Cutting oats for hay

ryanwheelock · Sep 1, 2010

I grew a test plot of oats this year as a trial for next year. Next year I will have a combine by then. Want to cut and bale the small crop and feed to cows. Theres not more than an arce but was gonna cut it with sickle mower and then bale with small square baler. Is that what you would recommend?? Dont think I should rake it being might loose a lot of the grain heads. Have a haybine but think the rollers will break loose ALL the grain heads. Just wanted an opinion if this sounds like a good idea. Cant just let cows graze it being its too far away and not fenced in.

Sid · Sep 1, 2010

Number one. We used to put up a lot of oat hay with a sickle mower and rake. Number two. We have put up a lot of oat hay with haybine. When using haybine we set the rollers to the point they slightly crush the green grain and the stalk. We raked after the haybine as well. Do not let the oats ripen standing. Some folks cut oats as soon as the grain started to develop. We prefer to let them fill out a little bit

1946 m · Sep 1, 2010

I would cut with haybine or you would have rake if you cut with sickle mower. If oats are still alittle bit green you won,t lose much. And if you bale small squares bale wire tie or else train the mice and rats to stay away. You will have a mell of hess other wise. Good luck.

amnion · Sep 1, 2010

Sounds like you might be too late. If the seed heads are dry with yellow husks and the stems are mostly yellow, you are making straw instead of hay. Take a bunch of oats from different plants throughout the field; if you pinch the oats with your fingers and no white "milk" comes out of the seed, those oats can only be harvested as grain and straw.

To do oat hay, you really need to cut the oats either before the seeds are forming in their husks, or just past that point when most seed heads are in the milk stage. If you wait until the dough stage or later, you won't get any hay out of it.

ryanwheelock · Sep 1, 2010

Wanted to add the oats are fully ripe, I know I should have cut in early stages but had lots of other things going on. Not worried about mice being theres only going to be maybe 20-30 bales, just a guess, and have lots of barn cats.

Loren MN · Sep 1, 2010

I'd cut it with the sickle mower so the swath lays out as wide as possible, to dry better. Cut it high so it stays up on the stubble to get air under it. It's difficult to get oat hay to dry completely, so I'd try to feed it out to the cows as soon as possible. If it's only an acre or less you'll only get about half a wagon load of bales anyway. If the grain heads are mature enough to where you are concerned about losing them, then they will be a magnet for the local rodents too. How are you planning on combining them next year? We cut them with a 12' swather, let it dry until the weeds are dried up so they won't plug the combine, and combine with a pickup head.

Loren MN · Sep 1, 2010

It is what it is now, so you have to deal with what you got to work with, at least it's a small field. that's why it was a test field, right? If you mix it with alfalfa the cows should eat some of it, but they will sort out a lot of the straw. I guess if it was me, I'd cut it with the haybine and pitchfork a lot of it onto a hayrack right away to feed out before it dries down, then bale up what's left and feed it out.

camju · Sep 1, 2010

just do as you say sickle mow and bale.I would mow at an angle so the straw doesn't fall in the row as bad.Shorten your bales as they get very heavy with ripe oats.I did 3 acres last year but I cut with swather waited 5-6 days and baled it dry.My milk cow loved it and acually had to eat some of the straw to get all the oats.

RayP(MI) · Sep 1, 2010

Mice are going to have a field day in your storage and barn. We baled some straw that went through a thrashing machine. Apparently some oats carried through with the straw. Mice heaven!
You"re going to bale with oats alreday in the bale. Note that baling dry oats leads to a lot of grain loss.

Erik Ks farmer · Sep 1, 2010

it is best to hay oats when they are in the "dough" stage, when the heads are milky. However, since your long past that stage, I would just mow them with the haybine and bale them. You won't lose any more than you would by mowing and raking.

Cutting oats for hay

ryanwheelock

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Sid

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1946 m

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amnion

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ryanwheelock

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Loren MN

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Loren MN

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camju

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RayP(MI)

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Erik Ks farmer

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