Questions about growing hay

[countryman]

First let me say HELLO to all as I am a new member.

I also apologize if this question has been asked before.

Have a few acres that we would like to use for growing hay to feed cows. Presently the acreage has been mowed (country yard) on a regular basis and we need to know what is the best procedure to convert it for hay.

Also is there a specific type hay that we need to sow like alfalfa or will any type do?

All suggestions are appreciated.

[egon]

Good Morning and the best of the afternoon to you and welcome. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]


The advice you need may well depend on your locality, the acreage involved and what is available for equipment. None of which is obvious. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Egon

[countryman]

Thanks for the welcome Egon.

I reside in Northeast Ohio

Will use approx. 4-1/2 acres

I have a friend who has all the equipment needed for cutting and bailing the finished product.

I hope this info helps.

[eccentricfarmer]

Soil and type of cow and any other critters. Your local ag office would be a good contact to make. That is small enough to use a hand sickle on. There were some great experiments using piled grass and putting pvc pipes in and using a blower and a thermostat and drying the hay that way.

Generally for the first planting i like to use some sort of nitrogen fixing legume (alfalfa, pea, etc) and in about 5 year or so when it start to go too weedy then change over to one of the grasses that work best in your area. Using manure on the field helps too.

[egon]

Not being familiar with Ohio I will suggest that you have a soil test done and add the suggested nutrients. Then see what grows for grass and if it will be viable.

Chances are the fellow with all the gear would be able to give you the best advice.

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] I have to chuckle just a bit about this since I spent years in the custom hay baling business and in that capacity I have baled some fairly small fields. I'm not very familiar with Ohio, but I THINK that you could theoretically expect to harvest between six and seven tons per cutting, if everything went right. I used to do my "hobby-sized" customers a good turn by going back to where I started baling and break open the first bale that I dropped and re-bale it. That way, I didn't leave a bale of junk hay from somebody else's field and take away a bale of their good stuff. A baler holds about a bale and a half of hay internally, so by the time I re-baled that first bale, the most junk hay they would end up with would be half a bale. This was an important consideration because in many cases they were selling hay by the bale to people who owned horses, and well, you know how tough it is to get a horse to eat crappy hay. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[countryman]

Boy if I could get six to seven tons per cutting that would be as Tony says, "greaaaaaaaaat" There's a lot of good info here, thanks to all that responded.

[Pat]

That might be 12 to 20 round bales worth from $14-25 to maybe $80-90 per bale depending on market conditions, bale weight, and product quality.

Pat