new to hay and need some advice

Justin SE IOWA · May 12, 2011

My wife and I just bought our first hobby farm/ranch. Its 13 acres with 2 old beautiful barns and it is just what we were looking for! I planted about 8 acres of it with timothy and alfalfa. It was all pasture and rougher than heck. I disked it and harrowed it then seeded it with a brodcast seeder then harrowed it again. this was 5 weeks ago. Im not to sure its growing so good. I can see little rounded shaped leaves coming up that I think would be the alfalfa but I dont know about the timothy. There is alot of weeds coming up also. There is all the pasture grass that was originaly there also. I have been told that I cant spray for the weeds now because it will kill the alfalfa. What do you think about the weeds and the timothy?

Heat Houser · May 12, 2011

It will take some time for it to get established. Annual weeds will disappear at the first cutting.
I sow my alfalfa with oats as a cover crop. Others sow it directly as you have done. Both work well.

John S-B · May 12, 2011

Did you test the soil before you planted? If you don't have good soil your hay won't produce very well. I actually developed a small field just by mowing regularly and overseeding with a broadcast spreader and cheap fertilizer. Depending on what kind of weeds you have and your time, you could spot spray with something like Weed Begone on a small field like that. You'd lose some alfalfa, but not the grasses.

Paul from MI · May 12, 2011

If you didn't do something to kill the previous sod, it will come back from your disking and overtake your new seeding. I would recommend killing everything with round up then disking and re-seeding. Just a thought. Soil tests are in order too.

E.B. Haymakin' · May 13, 2011

Not long after I logged onto the forum for the first time in months on May12,2011 the tones dropped for my VFD to respond to a hay fire. Owner lost 60 to 80 roundbales, rolled about 2 weeks ago, what didnt burn looked good to me. Fire is a significant risk luckily he didn"t lose any building as it was cow hay stored uncovered. Be vigilant, and think about how you could come up with a homemade sprinker system, or fire stop system to protect the structure if it will be baled for horses, and stored inside. While this guy didn"t lose anything but hay, we had to work hard to protect adjacent equipment sheds, and were on scene for 4 hours, and thousands of gallons of water just to protect the equipment sheds from the conflagration. E.B. Haymakin-southalabama

Anonymous-0 · May 13, 2011

There are post emergence sprays but not sure if good for lucerne, your chemical coy could advise.

It is beneficial to roll the lucerne when or after planting to push the seeds into the soil.

gene bender · May 13, 2011

What does your seed dealer tell you to do He is the one you need to be asking all the questions.Did he tell you the discing would be the way to go.

Allan in NE · May 13, 2011

You're frettin' over nothing.

Best thing to do is just walk away and forget it for awhile.

Hay fields always come up weedy the first time around. After you cut it once, the weeds will be choked out by the new hay crop.

Allan

RayP(MI) · May 13, 2011

Oats as a cover crop tend to hold back the annual weeds, gives the alfalfa a chance. However, if there was alfalfa there before and you didn"t get it tilled down real well, it will inhibit the new growth.

sd pete · May 13, 2011

Go on vacation for a month. Then about July 4
clip it. All should be well after that.

Mike (WA) · May 13, 2011

It would never occur to me to have sprinkler system for horse hay- it needs to be dead dry- if you put any in that is green enough to burn, you wasted your money, because it will mold and be unusable, if it doesn't burn.

Doug in Illinois · May 13, 2011

Agree. First cutting should be just a little high, don't want to take it clear to the ground. DOUG

E.B. Haymakin' · May 13, 2011

You never know what the ignition source could be. If the building is electrified, lightning, a hot muffler, or then maybe there is a slight chance with everything cured right a leaky roof will rewet a spot deep enough in a bale to get the ball rolling. Weeds was the question, just posten my thoughts based on current events.

new to hay and need some advice

Justin SE IOWA

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Heat Houser

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John S-B

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Paul from MI

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E.B. Haymakin'

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Anonymous-0

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gene bender

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Allan in NE

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RayP(MI)

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sd pete

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Mike (WA)

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Doug in Illinois

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E.B. Haymakin'

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