Posted by Dave H (MI) on October 25, 2013 at 06:45:10 from (184.226.251.244):
In Reply to: Planting Hay on Hay posted by picassomcp on October 24, 2013 at 19:33:09:
You have beef. If you looked out one year and saw a pasture with bony cattle, would you gun them all down and order new calves or would you find out what they needed and address it?
Real hay, by my definition so don't shoot me, is a thick stand of mixed grass, usually with a legume in small percentage. Unlike alfalfa, which has it's feet in two worlds (a row crop mowed each year for rich hay), grass hay is a long term perennial. My smallish field down the road has had the same grass hay on it for well over a decade.
We ask a lot of our hayfields and it would be foolish to think that you can take the volume off these fields that we do every year without giving something back. Have it tested and see what it needs. For me, weed control is not a chemical process because it could harm some component of the hay. Mowing the hay to stop the reproductive cycle of some weeds will work well. 3 years ago I had so much Queen Ann's Lace that the field looked frosted in late summer. Mowing it as it came to bud destroyed it in two years because it is biennial. Need to reseed your field? Let the grass stand an extra 1-2 weeks for Spring cutting. The dry seed heads will send seed all over you, the tractor, AND the field. I did this last year and, maybe it was a coincidence, but second cutting was 5 times as heavy this year than in prior years. You can also spray for the really bad weeds or you can over seed if you want a different grass on the field. Lots of ways to get it done. You can till to your hearts content if it makes you happy, but if you don't take on good management practices you will just end up where you started.
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