Cut as hay or leave as grass ??

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wallykissmas

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I have two acres of land with knee high grass( looking a little sparce and could do with more rain) which I have been saving for winter, but have now be told I should have it cut as hay and it will then thicken/green up and regrow if/when we get rain, and the horses wont eat it once it becomes too long and the grass has heads/seeds ??

Im stumped, horses have been eating it fine when they have been moved around the land and thought it would be a good idea to have some winter grazing. I appreciate it will lose its goodness but its still fibre and something to keep them entertained during the winter instead of chucking loads of hay out.

The cost of having it cut would be about the same as to buy in hay so Im not saving anything.

Have been left a bit confussed by the conversation :confused:
 
I'd cut it too. The grass will come through better next year too. I you cut it in July, and still leave it fenced off, there will still be lots of grass left by winter as it will grow again, only thicker...

When we made big bales of haylage from our land we were charged £10/bale to have them made, which is a lot cheaper than what we paid to buy big bales...
 
I was told it would cost just as much to have them made as it would be to buy them which is £35 for a 450kg bale ! Seems a bit much to me as Im only pay for time and fuel, not the grass ?
 
lwvtb said:
I have two acres of land with knee high grass( looking a little sparce and could do with more rain) which I have been saving for winter, but have now be told I should have it cut as hay and it will then thicken/green up and regrow if/when we get rain, and the horses wont eat it once it becomes too long and the grass has heads/seeds ??

Im stumped, horses have been eating it fine when they have been moved around the land and thought it would be a good idea to have some winter grazing. I appreciate it will lose its goodness but its still fibre and something to keep them entertained during the winter instead of chucking loads of hay out.

The cost of having it cut would be about the same as to buy in hay so Im not saving anything.

Have been left a bit confussed by the conversation :confused:
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Ok...here we go.
Phone a reputable contractor...oh by the way do you have 12 foot gates otherwise they will have difficulty getting in.
Cutting should cost £70 for 2 acres.
Then make a decision...hay or haylage? Hay will need turning at least once a day for 4/5 days depending on the weather and the crop, but will still need turning once a day. Are you in a position to do this or is a contracting job again? Don't know the price for this as we have our own equipment.
You will get 350 bales crop dependant. Baling is usually anywhere between 50 and 80 pence per bale.
Haylage will need 1 day less and you can do big bale which with wrap will probabaly cost you £10 per bale, you will get, again crop dependant, 30 bales.
Small bale haylage is a BEAST to get off the field!
Or sell it as standing hay and pay for your hay out of the proceeds.

You will get a better quality grass afterwards, but you will need to allow it to grow before allowing the horses back on.

Best of luck
Bryndu
 
lwvtb said:
I have two acres of land with knee high grass( looking a little sparce and could do with more rain) which I have been saving for winter, but have now be told I should have it cut as hay and it will then thicken/green up and regrow if/when we get rain, and the horses wont eat it once it becomes too long and the grass has heads/seeds ??

Im stumped, horses have been eating it fine when they have been moved around the land and thought it would be a good idea to have some winter grazing. I appreciate it will lose its goodness but its still fibre and something to keep them entertained during the winter instead of chucking loads of hay out.

The cost of having it cut would be about the same as to buy in hay so Im not saving anything.

Have been left a bit confussed by the conversation :confused:
Click to expand...


We do both.

We have an acre set aside which has always been for winter grass. Last year we cut it for hay and after the bales were stored we let it grow on for winter grass. Worked a treat and despite the snow, our two (out 365 24/7) came out of the winter fatter that they went in :eek:

We are planning on doing the same thing this year.

The cost of big bale hay down here has been up to £40 per bale. It did not cost us £40 to have the hay cut and baled, in a poor year we got three bales, this year we expect more, so a lot cheaper than buying.
 
I guess the other thing you should take into account is how easy will it be to get hay in your area this year, if you think you may struggle then get it cut, personally i think i would if i were in your shoes. Friends cut 3 acres last year & had 20 big bales off it, but their grass wasnt great. Also agree with Bryndu, small haylage bales are horrible to get off the field, really really back breaking work!
 
I can buy hay in at £35 a large bale from my normal supplier but was offered having it direct off my field, but cant work out how it would still cost me £35 a bale .....


Thanks for the other info might call round some contractors and see what they think to cost.
 
If you pay to make hay/haylage out of it and it's crap, it's your crap. By buying in you can expect to pay for good stuff, especially at those prices.

Grass shut away and left to the winter was called foggage, not sure of spelling, anyway, its really poor quality in terms of feed value but ideal for horses, and they do eat it off in winter, they love it and it recovers well in spring.

Modern farming and grassland management looks great and is ok for cows, but horses do better on less green, longer, gone to seed grass.
 
Id cut for hay. Taking into account that we havent had decent rain for months in the south you'd be hard pressed to get decent yield from the field. Im looking at 50 bales an acre and i'll be pleased. But hay will be very expensive again this year, and i must have hay especially if we have snow again so id rather get what i can. Traditionally you cut meadow hay after/as the seeds have fallen from the stalks and that means lots of new grass on the field for next year.

My horses are being strip grazed on knee deep grass atm and they eat everything, seeds and all. Just be a little careful as the seeds are straights and as a food source can be too rich. I think the small amount of new strip i give them every few days seems to be ok though.

However, nailing a contractor is tough and ive been advised to give away half my crop in payment as opposed to paying in cash. The thought there is that the contractor will make nice tidy bales of well turned hay rather than just do a rush job as he has an investment in the crops quality too.

After that, i'll rest the field, just for a couple of weeks and put the ponies in to graze it off for as long as i can get away with it. Tbh, they'll prob all be fat by then and i only want them to have limited food. That'll rest the other fields. I wont poo pick the hay field, just harrow it all in next feb/march as fertiliser for the next years hay.
 
lwvtb said:
I have two acres of land with knee high grass( looking a little sparce and could do with more rain) which I have been saving for winter, but have now be told I should have it cut as hay and it will then thicken/green up and regrow if/when we get rain, and the horses wont eat it once it becomes too long and the grass has heads/seeds ??

Im stumped, horses have been eating it fine when they have been moved around the land and thought it would be a good idea to have some winter grazing. I appreciate it will lose its goodness but its still fibre and something to keep them entertained during the winter instead of chucking loads of hay out.

The cost of having it cut would be about the same as to buy in hay so Im not saving anything.

Have been left a bit confussed by the conversation :confused:
Click to expand...

Weigh up the pros and cons!
If the weather stays good and you can get a contractor to cut a small area at just the right time then cut it for hay. Right time is just as the seed heads form - But will it rain? If rain is immenent you'll be last on the baling list as the contractor will bale the larger places first. Have you enough people on hand to pick it up and store it?

Or leave it to stand - seed heads will drop off and germinate - increasing the amount of grass you have. My horses winter every year on 'Hay on the stalk' Long grass left until winter. It may not have as much goodness but it keeps them well and healthy.

Strip graze the horses through it and hope that you get more rain as the shorter the grass the longer it akes to recover from drought.

HAve gone the way of making my own hay but after two years where it rained and only having 20acres at the time meant we were at the bottom of the baling list. Hense substandard hay. Found it cheaper in the long run toclet others run the risk and to buy off the paddock - I then could pick and choose so always got lovely hay.
 
If you can get it cut, then do it.

However, I left an acre paddock to rest up for over 9 months last year.
Popped 2 of the (fattest!:eek:) Fuzzy's in there at the end of October during the day on short strip grazing (eleccy fence) and back in diet patch at night. They then did full time in there during early December, then I hayed them at daytime 4 days before xmas.....(and a little during the snow before then). There was plenty of fibre for them both on the long length. Saved approx 35-40 small bales of hay in that time .........

Did them a treat it did:D Moved them out at the end of Jan - and its the only padock with a decent covering of grass right now, so am going to do the same this autumn as there is already far to much Dr Green in ther right now. :)
 
You will get 350 bales crop dependant. Best of luck
Bryndu[/QUOTE]

Dream on!!! There is no way you will ever get 350 conventional bales off 2 acres.Unfertilised meadow grass , 160 bales (40kg) tops in a good year.
 
giveitago said:
Id cut for hay. Traditionally you cut meadow hay after/as the seeds have fallen from the stalks and that means lots of new grass on the field for next year.
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That is a load of rubbish! - where on earth did you learn this?

The best meadow hay is cut just after the seeds have set - then you have the maximum goodness in the hay. Once the seeds have dropped all you have is dried fibre with no feed value. Some grasses die back if allowed to seed completely - rye grass being one especially. To keep rye grass growing you top the paddock to remove the seed heads - it then carries on growing.

June is traditionally the time for cutting hay but with the UK weather patterns changing it may now be earlier. Depending on rainfall a second cut in August.
 
Tonnage and nutritional quality do not follow the same curve on a graph. The Highest tonnageis just as the seed has formed, but the most nutritious is just after flowering . There is a trade off between quantity and quality. Incidentaly there is a word for grass that has dropped its seed ....STRAW.
 
Mike007 said:
Tonnage and nutritional quality do not follow the same curve on a graph. The Highest tonnageis just as the seed has formed, but the most nutritious is just after flowering . There is a trade off between quantity and quality. Incidentaly there is a word for grass that has dropped its seed ....STRAW.
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Mike007 I do so love your replies - I have a chuckle :)
 
AndySpooner said:
Horses cannot cope with grass or hay of a high nutritional value. That's why they get laminitis.
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Strange,I dont think we ever had a racehorse go down with laminitis ,and they were getting some of the best hay in the world. On the otherhand there are a lot of horses getting too much feed and not enough work.
 
AndySpooner said:
Horses cannot cope with grass or hay of a high nutritional value. That's why they get laminitis.
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Yes they can - they just need more exercise and less or no hard feed.

I've had horses - in large quantities and have never had any problems with feeding horse and ponies grass and hay of good nutritional value. I've had riding schools full of ponies and not one case of laminitis.

They got fed well and also worked correctly for the feed they were getting - I also don't waste my money on processed feeds which contain many products that are not truly good for horses. These are what is causing the massive rise in laminitis along with insufficient work.

Mike007 you beat me to it! :D
 
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Evelyn said:
Yes they can - they just need more exercise and less or no hard feed.

I've had horses - in large quantities and have never had any problems with feeding horse and ponies grass and hay of good nutritional value. I've had riding schools full of ponies and not one case of laminitis.

They got fed well and also worked correctly for the feed they were getting - I also don't waste my money on processed feeds which contain many products that are not truly good for horses. These are what is causing the massive rise in laminitis along with insufficient work.

Mike007 you beat me to it! :D
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Evelyn, I agree with all you have said, unfortunately most horses get very little exercise, loads of hard processed feeds coated with plenty of molasses, and excellent 1st quality hay made from the finest rye grasses known to the dairy industry, little wonder laminitis is described as an epidemic.
 
AndySpooner said:
I expect you might if they weren't racing, lol.
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Rubbish - the fault lies with the stupid behaviour of the owner who feeds too much and fails to exercise the horse properly.

It should be a chargeable offence to allow a horse to get laminitis - maybe that will stop people being so foolish. Native ponies I will agree can be prone to laminitis. It is a disease caused by poor management - nothing more!

Before the advent of processed feeds it truly rarely ever happened except to overweight native ponies on spring grass. It was stopped in a flash by removing them from the grass, stabling on a soft bed and feeding hay - no hard food, maybe a bran mash with Epsom salts to move the grass through fast.
 
MrsD123 said:
Even if you don't want hay which is free!, I would have the field topped ie cut to encourage growth
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This is a good point - if you leave the horses to graze the field you will need to top it eventually anyway.

Far better to take a clean cut off it I would have thought.
 
Even the h&h forum is deteriorating into a slagging match.

Fyi evelyn, my family are argricultural farmers for the past century. When cutting Meadow hay it is best to have some seed fall to re-seed the field for next year. Have the animals dung all over it during the winter, harrow it in early spring and start again. It has long been the natural way of managing pasture. Horses, especially mine, do not need the seeds as a food value over the winter. They need good quality forage provided in hay to supplement the grass and keep their digestion moving. Rye grasses that are popular now are well known to be 'rocket fuel' for horses due to the high value. I prefer to feed something less calorific and therefore prefer ad lib meadow when required.

Straw is the term used for the waste stalk from crops such as barley, wheat and oats.

We are due to cut in a fortnight, dependent on weather as the grass is just turning colour. I am hoping for 800 bales off ten acres. It may be slightly less as we would normally be looking at the first week of july to cut.


Fingers x.
 
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