28 acres worth a hay operation?

[ovrszd]

If you try this, check with what the market is on Horse Hay. Horse folks are very picky and will pay a premium for weed free native hay here. If you go that way you will be dealing with standard square bales <snip>/QUOTE]
And you will also be dealing with horse people who are very picky. There's been several threads here I remember telling about difficulties with horse people.

And the funny part about that is the horse will eat anything. Including bark off the trees.

 

[riptides]

And the funny part about that is the horse will eat anything. Including bark off the trees.

Yeah, but bad hay, wrong grass, mold, will kill a horse. Cows, goats, not so much.

 

[powerscol]

Yeah, but bad hay, wrong grass, mold, will kill a horse. Cows, goats, not so much.

Learned that the hard way - one bale of moldy hay cost me 10K in vet bills over 4 years and we still lost the horse. She developed a severe allergy to hay pollen and normal mold. Think bad COPD. Horse passed away last week. Wife was devastated.

 

[riptides]

Learned that the hard way - one bale of moldy hay cost me 10K in vet bills over 4 years and we still lost the horse. She developed a severe allergy to hay pollen and normal mold. Think bad COPD. Horse passed away last week. Wife was devastated.

Dang. Sorry for the loss. I hope for better things in your future.

 

[Old Junk Man]

Ive messed with horses for over 50 years. and Im of the opinion a horse only needs enough grain to allow you to catch him. The wild BLM horses don't get grain or great feed. and they thrive & reproduce faster that they can adopt them out. My horses ate whatever hay I bailed for the cows & goats. and much of it contained fescue. ant they never got sick and had good hooves. of course they weren't high blooded hot house horses. I even adopted 5 BLM horses and broke the to ride. and bougHt two more Blm horses from a neighbor who adopted them and was scared of them. the grain bucket causes more harm than bad hay. I still have a dog killing jenny and she eats whatever hay I bale. She has a colt every year.

 

[Hill Farmer]

We fertilize and spray about that acreage. 10 acres Bermuda and the remainder mixed cool season grasses. Neighbors cut and bale it on the halves and we give them first option on buying our half. On a good year we break even. No way we could pay for equipment off of it. If it was all Bermuda and irrigated? Maybe so. Wish I could break even buying equipment, I'd be riding in a lot nicer tractor.

 

[Old Junk Man]

I see folks fertilizing their Bermuda in the spring. and it makes the fescue grow and produce a tremendous seed crop. and that seed gets bailed up in the hay. that's a bad type of grain. especially for horses. we dont fertilize. but if we did it would be in July to enhance the Bermuda growth. the fertilizing in early spring helps the fescue to crowd out the Bermuda grass. so they spray . We are thinking about getting a drill and planting oats and rye grass in the fall on the hay fields .I think a application of lime would be of benifit to both the bermuda and the clover

 

[Old Junk Man]

We fertilize and spray about that acreage. 10 acres Bermuda and the remainder mixed cool season grasses. Neighbors cut and bale it on the halves and we give them first option on buying our half. On a good year we break even. No way we could pay for equipment off of it. If it was all Bermuda and irrigated? Maybe so. Wish I could break even buying equipment, I'd be riding in a lot nicer tractor.


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You break even every year and the land suffers the loss of tons of organic material. If its fenced rent it for pasture. that way you get some profit and the organic material is converted to manure and stays on the land. just don't let the renter overgraze. I once rented some pasture from a guy up the road. He would only rent by the month. That way he could prevent overgrazing. You should draw up a contract stipulating how many animal units are allowed and a clause forbidding overgrazing.

 

[riptides]

You break even every year and the land suffers the loss of tons of organic material. If its fenced rent it for pasture. that way you get some profit and the organic material is converted to manure and stays on the land. just don't let the renter overgraze. I once rented some pasture from a guy up the road. He would only rent by the month. That way he could prevent overgrazing. You should draw up a contract stipulating how many animal units are allowed and a clause forbidding overgrazing.

That is sound advice.

 

[Lawnman TX]

I see folks fertilizing their Bermuda in the spring. and it makes the fescue grow and produce a tremendous seed crop. and that seed gets bailed up in the hay. that's a bad type of grain. especially for horses. we dont fertilize. but if we did it would be in July to enhance the Bermuda growth. the fertilizing in early spring helps the fescue to crowd out the Bermuda grass. so they spray . We are thinking about getting a drill and planting oats and rye grass in the fall on the hay fields .I think a application of lime would be of benifit to both the bermuda and the clover

If you want to grow Bermuda it needs several doses of fertilizer a year including spring. The best way to get rid of the fescue and get a clean high yield, high quality Bermuda field is to spray with roundup late winter before the Bermuda comes out of dormancy. It kills the fescue and the rest of the winter weeds. Then fertilize as soon as it starts to green up.