Critique my fall plans

[Crimson850]

I've got around 25 acres on the back side of my farm that my farmer cuts for hay. There is a good bit of broomsage and stick weed, so once the farmer cuts it for hay here in about 3 weeks, I will let the weeds grow for a week or 2, then get the local co op to come spray an herbicide such as grazon that will kill the weeds, but not the fescue. I will then lime a couple tons to the acre. At some point in August I will rent the drill from the co op and drill barley or oats (or both) into the short fescue. I will still have my usual 1 acre brassica plots. Was curious if any of you have experience with oats and or barley? Barley is cheap, and it will also benefit that cattle farmer that I lease the land to, so come spring time he can bale it or let the cows graze it. I thought of lightly mixing some brassicas in but not sure if they would do much. I am not going to kill the fescue, just mow it short if need be and drill directly into it. Would love to hear your thoughts!

 

[Mennoniteman]

Oats seems to consistently outdraw other small grains for me. Last fall I was hunting in late November, oats on my right, standing cornfield on my left. Every evening all the deer were in the oats. Don't plant to early or they will be tough before hunting season.

 

[THE LLC]

I'd drill white and red clover in there. Talk about a deer draw---and great for hay.

 

[X-farmerdan]

Guess I'll go first. I'm having a hard time with your plan. I guess you are required to leave the fescue? That's a limitation. You want to drill barley or oats into the fescue, right? My thought about that is the fescue is going to out compete any small grain you drill into it. And, even if it does not, can you get enough small grain population to be attractive? I dunno. And Grazon? I would think we are at a point in the growing cycle where annual (or even perennial) broad leaf weeds are out of the picture. You're concerned about competition from broad leaf weeds, but you have all that fescue out there. Then there's the lime. Does the field need lime? Soil test? I'm at a place here where I don't think the lime is of much benefit to you. If it's needed you surely will get some boost, but the biggest bang comes about four to six months after the application. You're farmer friend is the winner. If you do spray Grazon won't it or shouldn't if wipe out any thought of brassicas? Grazon is a broad leaf weed control with some extended residual value

 

[Crimson850]

To clarify, i have my farm rented to someone who farms it for cattle and grows hay. This is a secondary hay field for him that doesn't produce well. It needs to be sprayed for weeds anyway, so this will benefit both of us. I am going to spray grazon reguardless if I plant a food plot or not, It has not been limed in many years, if ever. I do need to do a soil test regardless. Many years ago the same farmer drilled barley into fescue in another field and it came up great. The lime definitely won't have much time to help this year, but it will substantially help the soil in years to come.

Definitely a good point about the residual grazon killing any brassicas that I mixed in. I had not considered that aspect.

To ad-when my grandfather bought this farm probably 40 years ago this particular field in discussion was more or less a brush pile entirely, from the stories I'm told, so after a ton of work it is now a nice, large field. There are still some remaining briars but not to the extent that their once was. By spraying it, I am going to help the farmer and myself.

 

[Jason Broom]

So, it used to be actual wildlife habitat, 40 years ago, but now it grows fescue grass for cattle. Your fall plan is to mix in some small grains, but in such a way that it doesn't interrupt the agricultural purpose to which the land is now dedicated. I'd be inclined to rent out 20 acres to the cattle farmer and turn 5 of it back into something that actually benefits deer and other critters. Whether you drill in oats, barley or rye, or spray for broadleaf plants, it isn't going to help deer much, especially after it is baled or grazed in the spring. The lime makes sense, but not without an actual soil survey.

 

[bigbluetruck]

I understand about trying to work with farming or in your case renter. Trying to do what you can to make a living and still feel like youre helping wildlife a little.
What I would do is to kill everything in that patch, fescue included as Im not a fan of the stuff for cattle feed, maybe as hay its better, but Ive had to deal with fescue posioning that no one told us about. Anyway, kill everything, then sow some alfafla with some oats as a nurse crop either this fall or in the spring, makes much better hay, and if you own the drill, you could go in early every spring and resow the oats, it will also help keep the alfalfa thicker, you could also graze the alfalfa.

 

[Crimson850]

I understand about trying to work with farming or in your case renter. Trying to do what you can to make a living and still feel like youre helping wildlife a little.
What I would do is to kill everything in that patch, fescue included as Im not a fan of the stuff for cattle feed, maybe as hay its better, but Ive had to deal with fescue posioning that no one told us about. Anyway, kill everything, then sow some alfafla with some oats as a nurse crop either this fall or in the spring, makes much better hay, and if you own the drill, you could go in early every spring and resow the oats, it will also help keep the alfalfa thicker, you could also graze the alfalfa.

Killing the fescue is not an option for me. I am just not willing to do it. It makes good hay for the cattle, and if I planted something and it didn't do well, that would be less hay for the farmer which is not a responsibility I am willing to take. I will be building a house on the property in a couple of years, and definitely want to get the fields and everything looking nice before I take on a house project. By planting barley or something similar, it will definitely look better than the current situation, hopefully improve deer sightings, and also be a great hay crop for the farmer who rents my land. I do not own a drill, but the co op rents one for $7 an acre. If it was up to me,and I could afford it, I would have hundreds of acres of various crops, but I do not have the time, or energy required to farm full time, that is why it is rented out.

 

[Vandy]

if hay has a hard time wont the alfalfa be even worse? I know it definitely works for deer but just curious

 

[bigbluetruck]

A soil test will go a long ways towards telling you if youll raise good alfafla or not, or if theres any raised in your area. Ask the farmer if its something hed be interested in, You might get a little less hay the first year, but with the oats in spring or rye in the fall should raise the tonnage quite a bit, after that, I dont see why it wouldnt outyield any grass hay by quite a bit, I would think youd get 4-5 cuttings every year in your area, we get 4 on irrigated alfalfa.

Even worst case scenario, you could go in with a no till drill without killing the fescue this fall and sow some clover or alfalfa and if you get a 50% stand that would still make some pretty good mixed hay. But again, "here" fescue is a curse word when it comes to cattle. I know they will eat it, but when its a main part of their diet and they get taken off it, it really messes them up. BTDT

Youre better than alot of landowners, at the end of the day its their land and they can do with it what they wish, and I have to work around it. For me, I cant think of many places Id rather be than on a porch some cool evening with a good Jack and Coke after alfafla has just been cut.

 

[bigbluetruck]

if hay has a hard time wont the alfalfa be even worse? I know it definitely works for deer but just curious

Depends on why the hay isnt very good, here after about 10 years in alfalfa the stand starts to thin out and the grass moves in, usually brome and bluegrass and starts to choke out the alfafla, and while brome/alfalfa makes good hay, bluegrass is some of the worst imho. Or it could be from mismanagement, grazed too short or something that let the weeds get a start.

 

[Crimson850]

from the looks of it, alfalfa is pretty expensive. I will probably stick with barley and maybe some clover/oats mixed in!

 

[bigbluetruck]

Its a fairly high upfront cost, but not really more than many popular annual food plot species. You also need to extrapolate the cost of the seed out over at least 5 years, and in many cases probably 10 years before the stand would be thin enough to do something about.