Post by Applelonia on Dec 21, 2017 10:12:12 GMT -5
What would you consider the best grasses to plant for a pasture mix and for grass hay?
We spoke with the farmer, who's going to be doing the hay for us, he wants to put the whole thing (20 acres) into alfalfa/grass mix. I can't remember if he said 70/30 or if it was higher. I know it was at least that high. When I asked his option on a nice pasture grass mix that didn't have alfalfa, he said he would plant their pasture area in the same high alfalfa mix. I figured some of the field would be planted in grass hay and a grass pasture mix. This isn't what I had envisioned He gets half of the hay for doing our hay for us. Does alfalfa produce a lot more per acre than straight grass?
We live in Minnesota so it's hard to find high quality second cutting grass hay. Many hay farmers plant alfalfa and alfalfa mix. We figured that once we brought the field we could grow our own grass hay but the farmer just seems to want high alfalfa - didn't even want to entertain the idea or talk about grass options. I tried explaining that we had a Randall heifer who got close to bloat on the little alfalfa that was originally in part of our pasture before it died out. She could not tolerate it. The farmer told us cattle like alfalfa and can eat straight alfalfa for their entire diet - that it's good for them. I think I'm coming from the mindset of more homestead, subsistence, forage based feeding and he's looking at it from a completly different farming aspect.
To the best of my knowledge, Randalls being a landrace breed from the east coast, have never had alfalfa. When the cows are offered alfalfa vs. grass hay (current grass hay has some timothy, orchard grass, and native volunteer grasses they sometimes eat the alfalfa first but often prefer the grass hay - even the Guernsey. They clearly want grass.
I'm not opposed to some alfalfa - might be good for the Guernseys - but want to have their diet much higher in grasses vs. alfalfa. If they did well on straight grass, I'd be happy with no alfalfa or close to it. Are there grasses that compare in protein levels/nutrition to alfalfa?
Also, does hay ground need to have corn planted in the rotation every 3-4 years? That's what he said would be best. When I brought up our manure that we'd like to spread on the field and till under, he said we could do that in 3-4 years when he tills up the hay to plant corn. I thought our couple year old manure would be a good addition to the ground this spring before planting - it was not. While we were talking I felt like our ideas were dismissed and being new to hay farming, we just let it be.
We spoke with the farmer, who's going to be doing the hay for us, he wants to put the whole thing (20 acres) into alfalfa/grass mix. I can't remember if he said 70/30 or if it was higher. I know it was at least that high. When I asked his option on a nice pasture grass mix that didn't have alfalfa, he said he would plant their pasture area in the same high alfalfa mix. I figured some of the field would be planted in grass hay and a grass pasture mix. This isn't what I had envisioned He gets half of the hay for doing our hay for us. Does alfalfa produce a lot more per acre than straight grass?
We live in Minnesota so it's hard to find high quality second cutting grass hay. Many hay farmers plant alfalfa and alfalfa mix. We figured that once we brought the field we could grow our own grass hay but the farmer just seems to want high alfalfa - didn't even want to entertain the idea or talk about grass options. I tried explaining that we had a Randall heifer who got close to bloat on the little alfalfa that was originally in part of our pasture before it died out. She could not tolerate it. The farmer told us cattle like alfalfa and can eat straight alfalfa for their entire diet - that it's good for them. I think I'm coming from the mindset of more homestead, subsistence, forage based feeding and he's looking at it from a completly different farming aspect.
To the best of my knowledge, Randalls being a landrace breed from the east coast, have never had alfalfa. When the cows are offered alfalfa vs. grass hay (current grass hay has some timothy, orchard grass, and native volunteer grasses they sometimes eat the alfalfa first but often prefer the grass hay - even the Guernsey. They clearly want grass.
I'm not opposed to some alfalfa - might be good for the Guernseys - but want to have their diet much higher in grasses vs. alfalfa. If they did well on straight grass, I'd be happy with no alfalfa or close to it. Are there grasses that compare in protein levels/nutrition to alfalfa?
Also, does hay ground need to have corn planted in the rotation every 3-4 years? That's what he said would be best. When I brought up our manure that we'd like to spread on the field and till under, he said we could do that in 3-4 years when he tills up the hay to plant corn. I thought our couple year old manure would be a good addition to the ground this spring before planting - it was not. While we were talking I felt like our ideas were dismissed and being new to hay farming, we just let it be.