Going back to DIY, new yard, to myself, lots of questions!

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custard

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Question 1. Will have 3 acres of old pasture which is in very good order and rested since October. By the time I get on it mid May, there will be loads of the green stuff I expect.

So, is it worth me setting say 2 acres aside for a few further weeks and getting some hay/haylage off it? How much am I likely to get and what would I pay for someone to do such a small area? Even if I was to pay say £3 a small bale for hay/£5 a bale for haylage it would be worth it not to have to source my own/arrange delivery.
 
Absolutely take advantage of this grass. How much you get depends entirely on how the weather pans out over the next couple of months but theres no way you will be able to graze off this much grass anyhow so even if you only get 100 bales it will be well worth it.
 
We used to have a 3 acre field that we got hay off, it was good meadow grass and put it this way we had enough for two horses and a lot left over after winter on that.

The bad bit was the the farmer who did it wouldnt bring it in for us, so we spent many very hot summers bringing it in, hot summer whats that now though!
 
Firstly you will love it! I did livery yards for years, got fed up with it and now self contained yard all to myself I can do what I what when I want!
I have 6 acres for 4 horses so every year I close off the top field (3 acres) to cut hay from it. I get about 350 bales from it every year, the farmer charges £1 per bale, believe me, you will save sooo much money rather than buying it. We are always overwhelmed by the amount that they are still munching through last years and we even had to sell some (£2 per bale) for some space!! The only bad thing is like Summer said, it's a day job bringing it all in and stacking it up! As long as you have got the storage space & enough grazing for the horses go for it!
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We paid over 50p per bale on 45 acres, when we tedded ourselves. If you cannot find a friendly farmer you will probably end up paying £2 per bale unstacked. If your field is awkard in any way you probably won't get anyone.

It needs to be mowed, tedded, baled and brought in. Its a lot of work and if you don't have the kit you are reliant on contractors. You will be bottom of the pile, so you'll need to be careful when its cut.
 
How mnay horses will you be putting on the 3 acres?
Id electric fence it off, strip graze and use the grass as required- including through the winter,
We opened up our last strip at the end of March, will close down again when grass Springs through.
 
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How mnay horses will you be putting on the 3 acres?
Id electric fence it off, strip graze and use the grass as required- including through the winter,

[/ QUOTE ]

This was another option I was thinking of since getting a farmer to cut and bale a small amount could be tricky and I've been in that 'bottom of the list' position before! There will be just my two so whilst it won't have the goodness in the Winter there will still be the bulk for them which I'd top up with some sort of bucket feed/forage balancer.
 
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