Growing Grass Hay 101 - Someone Please Educate Me

[deenamr]

I have inherited the 5 acre mini farm from my parents. I need to decide what to do with the pasture. I am a single woman who works a full time plus job and find caring for 5 acres and having a personal life difficult. In the past I have always had a neighbor who used my pasture to run his cows on. He had been doing it for years while my father was here. Basically the guy was a pain because he didn't take care of watering his cows, irrigating, pasture and fence care as was agreed upon. This year he is not using it and another neighbor asked to use it. He has yet to bring his cows and my pasture is 2 to 4 feet tall at this point. Also the neighbor who is now wanting to use it took a job about 1000 miles away and will be gone 2 weeks then home for 1 week all summer. When we agreed on this he was to do all of the irrigating but now he isn't around to do it. In the past the cows have chased me when I am out in the pasture and I don't really enjoy being on the same side of the fence as them.

Recently I was telling a client of mine at the vet clinic that I manage about my pasture problems and he suggested renting it to him and he would cut it for hay. Said he typically pays $120 per acre per cutting (way better than the nothing the neighbor was going to pay). I am not sure if the client was just being nice or if this might be a feasible option for me.

My current set-up is flood irrigated - I have water for about 24 hours every weekend. The pasture is a mix of grasses and clover with purple or white flowers. Is this really fesabile as a good grass hay or if I really want to do this do I need to plow my pasture and replant? Do I need to invest in a different irrigation system? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have been struggling with the idea of giving up this place that I love so much but the workload is too much for me to do alone. I could use the money from the hay to pay for some help with some of the stuff that needs done. It is my goal to eventually be set up to the point that I can go away for a weekend and not have to worry that nothing is being irriagted or that the cows will have problems. I have spent the last 12 years caring for my elderly parents and am finally having time for a social life and I want to be able to enjoy it.

Any and all advice and info will be greatly appreciated.

 

[freemotion]

OK, not the voice of experience here, but it sounds like you might know the answer.....let the client hay it for you, and be done with the cows and the headaches. You can't really have cows on your property that will likely be neglected with the absentee owner....in our area, the landowner is also responsible for animal neglect on their property, even if they don't own the animals.

Let the hay guy come and look, since he is the one who will be needing to cut it right away anyways. Maybe he even has the equipment to get it up to prime condition for haying and will trade for a year to get it producing properly again. But if it is all grass and clover, it is probably in good shape right now.

I'm sure someone with real experience will jump right in, when they are done with their chores!

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Sounds to me like you should have the guy who is williing to rent the land out to look at it. Grass/clover mix is a good hay even if the clover is thin, it will make young stock hay (maybe horses, goats, sheep, etc--not sure on those animals). The guy will know if it's at a percentage mix that he wants. Not only are you getting an income off the field but, no worry about livestock.

I'm not sure on irrigation systems as here the only fields irrigated are potato, sweet corn, green beans, peas, and a few other veg type fields.

I don't know where your at but, county extension offices (or equivalent) would be able to tell you the current rental price for your area is.

 

[Thewife]

Hi deenamr, welcome to the board!

I believe you are in Oregon?
You might want to check the Capital press or Craigs list, to see what haying land is going for! I'm in SW Washington and we just did about 20 acres of just grass for free, and I know of a couple more that I could do, if I had the guts to haul the equipment!

With that said, if you don't want to deal with cows, don't!
If it seems like a good deal, let the person hay it!
I would also check with the local county extension office, to see what it would go for and any other thoughts on making good hay!

Take this time and enjoy life!
I took care of my parents for over 20 years, mom is gone, dad is dad! I know the feeling of wanting a life!
(silly me, I just keep farming which really means no life at all!)

 

[zatsenoughcritters4me]

we have an alfalfa hay field and we have a neighbor who bales it for us, and stacks it in the barn, and we give him half the hay. IT works out good for us, feeds all our animals, he takes care of the tractors, gas, cutting, raking, baling, materials for baling.. wire etc.. sprays for bugs..
my animals eat and we don't have to worry about baling hay.

 

[WildRoseBeef]

I have inherited the 5 acre mini farm from my parents. I need to decide what to do with the pasture. I am a single woman who works a full time plus job and find caring for 5 acres and having a personal life difficult. In the past I have always had a neighbor who used my pasture to run his cows on. He had been doing it for years while my father was here. Basically the guy was a pain because he didn't take care of watering his cows, irrigating, pasture and fence care as was agreed upon. This year he is not using it and another neighbor asked to use it. He has yet to bring his cows and my pasture is 2 to 4 feet tall at this point. Also the neighbor who is now wanting to use it took a job about 1000 miles away and will be gone 2 weeks then home for 1 week all summer. When we agreed on this he was to do all of the irrigating but now he isn't around to do it. In the past the cows have chased me when I am out in the pasture and I don't really enjoy being on the same side of the fence as them.

Recently I was telling a client of mine at the vet clinic that I manage about my pasture problems and he suggested renting it to him and he would cut it for hay. Said he typically pays $120 per acre per cutting (way better than the nothing the neighbor was going to pay). I am not sure if the client was just being nice or if this might be a feasible option for me.

My current set-up is flood irrigated - I have water for about 24 hours every weekend. The pasture is a mix of grasses and clover with purple or white flowers. Is this really fesabile as a good grass hay or if I really want to do this do I need to plow my pasture and replant? Do I need to invest in a different irrigation system? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have been struggling with the idea of giving up this place that I love so much but the workload is too much for me to do alone. I could use the money from the hay to pay for some help with some of the stuff that needs done. It is my goal to eventually be set up to the point that I can go away for a weekend and not have to worry that nothing is being irriagted or that the cows will have problems. I have spent the last 12 years caring for my elderly parents and am finally having time for a social life and I want to be able to enjoy it.

Any and all advice and info will be greatly appreciated.

Hello deenamr and .

First of all, location would be nice to have in order to get an idea of what kind of grass you have and how your little hay field/pasture grows.

But, from my perspective I think the idea of having cows on there, especially in your position, isn't all that great of an idea. Now, the fella who requested he rent it out and hay it for you is the best thing you can do to manage this 5 acre plot. Haying is less labour intensive on a day-to-day basis compared to managing cattle and checking fences.

Now I am not at all familiar with irrigation because up here where I live irrigation is not necessary. But, seeing that you must be in an area where it is quite dry, irrigating every 5 to 6 days seems to me to be feasible. But that's from my inexperience with irrigation.

It is really hard to tell if it does need to be reseeded from your very brief description (and lack of photos). The only time a pasture needs to be reseeded is if the grass is growing in thin stands, if the pasture is too overgrazed to be productive anymore, or if there are a high percentage of weeds to grasses and legumes. So it's really hard for any of us to tell you to plow it under and reseed it. But from the way you tell it, or if you could give some more details, all it needs is a bit of rest, and by that I mean rest from grazing animals. If you are in the area where you can hay the field twice a year, that's great. The grass-clover mix (whatever the grass species are) would make good hay.

All in all, I would accept the client's offer to rent your field and strike up a deal with him. I'd also take a visit to your local county extension office for any more info on irrigation, haying, grasses, field conditions, etc. for your particular area. Why? Because you're getting advice from different people who have different, biased ways of managing their acreages/farms/ranches who are in different topographical and climatological areas than you. In other words, what might work for me or someone else on here might not work for you. So going to the CE office is your best bet for answering most of your questions.

But that don't mean to stop posting your questions on here.

 

[wynedot55]

i would lease the 5acs to they guy.an let him iggragate it.an bale it for hay.your mix of grasses work real well for hay.

 

[deenamr]

Thanks for the warm welcome and all of the advice. I appreciate everyones input.

Deena