Comments on: An Offbeat Way To Make Good Hay http://www.yourlocalmarketblog.com/2009/09/08/an-offbeat-way-to-make-good-hay/ Organic Grocery Market, Shop Local, Small Farms, Family Farms Wed, 23 Mar 2011 19:01:43 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Dan Denton http://www.yourlocalmarketblog.com/2009/09/08/an-offbeat-way-to-make-good-hay/#comment-6004 Dan Denton Sat, 19 Dec 2009 23:37:27 +0000 http://organictobe.org/?p=3169#comment-6004 Impressive "guns" Gene! Impressive “guns” Gene!

]]> By: Monica in Michigan http://www.yourlocalmarketblog.com/2009/09/08/an-offbeat-way-to-make-good-hay/#comment-5993 Monica in Michigan Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:29:53 +0000 http://organictobe.org/?p=3169#comment-5993 Kevin, that looks like a great site, thanks for the reference! Kevin, that looks like a great site, thanks for the reference!

]]> By: Kevin Maginess http://www.yourlocalmarketblog.com/2009/09/08/an-offbeat-way-to-make-good-hay/#comment-5770 Kevin Maginess Wed, 07 Oct 2009 00:42:33 +0000 http://organictobe.org/?p=3169#comment-5770 Check this site out for information on using a scythe (The right way)for cutting hay. www.scytheconnection.com Especially look under Site Contents the article "Making hay on Fairy Hill farm". It talks about several different ways of making hay stacks. Lots of other good stuff as well. Regards from Canada, Kevin Check this site out for information on using a scythe (The right way)for cutting hay.
http://www.scytheconnection.com
Especially look under Site Contents the article “Making hay on Fairy Hill farm”. It talks about several different ways of making hay stacks. Lots of other good stuff as well.
Regards from Canada,
Kevin

]]> By: Gene Logsdon http://www.yourlocalmarketblog.com/2009/09/08/an-offbeat-way-to-make-good-hay/#comment-5699 Gene Logsdon Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:00:22 +0000 http://organictobe.org/?p=3169#comment-5699 Bluegrass is too short in its succulent stage to cut for hay. That's probably why your neighbors stared at you. But all things considered, bluegrass is the best pasture grass. Lots of pasture farmers disagree with that but long long experience has convinced me. All my fields, pasture and hay fields have a mixture of grasses and clovers. They all dry about the same. If you grow sorghum sudan grass (I definitely don't recommend it) or have a really heavy stand of red clover or alfalfa, it will take longer to dry. But by and large, grasses and legumes in mixdtures will dry out about the same, the grasses a little sooner than the legumes but no big deal. I would not try to do ten acres at a time with your equipment. Cut one acre and see how it goes. Good luck. Gene Bluegrass is too short in its succulent stage to cut for hay. That’s probably why your neighbors stared at you. But all things considered, bluegrass is the best pasture grass. Lots of pasture farmers disagree with that but long long experience has convinced me. All my fields, pasture and hay fields have a mixture of grasses and clovers. They all dry about the same. If you grow sorghum sudan grass (I definitely don’t recommend it) or have a really heavy stand of red clover or alfalfa, it will take longer to dry. But by and large, grasses and legumes in mixdtures will dry out about the same, the grasses a little sooner than the legumes but no big deal. I would not try to do ten acres at a time with your equipment. Cut one acre and see how it goes. Good luck. Gene

]]> By: Monica in Michigan http://www.yourlocalmarketblog.com/2009/09/08/an-offbeat-way-to-make-good-hay/#comment-5695 Monica in Michigan Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:49:27 +0000 http://organictobe.org/?p=3169#comment-5695 Gene, From what I've read, not all your pastures are legume, that you sometimes hay your mixed bluegrass/legume pastures. How does that dry and store with this process? We fertilized a 10 acre field that used to be in corn and had our neighbor farmer drill a mixture of seed (timothy, ryes, trefoil, red clover, some of this and that, but up here they looked at me like I was nuts for even asking about blue grass) with a cover of oats so that next year we can turn out our cattle, goats, and hopefully some sheep and maybe even 2 draft horses on it. But even so, it will need to be hayed at some point as well as the other 10 acre field that has been in continuous hay w/o lime or fertilization or re-seeding for at least 15 years. So we're thinking about using the brush hog flail mower on the back of our garden tractor and trying some of your hay stacks. It may not be practical to try so many acres with a brush-hog, so if you (or anyone else) has any advice for us novice homesteaders, it would be appreciated. Thanks Monica Gene,
From what I’ve read, not all your pastures are legume, that you sometimes hay your mixed bluegrass/legume pastures. How does that dry and store with this process? We fertilized a 10 acre field that used to be in corn and had our neighbor farmer drill a mixture of seed (timothy, ryes, trefoil, red clover, some of this and that, but up here they looked at me like I was nuts for even asking about blue grass) with a cover of oats so that next year we can turn out our cattle, goats, and hopefully some sheep and maybe even 2 draft horses on it. But even so, it will need to be hayed at some point as well as the other 10 acre field that has been in continuous hay w/o lime or fertilization or re-seeding for at least 15 years. So we’re thinking about using the brush hog flail mower on the back of our garden tractor and trying some of your hay stacks. It may not be practical to try so many acres with a brush-hog, so if you (or anyone else) has any advice for us novice homesteaders, it would be appreciated.

Thanks
Monica

]]> By: Gene Logsdon http://www.yourlocalmarketblog.com/2009/09/08/an-offbeat-way-to-make-good-hay/#comment-5684 Gene Logsdon Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:04:58 +0000 http://organictobe.org/?p=3169#comment-5684 Ian, ABout three inches high. What I have cut for hay so far is about 10 inches tall. Would cut 12 inches or with a newer rotary and sharp blades I would go to 15 without a qualm. My cut off point (what a pun) would be not the height of the clover but whether or not it was getting too coarse to dry fast. That's why I'd rather cut finer shorter hay--- the stems dry faster. I worried about losing clover leaves but actually not many are lost. They sort of bunch up in the shredded mass rather than fall loose on the ground. You should not cut clover much after September 5 (down here), actually, unless you are going to plow up the field for a cultivated crop, because that is the time, after August haymaking that the plants grow back and store energy in their roots for next years growth. You can safely cut again after about Oct. 10 (down here in Ohio) but of course, it is very difficult to get hay to dry and cure that late in the year. All experienced farmers I know think it is better not to make hay in the fall and that you will make up the difference with a bigger hay crop the next year. This is especially true with alfalfa which you generally hope will last five or six years anyway. Unless, as I said, you are going to plow the field up for corn the next year. Even then, plowing under that September/October growth will probably do more good that the hay will. As I keep saying, "it depends." Ian, ABout three inches high. What I have cut for hay so far is about 10 inches tall. Would cut 12 inches or with a newer rotary and sharp blades I would go to 15 without a qualm. My cut off point (what a pun) would be not the height of the clover but whether or not it was getting too coarse to dry fast. That’s why I’d rather cut finer shorter hay— the stems dry faster. I worried about losing clover leaves but actually not many are lost. They sort of bunch up in the shredded mass rather than fall loose on the ground. You should not cut clover much after September 5 (down here), actually, unless you are going to plow up the field for a cultivated crop, because that is the time, after August haymaking that the plants grow back and store energy in their roots for next years growth. You can safely cut again after about Oct. 10 (down here in Ohio) but of course, it is very difficult to get hay to dry and cure that late in the year. All experienced farmers I know think it is better not to make hay in the fall and that you will make up the difference with a bigger hay crop the next year. This is especially true with alfalfa which you generally hope will last five or six years anyway. Unless, as I said, you are going to plow the field up for corn the next year. Even then, plowing under that September/October growth will probably do more good that the hay will. As I keep saying, “it depends.”

]]> By: Ian in Dundas ON http://www.yourlocalmarketblog.com/2009/09/08/an-offbeat-way-to-make-good-hay/#comment-5676 Ian in Dundas ON Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:09:22 +0000 http://organictobe.org/?p=3169#comment-5676 Gene, your sickle mower has died, so are you going to make all hay in the future with the rotary mower? What height is the blade(s) on the rotary? How high a stand would you try this way? Don't you lose a lot of the clover leaf in the shredding? I made quite good hay for my first time this year, with benefit of no rain at all while I was cutting (sicklebar), windrowing, and putting up in stack and mow. Got finished about Sept 15th, now I wonder, how late should I try for a third cut on these mostly clover paddocks? Intrepid Farmer in Dundas ON Gene, your sickle mower has died, so are you going to make all hay in the future with the rotary mower? What height is the blade(s) on the rotary? How high a stand would you try this way? Don’t you lose a lot of the clover leaf in the shredding?
I made quite good hay for my first time this year, with benefit of no rain at all while I was cutting (sicklebar), windrowing, and putting up in stack and mow. Got finished about Sept 15th, now I wonder, how late should I try for a third cut on these mostly clover paddocks?
Intrepid Farmer in Dundas ON

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