Rightsaidfred
Member
- Joined
- May 24, 2020
- Messages
- 36
- Tractor
- McCormick CX100 XtraShift
Im in Near North Ontario Canada, short season here for hay , winters are long and hard with lots of snow and very cold.
This past May I seeded about 8 acres with hay seed, and an oats cover crop. All growing well
I dont have access to a combine to harvest the oats this fall so im looking for what my options are, or what the best options are.
1) leave it and let it die off and get snowed down - hope it will allow the new hay to grow next spring and not choke it out
2) Bush hog it (cut high)and hope that the areas where the tires of the tractor run don't choke it too bad as it flattens the oats
3) Mow it with the disc Mower, rake it and Round bale it with the oats still on the stems and hope that I find someone to buy 20 or more 4 1/2 ' round bales of oat straw with oats attached. Im a bit afraid of this option as my mower is a Vermeer 9' 3 point hitch mounted disc mower, works well but for sure I have to rake too get my wind rows, Im a bit concerned about new hay/gras damage from raking so soon on freshly seeded field. I also dont want to be stuck with 20 bales of straw I wont use
I did option 2 last yr on a different field and it was "ok" but not ideal
Interested in your thoughts, thank you.
This past May I seeded about 8 acres with hay seed, and an oats cover crop. All growing well
I dont have access to a combine to harvest the oats this fall so im looking for what my options are, or what the best options are.
1) leave it and let it die off and get snowed down - hope it will allow the new hay to grow next spring and not choke it out
2) Bush hog it (cut high)and hope that the areas where the tires of the tractor run don't choke it too bad as it flattens the oats
3) Mow it with the disc Mower, rake it and Round bale it with the oats still on the stems and hope that I find someone to buy 20 or more 4 1/2 ' round bales of oat straw with oats attached. Im a bit afraid of this option as my mower is a Vermeer 9' 3 point hitch mounted disc mower, works well but for sure I have to rake too get my wind rows, Im a bit concerned about new hay/gras damage from raking so soon on freshly seeded field. I also dont want to be stuck with 20 bales of straw I wont use
I did option 2 last yr on a different field and it was "ok" but not ideal
Interested in your thoughts, thank you.