Hay
Growing Challenges An
alfalfa hay field usually remains productive for about five to six years, grass
fields often longer. But not all of those years are equally productive.
The key to getting a new field established is taking advantage of winter snows
and spring rains by seeding in the fall.
Most often, in order to get a stand of hay growing, a nurse crop (also called
a cover crop or companion crop) is planted along with the hay seed. A nurse
crop such as oats, will emerge ahead of the more vulnerable hay seedlings.
The oat plants tower over the developing hay seedlings and protect them from the
rays of the sun and the root structure of the oats adds to soil stability.
The nurse crop is harvested the next summer, bu often the hay doesn't grow vigorously
enough to make a hay crop until the second year.
The first cutting of the second year may be quite weedy and not suitable for horses.
The second cut from the second year will probably be the first crop suitable for
horses. The third year marks the beginning of the prime years for an alfalfa
or alfalfa-mix hay field. After five years, due to the death of some of
the alfalfa plants, the field will have an uneven growth pattern and decreased
yield. With a mixed hay field, the grasses gradually take over and by four
to five years, grass will dominate the field.
It is difficult to chemically
control weeds in a hay field as many of the herbicides would kill the hay plants
as well as the weeds. The best defense against weeds is establishing a good,
vigorous stand of hay that can compete with the weeds. Most hay fields tend
to clean themselves of weeds after the first cutting of the second year.
The hay-grower also deals with diseases and insects. Bacterial, viral, and
fungal diseases and some insects will affect hay yield and can kill the entire
field. The selection of the appropriate variety for the local growing conditions
is often the best preventative. Particularly
in the southwest, second cut or later alfalfa hay may contain blister beetles,
which can be lethal to horses. The toxin, cantharidin, is so deadly that
just a few beetles, dead or alive, can kill a horse.
The moisture that is required to grow hay can also contribute to its demise.
In rainy country, although hay grows quickly, it may be difficult to find a hole
in the weather pattern that allows harvesting and baling. Dry, sunny regions
with adequate irrigation water are great hay-growing areas. The yield per
acre of alfalfa grown with irrigation is often twice that of alfalfa grown without
it.
When to cut hay is critical. Usually it is determined by
plant maturity. Other methods involve evaluating crown regrowth after first
cut and simply using predetermined calendar dates. No matter which method
is used, one eye is always kept on the weather.
Using plant maturity as the guide, there exists a trade-off between maximum yield
and maximum quality. The premium hay grower chooses the optimum time when
the plants are at their nutritive peak. Young, immature plants are generally
high in protein and low in fiber so result in excellent hay but yield fewer bales
per acre. Mature plants have a lower feed value and higher fiber content
so result in a greater number of bales per acre, but the bales are of lesser quality.
Legumes, such as alfalfa, should
be cut when the first flower appears in the field, that is the first flower on
a representative plant in the field, not an odd plant along a ditch or field edge.
Another way to gauge cutting time is before 1/10 bloom, that is when one out of
ten buds have bloomed on the alfalfa plants. On very large operations, cutting
is started at mid to late bud stage so that cutting will be complete by mid-bloom
at the very latest. Since most grass
fields are cut only once, the farmer often waits until the plants are very tall
and seedheads are mature. This results in a high yield and a safe roughage,
but one with very low nutritive value. Ideally, grasses should be cut at
the boot stage, when the seed heads are just emerging from the stem. The
emerging head will be short, compact, and resilient, not three inches long, dry,
fuzzy and shedding seeds. Mixed hays,
such as grass-alfalfa, are cut using the maturity of the alfalfa plants as a guide.
Each day a plant stands after first flowering or past the boot stage, crude fiber
increases and crude protein decreases by 1/2 percent per day.
Using bloom as the sole indicator of plant maturity can be misleading in some
situations, as bloom is affected by moisture, clouds, temperature, and the stage
of the plants at the previous cutting. If the first cutting was mowed at
the bud stage, for example, and adequate moisture was available for regrowth,
then the field could be cut every 35 to 40 days after the first cutting.
Using such guidelines helps to ensure that there will be three cuttings.
Hay which is cut early is usually of high quality and is followed by a fast regrowth,
and decent second and third cut yields. If a field is cut three times, approximately
45% of the year's yield will be in the first cut, 30% in the second cut, and 25%
in the third cut. 
Part
1 - Planting Part 2 - Challenges Part
3 - Cuttings Part
4 - Choosing Good Hay Part
5 - Hay Varieties |
