# Niche Hay Business Questions



## Hogleg (Dec 20, 2009)

I have a very small grass fed cattle business that I started a few years ago - now at 11 head of cattle. I had been running cows/calves but now am going to move to a feeder-grass-finish approach (have more folks that want beef and do not want to wait until calves are grown) and sell the excess hay instead of feeding it.

I have probably 1/2 dozen small fields that I have been round baling for my cattle (and more if I have the time/weather to cooperate). I have folks within a mile radius that have 5-8-10 acres and are all happy to have me cut and hay their fields for free. Many of these folks used to have the professionals do it but they stopped because the labor to do a small parcel is not productive/profitable. I have a good JD Diesel tractor (2550), a mo-co (sickle), a V-rake and both round (Vermeer 605h) and square balers (NH 68). So that is most of the background info.

Some of the fields are pretty good, with a mix of orchard and clover, but now a lot of milkweed and other undesirables (briars and woody weeds). Given that I am not leasing or owning, what can I do to better control the weeds. Does it make sense for my needs to have some spraying done to control weeds or otherwise add nutrients to the fields? I am getting a lot of questions from the local horsey folks and I want to take some of these fields from round baling to squares. I also have some horse folks that are wanting quality hay in rounds. My rounder can make a nice 5x4 bale for them.

Not wanting to compete with the large guys, but sell a bit to the smaller folks that the larger guys don't want to mess with. I price my hay competitive with the local market, not undercutting anyone. The demand is there, I just need to boost the quality of some of "my" fields.

Thoughts?

John


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## sedurbin (May 30, 2009)

Fertilize and spot spray the most undesirable weeds would be my choice. Mow and bale as early as is possible will help to control weeds and get the stand to thicken.

Good luck, with all the rain it may be a challenge again this year.


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## Negligence (May 18, 2010)

I don't know why you would invest in fertilizer into fields you don't even lease [waste of money if they decide to hand off the field to someone else the following year...]. I would get several-year leases before I considered putting any kind of fertilizer down, otherwise you could be wasting your money.

As for weeds, you can't really spray anything that won't take down the good stuff with it. Once the weeds get started it's hard to rid of them. Cut early if possible before they go to seed to prevent spreading, but other than spot-spraying (which is pretty hard in a 10 acre field...), you'll want to plow everything under if it gets bad, or spray the whole lot.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I use 2-4d in our pastures and if mixed and applied correctly, won't even kill the ladino clover if applied at the right time. Depending on how many weeds you have, I've gone as far as to take a paintbrush and wipe that on the ones the 2-4d won't kill. Course this works in my case as I only have a few here and there and have stayed ahead of them for years.


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## robert23239 (May 10, 2009)

So when is the best time to spray hay ground ???


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## JRNewman (Apr 25, 2011)

Sir if your in the same situation i am i cut my first cut which is less desirable in a sale situation because of weeds and its first cut so horse ppl are not as crazy about it and use this as feed for my cattle i cut it young so i still achieve the desirable average daily gain in my cattle and then i will sell all second and third cut that are clean to my horse customers. It works pretty good and ive actually seen a huge difference in two years with no input cost from fertilizer or spray so it sorta all pays for itself. I also saw a HUGE difference in calf performance by cutting my hay earlier and they were also consuming less.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

2-4,d is pretty cheap to spray to control broadleaves and brush. I think you will also see that with repetative mowing you will gain better control of the weeds. Fertilizer would be the last thing to pay for.


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## thebonepile (Sep 18, 2009)

here are a few things to think about.....
with clover (a broadleaf) amd grasses I don't know many herbicides that will get the unwanted plants out of the field (how will it know if it was unwanted) .......
BUT, something I have started doing - take 28% fertilizer - diluting about 50/50 with water - then spraying about 15 to 20 gallons per acre of the mix onto grass fields - the 10 gallons of 28% would give about 30 pounds of N - a great kick start for the next cutting of a grass stand, doesn't cost that much, get the benfit basically one month after spraying......
I also do a foliar type fertilizer for my alfalfa fields (basically because the sprayer is already hooked up) - try to do it about 2.5 to 3.5 weeks before cutting - basically low cost and the effects can be seen right away -

I will agree with the others - cut early and often to keep the weeds down.......
Friend of mine told me regarding pastures - "We never spray for weeds - we find if we have enough fertilizer for the stuff we want to grow - it will crowd out and suppress the weeds on its own" - I have found that to be quite true.


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## K WEST FARMS (Apr 4, 2011)

Hogleg : Just my 2 cents worth. A combination of fertilizer applications and timely cutting as mentioned above will increase grass and decrease broadleaf weeds. With no fertilizer the grass will decrease and weeds wiil fill in the open spaces. With proper timing of fertilizer , 3 cuttings are usually possible in Nor. Cent. Wis. I'm not sure what happens in Ill. Hope this helps!!! John


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## Hogleg (Dec 20, 2009)

Suggestions on brand names of liquid fertilizer would be helpful. Building a 60 gal sprayer using 5 8003 heads on a 10 ft boom (all stuff I have laying around, so thought - why not build a sprayer). Local suppliers are FS, Rural King, Effingham Equity, Tri Ag, etc.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

I sprayed my OG fields with 2,4-D for 3 years running in early April. This got rid of 90% of the broadleafs amd used up the seed bank. My fields have stayed real clean and now I only occasionally spot spray.

Ralph


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

Hogleg said:


> Building a 60 gal sprayer using 5 8003 heads on a 10 ft boom (all stuff I have laying around, so thought - why not build a sprayer).


You might consider going a bit bigger on the tank and boom, even with 10AC a 10' boom will take a lot of passes and probably a few refills as well. As long as you're building, you may want to add a boomless nozzle. I've got a 3-way ball valve on the one I built where I can switch between the 3-section boom and the boomless. When there is little wind, I can run much faster with the boomless and cover 50' in a pass.


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## K WEST FARMS (Apr 4, 2011)

Hogleg : Be really careful with a spraying program around peoples yards, houses, lawns, etc. Drift can occur under the best of conditions and whether weed control chemicals or liquid fertilizer is sprayed, you may be accused of killing someones favorite shrub or contaminating the lawn grass or who knows what !! Just something to keep in mind in MHO!! John


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## Hogleg (Dec 20, 2009)

At this point I think I will just spot spray. I have one or 2 fields that need it badly. The rest I plan to cut before they go to seed and then see how it goes. Thanks guys!


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## stan223 (Feb 16, 2011)

I have a grass field i put a chemical on it called brash i put it on in the fall specificly the day of the first frost on that day the plant takes every thing back down into the roots and the plant stays dead. all the weeds are gone this spring no dandelion thistle or clover my biggest problems, it was competative in price with 24d.

oh and one other thing Fertilizer is very inexpensive when compared to what it produces


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