Making hay when the sun finally shines

alsxx

alsxx

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This year I am going to get a cut of hay off of half our field. We have about 6/7 acres, which is split roughly in two. The bottom half is the summer field, and the top half which is mainly sloped is the winter field.

I was thinking of moving the horses back onto the summer patch probably around march time, it gets very wet being at the bottom of the hill, and I don't want to move them too soon if I can help it. So will resting the top half from say, mid march to June time be enough 'growing time' for hay? What other steps should I look to take? The field is (normally, snow permitting!) cleared of dung on a weekly basis. Should I fertilise, if so whats best? Would it be best to get it rolled once they are moved off of it, its quite poached at the moment.

Any other tips welcomed!
 
Shutting your field up in March will be fine, but try to have your hay made early before the grass gets old. We don't shut up some of our mowing fields until well into April. Have it rolled and harrowed too. We don't fertilize any of our mowing grass other than what is dropped on it when being grazed (horse, sheep and cattle muck) so perhaps leave a bit of muck on it.
 
That sounds good, if the weather is vile in march not so much pressure to shift them onto the flat 'flood plain' then...
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So perhaps leave some dung and then harrow it to spread it round a bit? And then roll, or roll first then harrow (sorry I'm clueless!!)?

We actually have a roller believe it or not, which is quite handy!! But it probably needs a tractor to tow it...
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The old saying which always leaves a nice thought in my mind in times of cold weather and mud!!!!

March sounds fine, dont be in too much of a rush to get on it once the horeses are moved, let it green over first then harrow and roll it, harrowing will rip out the dead grass/moss and air the ground letting new grass shoots sprout, will also level out mole hills and hoof prints, then roll down after.
 
That sounds like far too much work, are you sure you'll end up getting hay cheaply enough with all the rolling and so on?

We just keep the horses off our fields to be cut and cut when other people in the area do. No harrowing, no rolling and no messing. If it's bumpy we set the mower high and then the second the bales are out, the horses go back in to perfect grazing.

Last year we cut in early April of all times, just as it came hot, as the grass was too long too early, and blow me if it didn't make superb hay! The next cut was as normal, thanks to hard rain until late June. Finally, we took a chance and got another cut when normally we'd be mowing simply to tidy the late summer grass up. That also made great hay!
Never had two cuts, let alone three until this year!
The first and third were soft, short stuff that's now being bagged up for rabbits and fetching about £10 per bale. The normal summer cut fed our horses for ages.

Good luck with yours.
 
I usually take the horse off around late march give it a harrow and roll put some fertilizer down and cut around June. Of course it all depends on the weather i think it was 2 years ago it was a dead loss cause of all the rain. As i am in the north of Scotland it can sometimes be a bit later than in the South but not by that much.
 
Thanks everyone that's really helpful!

I'll be harrowing it myself which is no odds really, and if it doesn't need rolling I wont bother (it may not as once its dries up it does level out quite a bit with them walking on it) but in theory I could roll it too...we have a roller, just looks quite big!!

I'm not after cheap hay as such, more my own supply so I dont have to faff about getting it in - as I see it, it will probably cost me roughly the same, maybe slightly less. Plus there is the added bonus of knowing where its come from i.e. ragwort free.
 
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