Standing hay

[spotty_pony]

How many of you keep a field as 'standing hay' for winter grazing? I have two fields of this, and started grazing one two weeks ago - but obviously it is is growing all of the time still at the moment.

Do you find that the fields get less boggy this way? Does the grass seem to last quite a while? I would say I have about 6 acres of it for three horses and this is my first year doing it. They are probably in about 2 1/2 acres currently.

 

[Lady Jane]

Interested in replies.....

 

[Marigold4]

Less boggy but see posts elsewhere about endophytes. I grew two paddocks as standing hay last year and I'm pretty sure that's why my 3 all had raised liver enzymes last winter

 

[The Xmas Furry]

I have clean foggage waiting for November and a 2nd field for late Dec/early January.
Always have kept these 2 back with theur last grazing done about end March, has worked very well for over 30 years.

 

[Melandmary]

I had a field with standing hay but as I am the not so proud owner of 2 fatties the thought of putting them on it was frankly too frightening so I have sheep on it. They are munching it down well but I think i will still have to strip graze so I probably won't let it grow again. The idea appealed initially because I thought it would keep my winter hay bills down

 

[MereChristmas]

I have 2 fields, each about 1 1/2 acres at 1000 ft above sea level facing almost north.
They are grazed approximately 6 months each. ( Christmas to the start of July )
Last year from September for the first time I owned a reasonably good do-er. I let him strip graze one field until he had the whole field. He was on this until July which is longer than usual but he was too fat when he arrived.
The second field had sheep on it from April to July and I moved the pony on to part of it a couple of weeks later. He has one more section to be opened for him and then he will have the whole field until Christmas. After that he will have the first field until July section by section until he has all of it.
Hopefully next year will be the same.
Neither field has tall standing hay but is at least ankle high grass. I used 40 bales of hay and and a balancer in the winter but expect to use less if the weather is comparable to last year.
The fattish Connemara has stayed pretty good all year.

The July to Christmas field is always trashed and wet but it will recover after the sheep.
I have lived here for over 25 years so I have already made mistakes in grazing regimes. I will probably make more.
All you can do is decide what you think will work best and try it.
However, be prepared to alter that plan.
Best of luck.

 

[Gloi]

We strip graze it through winter and sometimes it lasts and sometimes need to feed hay depending on the winter weather.

 

[rextherobber]

I tried it last winter but neither of them would eat it ( TB, TB x, they probably (mistakenly) thought they were too posh) they just trampled it, and stood gazing sadly at the hay barn.

 

[fidleyspromise]

I had 2 acres of a field that hadn't been grazed since winter. Lasted mine most of the winter and they needed very little hay.
2 large native ponies. Strip grazed it so it didn't get trampled.
It was on clay and field got very wet easily.

 

[Not_so_brave_anymore]

I find leaving long grass for the winter defo helps protect the ground, but doesn't save me much hay.

Two fat little ponies almost entirely off the grass spring/summer. If I had more land/better access I'd try and make hay, but as it is I put sheep on over summer, take them off mid August and ease the ponies back on by end of November. Ponies off again by the end of March. Grass rests completely until June. No idea if that's "right"!

 

[tallyho!]

Less boggy but see posts elsewhere about endophytes. I grew two paddocks as standing hay last year and I'm pretty sure that's why my 3 all had raised liver enzymes last winter

You do need to be careful and also this year, check for ergot. Join the trackies page on FB you learn loads on there about grass and managing paddocks for winter. The most useful bit of info I found is you need to top or graze the first growth so the autumn foggage doesn't all go to seed. Once the sward looks dry and brown growth is done - then it is foggage and can be grazed (as long as the stems and leaves look healthy). Obviously some people think that's wrong and will have different views but it does avoid the potential ingestion of mould that likes to eat the starch in the seeds when it's cold and damp.

Like anything, do your research - use google scholar or pubmed there are lots of ag uni folk doing studies on grass and climate which is really interesting if you're that way inclined

 

[HBB]

I left a couple of acres to grow last year and regretted it. Once the grass had grown to a certain length and had been flattened by the winter weather the amount of mould and fungus attached to the grass made it unusable and the creeping buttercup was rife.
This year I regularly topped my winter paddocks, the grass looks dense and healthy now with no weeds, I will start strip grazing it in November and it should last until March.

 

[Marigold4]

I left a couple of acres to grow last year and regretted it. Once the grass had grown to a certain length and had been flattened by the winter weather the amount of mould and fungus attached to the grass made it unusable and the creeping buttercup was rife. I have now regularly topped my winter paddocks all summer, the grass looks dense and healthy now with no weeds.

Yes that's exactly what happened to my standing hay and eating some of the mould gave my horses raised liver enzymes. Never again! All topped now.

 

[Marigold4]

You do need to be careful and also this year, check for ergot. Join the trackies page on FB you learn loads on there about grass and managing paddocks for winter. The most useful bit of info I found is you need to top or graze the first growth so the autumn foggage doesn't all go to seed. Once the sward looks dry and brown growth is done - then it is foggage and can be grazed (as long as the stems and leaves look healthy). Obviously some people think that's wrong and will have different views but it does avoid the potential ingestion of mould that likes to eat the starch in the seeds when it's cold and damp

Like anything, do your research - use google scholar or pubmed there are lots of ag uni folk doing studies on grass and climate which is really interesting if you're that way inclined

I've topped mine now and won't be doing the standing hay again.

 

[Marigold4]

You do need to be careful and also this year, check for ergot. Join the trackies page on FB you learn loads on there about grass and managing paddocks for winter. The most useful bit of info I found is you need to top or graze the first growth so the autumn foggage doesn't all go to seed. Once the sward looks dry and brown growth is done - then it is foggage and can be grazed (as long as the stems and leaves look healthy). Obviously some people think that's wrong and will have different views but it does avoid the potential ingestion of mould that likes to eat the starch in the seeds when it's cold and damp.

Like anything, do your research - use google scholar or pubmed there are lots of ag uni folk doing studies on grass and climate which is really interesting if you're that way inclined

My grass is rye grass and I read somewhere that the seed can be deliberately engineered to produce endophytes to stop a certain type of bug eating it.

 

[tallyho!]

My grass is rye grass and I read somewhere that the seed can be deliberately engineered to produce endophytes to stop a certain type of bug eating it.

Possibly, but I would avoid ryegrass if at all possible and you can't avoid it easily in the UK. Some people overseed with hardier more suitable grasses for horses which you can get online. This needs a few years to work well.

 

[southerncomfort]

I've topped mine now and won't be doing the standing hay again.

Same here.

I've grown standing hay the last 3 years but after having to remove every last seed head this year due to ergot fungus, I'm never doing it again.

 

[Regandal]

I’ve done it in the past, but it was only standing hay until the first bout of wind and rain. Totally flattened, patches of grass underneath went rotten. Last few years I have had it topped in July, worked out just fine.

 

[spotty_pony]

Been and checked today and luckily we do not have ergot! Else I was thinking I was going to have to top (and rake up) the whole lot now! Not completely cushy though as we do have sycamores here which are about to drop their seedlings ? anytime now so I have had to fence them off and have my rake at the ready! ?

 

[Antw23uk]

I cut for hay and then it gets to grow and be used from about now ish to when its all strip grazed. Strip grazing stops it getting trampled and wasted. The longer grass tends to hold the ground together more during winter and having been rested for most of the year its a stronger, healthier and more diverse turf.

 

[Marigold4]

Possibly, but I would avoid ryegrass if at all possible and you can't avoid it easily in the UK. Some people overseed with hardier more suitable grasses for horses which you can get online. This needs a few years to work well.

I would love to avoid ryegrass but field is rented. I keep them off it for several hours a day and feed meadow grass haylage and chaff to lower effect. How do you go about over-seeding?

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

I cut for hay and then it gets to grow and be used from about now ish to when its all strip grazed. Strip grazing stops it getting trampled and wasted. The longer grass tends to hold the ground together more during winter and having been rested for most of the year its a stronger, healthier and more diverse turf.

I have been doing exactly this the last 3 years and so far it is working very well. I have about 9 acres of winter grazing that we took hay off in the summer. This year it is actually a little too rich looking but I usually wait until a couple of good hard frosts have knocked it back a bit, and then I only strip graze to be on the safe side. I would never just turn them out on all of it anyway, that way most of it just get tramped down and rots away ruining the field.

I didn't use any hay last year at all - but the year before I did as I still had the big horse scoffing his way through it all at an alarming rate. He is still away on his holidays until next spring so I suspect once again I will not need any hay for just one horse and two donkeys.

 

[Hallo2012]

always leave standing hay for winter-rested from April to oct/nov.

yes it falls over, its not very appetising and not much nutritional content BUT mine are fat natives so ideal for them and as my ground is hideous orange clay the length and thickness stops it churning up so quickly....i simply cannot strip graze in winter as anything shoter than knee deep grass turns in to plough

mine is waist deep and turning brown now, no ergot thank god.

 

[Fransurrey]

I fence off half of my field for foggage (about 1.5 acres out of 3). They go on it starting early November, depending on weather. It's a mix of 'wide blade' grasses, thistles and wild flowers. It does help massively with poaching and keeps them busy for a good 4-6 weeks. I continue to feed hay at summer rates until the weather turns colder or it runs out (I feed hay all year round).

 

[suestowford]

I too have fatties so their summer keep is a small patch that's pretty well grazed down now. Just waiting for the long grass in the closed section to turn a bit brown before I start opening it up (a bit at a time). Where the long grass is definitely gets less poached than where the short grass is.

 

[Cortez]

Since cutting down on horses two years ago I have kept 3/4 of the farm for winter foggage. Last winter I fed precisely one bale of hay (large round), and that was only when I had to have them in because of weather. I'll be doing the same this winter too. The ground was considerably less poached, and everything did eventually get eaten off.

 

[tallyho!]

I would love to avoid ryegrass but field is rented. I keep them off it for several hours a day and feed meadow grass haylage and chaff to lower effect. How do you go about over-seeding?

It's probably too late this year but if you plan for next year, you buy mixed meadow seeds from a supplier like cotswold seed co or meadowmania just google horse grass seed and choose a no ryegrass or herb blend. The websites give loads of info so need for me to repeat but you might need a friend with an ATV and a spreader to help!!