2016 Hay season started for me.

[cat fever]

Wow, I would like to get two good cuts. We generally get one good cut but all bets are off after that. It's just to dry here and I have no water rights at this point. It is raining again right now, hope it's a good amount not just a sprinkle.

 

[Mud Mechanik]

Gonna spread chicken litter next week on the hay fields, it is being delivered now. I have a 90 ton mound of smelly fertilizer just waiting on a promising rain forecast.

 

[farmer2009]

Gonna spread chicken litter next week on the hay fields, it is being delivered now. I have a 90 ton mound of smelly fertilizer just waiting on a promising rain forecast.

Had that done about 2 weeks ago. 3 ton per acre chicken litter on hay ground. Then Urea and ESN on pastures. Soil samples showed it was all I needed on my pastures.

 

[farmer2009]

Wow, I would like to get two good cuts. We generally get one good cut but all bets are off after that. It's just to dry here and I have no water rights at this point. It is raining again right now, hope it's a good amount not just a sprinkle.

Most years we can get two cuttings. Sometimes three.

What does it take to get water rights out west? Do you have to have water rights to water livestock?

 

[cat fever]

Most years we can get two cuttings. Sometimes three.

What does it take to get water rights out west? Do you have to have water rights to water livestock?

To get water rights I would have to find someone willing to sell their shares for whatever price they wanted.

Yes, water rights for livestock is needed, but I don't think anyone cares.

 

[cat fever]

For the last week it has rained a lot here. So my field is looking really good, sadly it has been 45-55 degrees so not growing much. This next week it's supposed to dry out and get warmer. Here is a couple shots I took last night, can't see the growth to much though.
Looking back from my house.
Looking south from my house.
You can see old man winter is still trying to hold on. Snow gets a little higher on the mountains every week. I still have snow on the east side of my barn but it will be gone by tomorrow.

 

[cat fever]

Had that done about 2 weeks ago. 3 ton per acre chicken litter on hay ground. Then Urea and ESN on pastures. Soil samples showed it was all I needed on my pastures.

I'm surprised that with chicken poop and Urea your fields aren't getting burned. That's a lot of N2, it's gonna grow like a weed.

 

[farmer2009]

I'm surprised that with chicken poop and Urea your fields aren't getting burned. That's a lot of N2, it's gonna grow like a weed.

The chicken litter was 50lb/ton of N. So I applied 150lb/acre of N. In my area the recommendation for N is 140lb/acre. This was just hay fields of mixed grasses. My best hay yields to date are just over 2.5ton/acre for first cutting of dry hay and then grazing the rest of the year. Now that's mainly Fescue grass. Dad complained the whole time he was baling it that it was too thick. I just laughed.

The Urea and ESN mix went out on my pasture ground. 90lb/acre of N total. I soil tested this year and some of my levels were very high. So I elected to go with straight N for the third year. Just grazing grass really doesn't remove any nutrients from the soil it just recycles them. So I will be holding off on the chicken litter on these fields for a few more years. Too many years of chicken litter is what has those levels so high.

I own my pasture. I rent my hay ground. Most of my hay ground was severely neglected for many years before I got it. While I raise cows, but I also must make sure that I raise grass first. Must also remember we receive more rain during the growing season than some of you get all year.

 

[Tor Arne]

Come a few inches of snow here yesterday so it's a while before I can think about making hay:smiley_aafz:

 

[Bigfoot62]

Well, I was wondering if it was time to start the 2016 Hay season thread, and I find out that I'm late to the party. (already 5 pages of posts)

I applied lime and fertilizer (chicken poop) in November. Our spring has been generally wet and mild, so I have grass that's almost waist deep. Much of the growth is "winter" grass (red rice, wild rye, etc) that I need to cut. Otherwise, it could kill the summer grasses that are underneath. If the weatherman is correct, we are supposed to get 5-6 days of sunshine this week, beginning on Tuesday. If that forecast holds, I should be baling my first cutting by this weekend.