Growing hay

[MikePA]

Turns out I packed the camera afterall!

It's interesting to see what is considered hay in different parts of the country. There's very little in the pictures that I'd call hay and what might be hay is way overgrown.

Timothy, orchard grass, plus a little alfalfa and clover is what I pay for and it gets harvested when it's still green, not brown. Hay is a crop just like corn, soybeans, etc., and not just anything that grows in a pasture. I'd have someone round bale the field and sell it as cattle/cow feed.

 

[Duffster]

Hay is a crop just like corn, soybeans, etc., and not just anything that grows in a pasture. .

Not true Mike.

While most of us would agree with you to a certain degree, hay is any plant material dried and made for feed.

The OP's hay is less than ideal but will certainly beat the heck out of snowballs come winter.

hay (h)
n.
1. Grass or other plants, such as clover or alfalfa, cut and dried for fodder

 

[MikePA]

I would not pay $3 or $4 for bales of what was in that pasture nor would I buy hay from anyone who didn't treat it like a crop. It probably has very little nutritional value and horses would only eat it as a last resort, i.e., eat it or starve.

No offense but perhaps 'hay' has a different meaning to horse owners.

 

[tallyho8]

I wouldn't give that hay to my horses if you gave it to me for free. But it would be good enough for cattle though it wouldn't sell for a very good price.

 

[Duffster]

You gotta love horse owners.

 

[TUG HILL ADDICT]

It's interesting to see what is considered hay in different parts of the country. There's very little in the pictures that I'd call hay and what might be hay is way overgrown.

Timothy, orchard grass, plus a little alfalfa and clover is what I pay for and it gets harvested when it's still green, not brown. Hay is a crop just like corn, soybeans, etc., and not just anything that grows in a pasture. I'd have someone round bale the field and sell it as cattle/cow feed.

Best post on this thread I agree completely.

 

[TUG HILL ADDICT]

Not true Mike.

While most of us would agree with you to a certain degree, hay is any plant material dried and made for feed.

The OP's hay is less than ideal but will certainly beat the heck out of snowballs come winter.

hay (h)
n.
1. Grass or other plants, such as clover or alfalfa, cut and dried for fodder

In reference to the statement in bold are you kidding me?

 

[Duffster]

In reference to the statement in bold are you kidding me?

Does it look like I was kidding?

I am not sure what was so hard to understand.

 

[rtimgray]

I can tell you guys from my experience that horse owners vs. cattle owners are very different in their selection of hay. My cows will eat pretty much anything that we put out for them. Now I won't argue that there are definately varying degrees of quality of hay, and I know that my cows have preferred clover and millet hay to the normal fescue/orchard grass and sagebrush/weeds that we do. However, I'm alot more inline with the "It beats snowballs" camp.

We had horses for years and years and years (and still have a couple now). Old Ebenezer (Tennessee Walker) only lived to be 21 eating old grass hay. Think how old he would have been if we had fed him good hay! Of course, I'm a bad horse owner because I keep them running with the cows and contained with barb wire fences!

Good luck and take care.

 

[riptides]

You harvest, you test for "quality", includes "looks", "smell", nutrients, chemical and moisture contents. You don't test on occassion, you don't know what you have.

 

[Ford850]

Does it look like I was kidding?

I am not sure what was so hard to understand.

I think the point is, according to that definition, straw would be hay. The OP pictures look like it's half way to straw with fair nutrition value left in it. I've seen a little of everything baled for hay though, and it all gets sold. When I was a kid I remember my dad complaining about poor quality grassy hay. He referred to it as "horse hay". Now I have to wonder if he was way off or if times have changed that much.

 

[Duffster]

I think the point is, according to that definition, straw would be hay. The OP pictures look like it's half way to straw with fair nutrition value left in it. I've seen a little of everything baled for hay though, and it all gets sold. When I was a kid I remember my dad complaining about poor quality grassy hay. He referred to it as "horse hay". Now I have to wonder if he was way off or if times have changed that much.

I see your point but it would depend what you consider straw I guess. To me straw is a dead plant material and hay is a live plant material cut and dried. If you look closely at the pictures there is a fair amount of live green grass and even the tops that look brown will still have a fair amount of moisture to it.

straw (strô)
n.
1.
a. Stalks of threshed grain, used as bedding for animals

We use straw for bedding but there is kinda a fine line between oat hay and oat straw, sometime only a few days time and what you use to cut it. LOL

We plant oats for a cover crop for new seeding alfalfa. Ideally if is to be cut for hay it is cut when the grain is still filling the kernels but when left for grain bad weather will sometimes lodge the crop before it is time to combine and it needs to be cut before it smothers the new seeding. If late enough it looks like straw but it still has the grain left in it, but it is still considered hay.

We even bale the road ditches and waterway grass when we get time. It certainly isn't first choice horse hay but it still has a value and can sell every bale come February. We make about a 100 big bales of grass like in the OP's pictures out of our overgrown pastures.

 

[nosliw]

update!

local guy came by and bailed + took all of it. he said he would have liked to harvest earlier (mid june) but it still has some green at the stalk and if his animals don't like it it'll make good bedding.

i'm having a different guy (one who only takes half) come next year at the right time.

now that it's nice and short i'll be dragging a spring harrow over it to bust up the moss. they say that'll make it grow thicker.

is what's growing out of the ground already my only option? can i grow a more profitable crop that i don't have to pay much attention to?

i was thinking oats or something.... maybe wheat if it'll grow. i've been researching this for a little while now. thought i'd ask for some opinions now that you've seen my land.

 

[Duffster]

is what's growing out of the ground already my only option? can i grow a more profitable crop that i don't have to pay much attention to?

i was thinking oats or something.... maybe wheat if it'll grow. i've been researching this for a little while now. thought i'd ask for some opinions now that you've seen my land.

Do you want grain or hay?

Oats or wheat would not be my first choice of hay crops.

 

[Mike120]

I'm always amused when people start talking about "horse hay" because I don't think there has ever been a more misunderstood market on this planet. Please pardon my generalities, but here's how I see it after years in the horse and hay business.

I breed horses and usually have 25-30 of them. All are high-dollar sport horses. I also raise hay to feed the 4 leg combines and sell a little as well. There is a wide variation in what is "horse hay". My version is weed-free, high-protein (mid-high teens), baled at just under 18% moisture. I'm picky about hay because if I can't get the protein from hay (the cheapest feed) I have to make it up with grain/pelleted feed. My feed bill usually runs around $300/week....I'd rather it wasn't any more. I've got friends that are pickier than me who import Timothy hay from up north by the truck loads. We are just one segment of the market...horses are a business.

Another large segment is the " competing horse owner" market. These are pet owners, but they use their horses in various disciplines and compete on them. They worry about feed, but their criteria for horse hay is usually "looks good, smells good". They know names like Tifton, Coastal, Timothy, don't know what they mean, but usually have opinions. They are willing to spend to get what they consider to be decent hay. Most have limited storage and usually buy 10-20 bales at a time.

Then there is the "pasture pet" market. Their horses are lawn ornaments. They look after them, ride them sometimes, leave them on grass, and keep them fed. They usually know little about hay and will buy what's available when it's available.

The worst ones are the ones who have a mare that they breed to keep their Ag tax exemption and sell the foal cheap or at auction. If they buy hay, they'll buy the cheapest junk they can find....they call it "horse hay" 'cause they feed it to a horse. It's usually old and weathered.

With hay, beauty IS in the eye of the beholder. If you bale something up, you can probably sell it as horse hay. Even more so this year. With the rains in the north and the drought in the south where will likely be a hay shortage this year. Bale away, someone will buy it!

 

[tallyho8]

I'm always amused when people start talking about "horse hay" because I don't think there has ever been a more misunderstood market on this planet. Please pardon my generalities, but here's how I see it after years in the horse and hay business.

I breed horses and usually have 25-30 of them. All are high-dollar sport horses. I also raise hay to feed the 4 leg combines and sell a little as well. There is a wide variation in what is "horse hay". My version is weed-free, high-protein (mid-high teens), baled at just under 18% moisture. I'm picky about hay because if I can't get the protein from hay (the cheapest feed) I have to make it up with grain/pelleted feed. My feed bill usually runs around $300/week....I'd rather it wasn't any more. I've got friends that are pickier than me who import Timothy hay from up north by the truck loads. We are just one segment of the market...horses are a business.

Another large segment is the " competing horse owner" market. These are pet owners, but they use their horses in various disciplines and compete on them. They worry about feed, but their criteria for horse hay is usually "looks good, smells good". They know names like Tifton, Coastal, Timothy, don't know what they mean, but usually have opinions. They are willing to spend to get what they consider to be decent hay. Most have limited storage and usually buy 10-20 bales at a time.

Then there is the "pasture pet" market. Their horses are lawn ornaments. They look after them, ride them sometimes, leave them on grass, and keep them fed. They usually know little about hay and will buy what's available when it's available.

The worst ones are the ones who have a mare that they breed to keep their Ag tax exemption and sell the foal cheap or at auction. If they buy hay, they'll buy the cheapest junk they can find....they call it "horse hay" 'cause they feed it to a horse. It's usually old and weathered.

With hay, beauty IS in the eye of the beholder. If you bale something up, you can probably sell it as horse hay. Even more so this year. With the rains in the north and the drought in the south where will likely be a hay shortage this year. Bale away, someone will buy it!

Well said.

 

[Duffster]

Well said.

Ditto