Some of the premium alfalfa hay goes to feed the states large equine horse population. Alfalfa is used as for horses, dairy cows, beef cattle, sheep, chickens, turkeys and other farm animals. A guide to growing, harvesting and baling hay sustainable. Westover, agrononvists, office of foragecrop investigations, bureau of plant industry. Alfalfa and grasses for hay and silage pastures, 23 duration. The simple bouncy rhyming text will draw readers in. The oats are baled early, leaving the alfalfa to make its growth. From the wonders of alfalfa, the miracle plant, to barbed wire and the myriad difficulties of operating tractors and side rakes, renowned author verlyn klinkenborg paints a stunning and memorable portrait of life on american family farms. Haymaking turns green, perishable, forage into a product that can be safely stored and.
With prices already high, farmers are choosing to grow their own hay. Make sure you get a little regrowth on the alfalfa or you wont get a good kill. It is popular belief that timothy hay is the better and healthier option for rabbits while alfalfa contains too much calcium for a regular rabbit diet. There are two common methods for making alfalfa stand evaluations. Timing of harvest, and the harvest process are both critical to obtaining hay of a desired quality. A young girl joyously introduces readers to the process of making hay as she and her mother cut, use the tedder, dry, rake, bale, and store the hay. Making hay gives an unforgettable glimpse of everyday life on the farms of iowa, minnesota, and montana. In a cattle operation, access to adequate hay is vital. And now that weve all stopped bellylaughing we can get down to the business of making hay in a more realistic setting. A shortened alfalfa growing season in northern regions will make it necessary to combine calendar dates and stage of development into harvest strategies. Harvesting alfalfa with as little leaf loss as possible is the key to making premium hay. A powerhouse among herbs, alfalfa means father of all foods and deserves its name. Hay be it grass or alfalfa or a mix responds incredibly well to fertilizer. With its high nutritional quality, alfalfa hay is one of the best and most popular horse feed varieties available.
Great longevity of lucerne stands is claimed in some smallscale farming. Hayrite pellets and complete feeds are forage based, with rice bran and other nutrients added. If you are looking for good quality alfalfa hay for your young guinea pigs, then i would definitely recommend you to try these two options available out there. Alfalfa has been identified as one of the crops that is eligible for government payments to farmers as a result of the retaliatory tariffs imposed by china on agricultural crops alfalfa hay among. Chopped hay is an option where conditions for drying are good and systems highly mechanized.
No body, as far as i know uses a tedder in our area. Figure 2 where alfalfa was put into a wide swath it reached 65 percent moisture in about eight hours and could be harvested for haylage the same day as. In drier areas, a nurse or companion crop is seldom recommended. Making hay is something that is universally anticipated by folks living on the land, but for many small holders, the expense of collecting and maintaining all the power equipment used in the modern hay meadow is just too much. It ended up being a whole lot better quality than last years, which were happy about. Choosing the right type of hay to grow, knowing which equipment to use. Alfalfa hay quality is improved with more leaves and fewer weeds. This is an important aspect of winter survival and stand persistence. Long hay, the traditional, ageold form of herbage, mown, turned and carted is the main subject of this book. For perennial grass, alfalfa, and small grain forage crops, field wilting is nor. The plants in a certain field will make some difference, of course whether its a good stand of alfalfa, palatable grasses or has gone mostly to weeds but poor harvesting conditionsmethods can reduce a good hay crop to poor or even unsafe feed. We usually chop that corn, rip and work that ground, then put winter wheat in. Sometimes also called lucerne, buffalo herb, or medicago sativa, alfalfa is a member of the pea family.
Good management and a warm fall may provide a small fifth cutting. To some of you, alfalfa may bring thoughts of a type of hay or a character from the little rascals, but id like to introduce you to the real deal. Red clover and white clover are better adapted to frost seeding than other legumes. The most economical alfalfa is high in palatability, digestibility and protein. How to cut, dry, rake, gather, and store a nourishing crop on.
Alfalfa hay for sale wagonhound land and livestock. Soils should be deep enough to have adequate waterholding capacity. High quality alfalfa hay will not be obtained if harvest is delayed or if leaves are lost during the hay drying process. The difference between alfalfa hay and timothy hay is one that often confuses many rabbit owners, especially firsttime owners. Timely hay harvest results in leafy forage with high feed value. Cutting open a bale of hay and doling it out to your horses is one of those. The book the small scale poultry flock dedicates a great portion of its chapters to discussing replacing purchased feeds. This publication describes the horses digestive system and nutritional needs and how. China is significantly expanding its dairy industryaiming to double its milk production by 2015and the growing demand for alfalfa hay on the chinese market is offering some great sales opportunities for. The garden webworm occurs over the whole united states but seldom is the cause of any great amount of damage to alfalfa. Multifoliate cultivars, those with more than three leaflets per leaf, can have a.
Alfalfa king double compressed oat wheat and barley hay pet food, 12 by 18 by 8inch. How to make your own animal feeds farming my backyard. Mow it, rake it and bale it in one day beef magazine. Our climate is conducive to dairy and horse hay production as a result of annual precipitation less than 12 inches per year with low humidity levels. Next year, after you take the wheat off, soilsample it and put on what you need, then go back to alfalfa in september. I personally like to drill my alfalfa by itself in the fall about a month or so before. Overall, the best results in terms of alfalfa hay quality and quantity losses were achieved with balingiii, where the lowest dm losses 2. Alfalfa is included in the rations for young growing animals, breeding animals, and. How to cut, dry, rake, gather, and store a nourishing. If you want to get away from buying both premade feeds and purchased grains i highly recommend it. A great combination is alfalfa, fescu grass and clover. In beautiful, deceptively simple prose touched with humor and affection, klinkenborg evokes a way of life at risk, and weaves an unforgettable story of the richness of rural living.
How can new seeds be obtained if hay is harvested before flowering. Impact of raking and baling patterns on alfalfa hay dry matter and. Alfalfa management guide american society of agronomy. The book includes a glossary of haymaking words and a recipe for switchel. Hay and pasture management 65 6 hay and pasture jim morrison rockford extension center. In addition to alfalfa cubes, hayrite developed several alfalfa pellets and complete feeds enriched with vitamins, minerals and fats for horses and other livestock. Hay and silage management55 feeding considerations of. The many aspects of forage production and use along with the other aspects. The alfalfa hay section will cover soil condition preparation, planting and harvesting of alfalfa for dry feed. I was just wanting a little information from you guys that ted alfalfa. I am from central california and i do not even know what a tedder looks like other than pictures. The oil and acrylic illustrations by joe cepeda go nicely with the text. For those who are undertaking haymaking for the first time, this book offers wise counsel and practical advice, providing.
Safely fed to horses for thousands of years, alfalfas high protein, fiber, vitamin. The title suggests this is the focus a how to treatise on the subject. Alfalfa hay is best suitable for young guinea pigs up to one year of age. It needs a low enough moisture level so that it doesnt mold, without being put up so dry that all its leaves shatter and fall off. Currently, there is some confusion and misinformation surrounding the use of alfalfa hay and timothy hay for rabbits and even guinea pigs. Alfalfa can be trickier to cure and bale than grass hays. Alfalfa hay for horses alfalfa is an important component of an active horses diet. Grazing on an alfalfa pasture requires the same precautions as feeding alfalfa hay. How to cut, dry, rake, gather, and store a nourishing crop. Making hay is comprised of a series of steps, each as important as its predecessor.
Producers that sell hay on a proteinquality basis may realize greater income from varieties. Grazing on an alfalfa pasture requires the same precautions as feeding alfalfa hay, plus some additional considerations. Also, alfalfa can be ensiled under harsher conditions than hay. Hey, hey, hay a tale of bales and the machines that make. Univ of wisconsin integrated pest and crop management 10,505 views.
Also,how can the challenge of making hay during the raining season be over come. Alfalfas effect on detoxing can help prevent infections to the bladder and urinary tract by increasing urine flow and making urine less acidic. Alfalfa is widely grown throughout the world as forage for cattle, and is most often harvested as hay, but can also be made into silage, grazed, or fed as greenchop. The antihistamine effect of the alfalfa enzymes can help. From the wonders of alfalfa, the miracle plant, to barbed wire, dances. Recommended stages to harvest various forage crops. Conditioning is important for making dry hay, as the crimping allows additional moisture to leave the stems at moistures below 60 percent. I have been kinda curious on how they work and what kind of conditions people use them in. Alfalfa hay is a highquality forage used in livestock feed, in particular for dairy cattle. Common plants used for making hay in oklahoma are alfalfa, wild and prairie grasses, sorghumsudan crosses, sudan, bermuda, lespedeza, soybean, peanut, and small grains like. Our alfalfa hay is produced in certified weed free fields with computerized, controlled irrigation systems.
If there is anywhere that the soft dirt goes above the sole, its too soft. Bad news, hay needs far more fertilizer than you think. Instead, i found that the book is really a pitch for green agricultural practices. Alfalfa usually has the highest feeding value of all common hay crops. The romans encountered alfalfa hay when they expanded their.
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