~ those who make their own hay ~

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shiresrus123

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going to have field grazed by sheep til april then going to leave for a cut of hay

do you graze then after the first cut and before the second ? and if so, how long do you graze for and what month do you get the second cut in?

thank s
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I would think you would want to graze it after you have had the best (first) cut off it in may/june not before!! so any stock should be off it about now and in a month or so when it drys out a harrow and roll etc over it... however Im no expert maybe others will be able to advise you better
 
the horses are on ours until end of march/start of april. Last year we cut June, not as thick as it could be but we have more than we need anyway so not a problem.

We then let it grow so that it has really good cover when the horses go back on it in october for the winter so it holds up well.

To get 2 cuts I think you would have to leave it be, last year we prob could have had a second cut just at the end of august.

not sure if that helps!
 
We graze our hay field until the beginning of April. then it is left to grow. Last year we managed to get 2 cuts. We had our 1st cut last year end of May beginning of June, then we managed to get a 2nd cut beginning of August.
 
A lot depends on whereabouts you are in the country and what your land is like
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I don't graze horses on mine from Christmas, the sheep will go back on it for a few weeks in March (this tidies it up nicely) but I would want them off it by April. If you are planning two cuts, I certainly would not be grazing sheep on it after mid March, and you will probably need to fertilise it in March anyway (and do your harrowing and rolling etc). If you graze it after the 1st cut you won't get a 2nd one. I don't use artificial fertilisers on mine because it is lush enough anyway, and because we are in a cold, exposed area I go for just one cut in July (because we are a bit behind here) and make haylage.

The silage fields get about 3 cuts if it's not too wet
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For those who have 2 cuts of hay off the same field are very lucky, we only just managed 1 cut off some fields last year.
Id graze up till march/april then get 1st cut june, i wouldnt graze in between, if anything try give it a dose of fertalizer, that way you get 2 good cuts off, 2nd cut september time.
 
we dont graze our hay fields at all, we cut the first crop, then will fertilize it and then take 2nd cut off it. We usually use 2nd cut for haylage, my friend baled theirs with eco bale this year and its made a massive diffrence to the quality.

But this year everybody seems to be wanting hay
 
It is not easy getting a second cut of hay, In fact getting the first can be pretty problematical.If the weather is bad ,the first cut will be late and poor quality and a second cut may not grow. Also if you aim for a second cut and the weather in september is bad ,you have a field of long grass of poor quality or worse still ,rotting hay in the field. I have been farming and haymaking for a long time and I have never been able to get a second cut.Sheep are wonderfull for grazing,as they encourage the grass to tiller(fill in all the bare gaps betwean the grass plants) This will increase productivity for next year,wheras continual haycutting,decreases it.
 
Our growing season begins and ends later than in Europe, it still rains though
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My grass doesn't even start growing until May, I fertilise/harrow/roll in April when it starts to thaw, not much point doing anything when the ground is still frozen. The horses graze on it until the snow stays, usually about November, it was New Year this year!

Depending on weather I'll probably get a cut in mid-June, then a 2nd in August/September. I actually took a 3rd cut in October last year because there was too much grass to put the horses out on, it was only about half of a usual crop, but hey, 250 bales is 250 bales!
 
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