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Hay field question

T

TDJD

Member
I have a field (about 10 acres) that I plowed a couple years ago. Since then Ive been keeping it disked up to try and get rid of the weeds. Well Ive been busy this year, so I havent got a chance to disc it. I went and looked at it a couple days ago, and theres a good amount of grass, but some weeds also. I mowed the grass, and Im going it try and bale it. After that, if I disc it up then smooth it out, will the grass come back? Or will running the disc kill it off? Also, would it be a good idea to throw some seed on it now, or wait and mow it again in the fall and throw some seed on then?
Thanks
 
If the weeds are not grass related, spray them with broad leaf herbicide. Putting seed on it after spraying the weeds, with a shallow disking is what I recommend. If you live where there is predictable rain, all the better. Seeds incorporated now will sprout and be contributing to next years grass. Check with your county extention service for soil test info to see if nutrient or PH changes are needed for a good stand of hay. Jim
 
There are many different types of grass. Twitch grass or Quack grass, same thing, is a rhizome and reproduces by tillers off of the roots as well as seeds. When you cultivate of disc a Rhizome such as Quack grass you actually spread it, not killing it. Only something like Roundup is effective at killing Quack grass.
 
TDJD,

I don't know where you live, but here in Tennessee it's so danged hot grass seed won't germinate, but the birds will love you for seeding it. Around here, the consensus is to wait until October or November to sow grass seed. And then, in February or so, lots of us broadcast red clover seed. It's called frost seeding and I've had good luck doing that in the past.

But, YMMV based on your location.

Tom in TN
 
a disc dont do much on hay land. u need to plow it , or deep till it. then you disc it. if you want to kill the stuff spray it with round up wait 10 days till its all brown then procced to work it. a disc will never kill grasses with good roots.
 
Spray it disc then harrow and drill it dont cheat your seed .
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I would agree plow it then work it down if you want to do a decent job. Maybe he has a big offset disc ?
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There are 100 different ways to go with this. Climate, soil type, location would all make a difference.

Paul
 
I should have probably added Im in Michigan. Also, when I said put some seed down, I meant grass seed (to make it into a hay field). And I dont have a sprayer, so thats not an option.
Thanks for all the replies!!
 
TDJD, you say you don't have a sprayer. Applicators can be hired. Also many farm supply businesses provide the sprayer if you buy from them or rent the machine to you. Good luck.
 
Don't have a sprayer means you probably do not have a spray applicators licence so you could possibly not even be able to buy any spray for that field. I used to have one but they messed up my paper work and I never got mine renewed after I paid for it. I just quit trying to do it myself and hired the store to do it. Your size field would take them about 15 minutes to do it. I know Michigan has a lot of sandy ground so are you in the sandy ground or do you have a different type of soil? Different wasy to go with different type of soils. Last I knew and I am in Ohio different soil types some sprays were not allowed on certain soil types and the commercial applicator would know all this. And you could not probably buy the small amount you would need for that field.
 
I'm not a hay expert.
I was told by a guy who has horses that grass hay is good for horses.
Need clover or alfalfa for cows, has more food value.
The experts can tell what to plant..
 
I have 112 acres of grass hay. You can disc it a couple of times and spread grass seed on it then roll it to get seed soil contact. You can do this in early August. When it gets some top growth you can clip it. That will set the weeds back and stimulate the grass regrowth. I seed orchard grass with some red clover. I like o.g. because it has flat stems and good regrowth. If you only plant grass you can spray for broadleave weeds. A lot of weeds can't tolerate mowing.
 
Being you are in MI we usually plant hay seeding in the early about the time for oats like mid April or as early as you can get on the ground or in about late August to early September. If you spray it off first you need time for the sods to die and shake out working it a few times depending on the venue you use. or you could hire somebody to nothrill it into the ground after burn off. check on the time frame for replant after the burn off with chemicals though some are almost a year before replant due to carry over. I'm in Mi also.
 
Plowing will bring up a fresh batch of weed seeds to contend with. Plowing will make it rough for as long as you have grass seeded there if you seed right away. You need a freeze and thaw and rain maybe several cycles to completely settle the plowed ground. You need to kill just the seeds on the surface and maybe three or four inches below the surface. Have it sprayed with roundup now with some 2-4D if you have broad leaves. Wait a month or so if you are in Michigan. Then work it shallow, three inches or so to level it nice and smooth preferably with a field cultivator with sweeps. A field cultivator drags the soil from the high spots to the low spots. A disk does not do that. The ground down deep in the plow zone has already settled so all you need to contend with is the top few inches IF you want a level field of grass without bumps that shake the bales off the hay rack for years to come.
 
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