Cover crop after oats

Any of you guys have any good cover crops for after oats? I would like to get a cutting of hay or two. It is on sandy ground in southern Minnesota. Thanks for any thoughts!

Always us oats as a cover crop for alfalfa seeding here. We don't cut the alfalfa hay crop until the following year.
Loren

The hard part is Sandy, and planting after harvest, you will need a rain to make that catch!

I assume you straight combine the oats for grain, so this won't work....

What I do for grazing is plant a plowdown mix from Albert Lea Seeds of clover and alfalfa, pretty cheap mix, add in some turnips, and seed it along with the oats through the alfalfa seeder box. I swath the oats, combine, and bale the straw. The other stuff grows some, the light oats that blew out the combine reseed so if it rains, and there is quite a bit growing by fall for the cattle to graze, along with some cornstalks I fence along in. The clover stays shorter, the alfalfa as mentioned by the other doesn't grow real thick this first year, works well for rough grazing but it would depend on the year to try to cut and bale these......

You wouldn't want to try to cut and bale a turnip. Just we are clear on that, they are for grazing, not hay......

You probably wouldn't want to straight combine oats with the clover and alfalfa coming up?

I've heard of Teft, and Sudan grass, and annual rye grass working out. I'm not familiar with them tho, just maybe helping start a conversation, not sure which of those work well for a late planting into dry ground..... The oats itself will often regrow pretty thick, can be half of what you get right there.....

Paul

I should mention I'm in southern MN too, but on heavy wet clay soils. I have one 4 acre Sandy hill, that is 'fun' to try to work with......

Paul

We have done teff and liked it but the seed was expensive and the dry down was terrible. Livestock loved it. How well would alfalfa take the sand? I plant oats because the corn and bean yield on this spot is little or nothing but I got 100 bu oats off it two years ago.

Underseed the oats with some cheap red clover...

It is shade tolerant, and will take off and grow if you get any rain after oats harvest. Probably one good cutting of forage after that, and 50-60 lb of N for the following years crop.

I normally seeded oats or barley with alfalfa in the Spring of the year. Once I straight seeded alfalfa in Sept and it did well, but normal was as stated. Typically get 3 cuttings alfalfa the following year, but sometimes it"s possible to get a hay cutting in the seeding year. I"m an hr NW of MPLS...southern MN would have a longer season, more likely to get hay the first year. Three bu oats or 1 1/2 bu barley, with 10 lbs alfalfa with a packer behind. Without the packer, about 15 lbs alfalfa.

you have a blue tractor for seeding turnip??