* those who grow their own hay - clay soil? *

[shiresrus123]

Hi, does anyone grow hay on clay soil? I hear that putting manure on it for a while can soften it a bit, just wondered if it would be a waste of time trying to get it to giving hay?

thanks

 

[gails]

Have asked me farmer 'husband' he says cow muck wont hurt, but infact grass grows on pretty much anything.

We have a lovely hay field that is both clay and sand

 

[dwi]

Everywhere round here is clay soil and we have plenty of hay from nearby farmers.

 

[shiresrus123]

oh nice, thanks very much! how many bales do you reckon id get from 2 acres devoted entirely to just hay production on clay soil

 

[gails]

Depending on how you have kept it!!!! dont quite know what he means by that.!!!!!!!

He reckons around 50 to 80

 

[only_me]

all our land is clay soil, but we got a really good cut of hay in june, (we learnt our mistake the previous year!!) and app.400 bales of hay from 6 acres of land.

if you have lots of grass on the 2 acres id say app. 110 bales

 

[shiresrus123]

lol well its had sheep on but its going to become empty, is that per cut, or per acre, im thinking to reseed with something like a pasture mix, manure it, and leave til june next year

im getting far too excited about this now!

 

[only_me]

you need to get it fertilised quickly if you want a good cut in june

 

[shiresrus123]

interesting whys that

im hoping next week, and thankfully have a yr old muck heap thats been ruminating away, pure poop

 

[only_me]

if you get it fertilised quickly the grass will have more time to grow, so you will get a better cut in June

 

[shiresrus123]

makes sense! lol

 

[Clodagh]

We don't fertilise at all, and if you have had sheep on there I'm not sure you would need to?

 

[shiresrus123]

interesting even more!! good point, they will have done a nice job already on that

now to find a baler for an atv incase i cant convince oh that we need a cheapy tractor

 

[marmalade76]

In a good year we can get 100 bales per acre and the only fertiliser we have is what comes out of the animals that have grazed on it! The soil is heavy here. If we have a dry spring (as we did a couple of years ago) then it can make as little as 60 bales per acre. If you fertilize, you have to make it early as the grass gets old sooner and losses its greeness. It is best to graze mowing grass (taking the animals off in the spring, then chain harrow and leave to grow) some of the ground we make hay on is never grazed and this never make hay as nice as that made on the ground that is grazed.

I'm not sure if it is possible to get a baler that can be run by an ATV or even a small tractor. If they are available, I would imagine they are rather expensive where as you could find an old conventional baler for less than £1000. Our balers need a lot of power and my OH uses his biggest tractor for baling. Why not ask local farmers if they would do your bit for you when they are doing their own? My OH is a contractor and would normally charge about 70p a bale for haymaking but for only two acres, it would not be worth him getting his kit out at that price.

 

[Orangehorse]

There are probably people around who do make small patches of hay for people, they do it as a business.

We make the odd fields for neighbouring farmers, but our equipment is too big for horse owners.

It really would be better to ask someone with good equipment to make it for you, unless you are expert mechanical people and have a good use for a tractor (and they can be useful). But my husband spends a great deal of time servicing and getting equipment ready for the various tasks,and mending it when it breaks. Unless you have this experience and like doing mending machinery it could be very frustrating, and even more expensive, then just booking someone up to come and do it.

Ask around, look out for adverts in tack shops and magazines. Find out a couple of names so you have one in reserve.