been making the hay off of for 2 years now. I have not put any fertilizer down or done any spraying for weeds. There is still some clover in the mix, no alfalfa, dandelions and alot of medium to coarse grass. I am considering plowing this under. Hay is my preferred crop as I have done good selling it the past few years, I have all the equipment for it and it just works good with my schedule. If I plow this up, would it be silly to replant to hay? I would plant a clover type mix (horse hay). Or could I spray something that would kill off the weeds and then fertilize what is left? I did sow some red clover on the snow late this winter.

I met with the local Soil Co-op just this morning and ordered soil tests that will be done when things dry up a bit. I'm looking forward to the test results, but once I have the results, I will need to know what I want to do with the field. I'd prefer hay of some sort, should I plow and start over, should I spray for weeds then fertilize? or should I plant a different crop altogether? Planting a different crop means buying more equipment or hiring work done, bear that in mind.

I guess my general question here is, given the above info, how would you recommend I proceed to restore my hay fields for long term hay production here in Central MN?

The co-op should have multiple recommendations for you, for various crops and yield goals.

I live in east central Minnesota and have planted hay on hay several times in the past with good results. The key for us has been to plow it up and let it sit for at least 6 weeks with some rain storms within that time frame to clear out the autotoxicity from the alfalfa or clover. Make sure your ph levels are good and put on the right amount of fertilizer and you should be fine. Dan

I see 3 options, and it depends on the weeds you have:

Stir it up lightly to incorporate the fertilizer you spread, not kill the grass no heavy tillage, just a light harrow or shallow disk.
Plant new seed and harrow. This is kind of a slow path, takes a few years to get a renewed hay field this way, might fail if you get the wrong weather. You end up with old and new plants competing with each other.

Or spray it heavy, work it up, and replant all new species in mid fall or early spring.this will give you a new hay field, but so e weeds survive, as does some of the old grass.

Or rent it to a neighbor for corn or soybeans or whatever is grown there, he will get rid of the old weeds, work in fertilizer, and get rid of old gopher hills, etc. then replant your hay species the following spring. If you work with the renter you won't get top dollar, but might get your extra fert worked in in the fall get a nice seedbed, no corn herbicides that are bad for grasses, etc. this would really renew your soils.

Paul

Do not know where you are located. But, in my area we never had good luck trying to hay on hay.
I vote for rent to a neighbor for corn or some row crop.
If you have good hay customers you want to keep.
Buy some hay and sell it to them. I know it probably hopefully just money changing hands. Just my thoughts.
I live in the Northeast probably different in other areas. Anytime we tried to revive a stand we just got more fine grass.

Hi Paul,

I appreciate your response and suggestions. I was told to drag the field with a drag section by someone else as well, I am thinking about doing that prior to fertilizing. Once the fertilizer is applied, could I spray for weeds at that point?

or maybe take first cut then spray?

Just get your soil tested, and give what you have proper care. healthy grass will crowd the weeds out.

picasso,

I live in the southern part of Middle Tennessee. I spread fertilizer and spray for weeds on my hay ground every year. My hay is fescue, orchard grass, some clover, and some weeds that get away from me.

I use 2,4-D for weed spray to kill broadleaf weeds. I have a fair bit of red and white clover in my hay. The 2,4-D shocks the clover, but it recovers after a while.

I don't drag or disk my field before or after application of the fertilizer, I just spread it.

Your situation may be very different from mine, but this seems to work okay for me.

Tom in TN

Autotoxicity isn"t going to clear in 6 weeks. More like a year.

I said at LEAST 6 weeks and you need rain within that time so the rain will leech out the auto toxicity. It depends on the soil type obviously. Sandy ground is much more porous and will leech out quicker.
This wouldn't be my first choice as crop rotation is always preferred. But if all you have is haying equipment it is possible to plant hay on hay.

No reason you can't keep making hay off the land I have hay fields that have been in hay/pasture since the
early 1960's.Around here applying lime would be the best thing you could do and supply any other minerals that are lacking. If you want to thicken up the stand of grass rent a sod or pasture drill and drill the grass right into what you have works best for me to do it in Septmeber

Bad hay ground makes me crazy. I fertilize and spray weeds annually (Forefront). After that I spot spray for thistle, etc. Granular nitrogen and whatever the samples call for as well.

Lots of folks think hay is an easy crop. Good hay is just as much work as rotated crops. Give it several years of TLC and it will pay off in spades. When hay is hardly moving it will be yours that sells.