# how to go about planting hay ?



## tw30 (Apr 4, 2010)

Plan on getting into hay farming , maybe 100-200 acres.WOuld a 10-14' seed drill be good for this .what time of the year do y'all usally start planting ? Whats type of hay would i plant here hot humid climate stays 90 degrees about 9 months of the year .soil preperation ?


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## sedurbin (May 30, 2009)

Look around your area and find out what is growing well and farmers are making money with, then go with that. Probably should start out with something smaller than 100-200 acres until you have all the logistics worked out. A question that may be more important is; Who are you going to sell this hay to? Any way you go I wish you the best of luck.


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## tw30 (Apr 4, 2010)

horse people mostly there's alot around here . my neighbor just bought 7 new horses.
What else would people buy hay for besides animnals ?


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## sedurbin (May 30, 2009)

> What else would people buy hay for besides animnals ?


The kind of animal is what determines which kind of hay to plant. What you can get by with for cattle may not work for Horses or Llamas or whatever else your Customers may come up with. I had some really weedy third cut Alfalfa, the Horse folks didn't want it but some folks with Sheep thought it would be exactly what they needed for some open Ewes. I was glad to accommodate.


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## tw30 (Apr 4, 2010)

i seen a website that helps sell hay when you cant locally . my dad said it was a "hay broker" 
how good can a hay broker work to move your product ?


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## tw30 (Apr 4, 2010)

sedurbin said:


> The kind of animal is what determines which kind of hay to plant. What you can get by with for cattle may not work for Horses or Llamas or whatever else your Customers may come up with. I had some really weedy third cut Alfalfa, the Horse folks didn't want it but some folks with Sheep thought it would be exactly what they needed for some open Ewes. I was glad to accommodate.


I meant other than a sorce of feed what uses does hay have ?


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## tw30 (Apr 4, 2010)

can i use a 10" space drill? it would be easiest on me or can i use a 10" drill with beramuda grass or what kind of hay seed ?


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

sedurbin said:


> Look around your area and find out what is growing well and farmers are making money with, then go with that.


Where are you at? The above is probably your best answer without more specifics. Horse hay is a good market but throwing some bermuda grass seed in the ground is not a great start.


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## tw30 (Apr 4, 2010)

semniole GA

very humid and hot

stays about 90 degrees 9 months out of the year 75 degrees the other 4 months

i was told alafa doesnt grow good in this type of tropical climate


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## scrapiron (Mar 10, 2010)

Tw30; I can't find Semniole Ga ,are you around the Bainbridge area?? If you are,you will probably want a hyb bermuda grass, Tift 85,Russell,Tift 44, Costal,Jiggs,Alcia are a few that come to mind. All of these have to be sprigged,roots or green tops,as they produce few if any viable seed.These hyb far out produce any seeded bermuda grass here, when fertlized properly for hay production. I am down in Fl by Brooksville, we grow Tift 85&44 and Russell.

scrapiron


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

Georgia can and does produce good hay. 
Alfalfa will work. A bermudagrass will also work. Georgia has some very good Forage Extension Specialist. Georgia also has a Forage Association. As far as that goes Alabama has all the above also.
Selling hay to the horse market can be very rewarding. It also can be a real horror story. The horse owning hay buyers are very difficult to work with. They would be ok if they all knew what they are talking about, but the sad truth is most are very ignorant as to the needs of their animals.

I try not to sell alfalfa hay to horse owners. Alfalfa has too much energy for a casual horse to be able to eat with out becoming fat. The only exception is a mare producing milk for her colt, or a horse in training for the race track or rodeo.

For your climate I might consider Jiggs bermudagrass. Tifton 85 was developed at Tifton Georgia and probably has the best animal performance record for any grass forage. This is a conditional advantage as you do have to feed the grass to get the yield and animal performance advantage.

Mu best market for alfalfa hay is the dairy goat owners. Next are the meat goat and sheep owners. The cattle owners are good hay customers, if they are the ones who are more of a hobby rather than a production animal owner. The truth is it cost so much less to graze livestock than feed harvested forages. I like to sell hay to a cattleman who just needs a pickup load of hay to have in the barn for a sick animal. They will come back for another pickup load of hay every few years, as needed. The livestock producer, in our climate, who feeds hay is one who probably is loosing money.


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## tw30 (Apr 4, 2010)

seminole is 13 miles west of bainbridge tri county area between florida ga and alabama but land i want is around moultrie / macon georgia


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## tw30 (Apr 4, 2010)

where can i buy russesll or tifton 85 hay seed ?


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

scrapiron said:


> you will probably want a hyb bermuda grass, Tift 85,Russell,Tift 44, Costal,Jiggs,Alcia are a few that come to mind. All of these have to be sprigged,roots or green tops,as they produce few if any viable seed.


You need to find a local sprigger, unless you plan on trying to plant tops. I've seen people accomplish that with a manure spreader, but the results are somewhat iffy.


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## scrapiron (Mar 10, 2010)

tw30; There is a man about 50 miles west of you that has cert. Russell sprigs. I will have to look up his name. I don't know if he has tift 85. Here,wc FL, we use green tops, these are " hay that are at least 8wks old ,heavily fertlized" then cut and baled immediately then planted within 24hrs,less than 8hrs is better. There are several slingers,a car rear end connected to a fan pan, in this area that are used to spread the greentops. Then they are pushed into the ground or lightly disced in, about 2-3 in deep, then rolled with heavy smooth roller NOT a cullipacker. This is a very simplified explanation of how we plant here.
Mr Hay Wilson or someone else in Tx ,Ok, La or Ms may know of someone with Jiggs. I am wanting to try Jiggs here and have not been able to find any in this area.

scrapiron


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## tw30 (Apr 4, 2010)

im going to talk to my neighbor tomorrow he knows a lot of people , he has his hand in everything so ill see if he knows anyone about hay


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

scrapiron said:


> . I am wanting to try Jiggs here and have not been able to find any in this area.


scrapiron....Just curious, why Jiggs? It makes good hay, but Tifton 85 is more productive.


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## RCF (Sep 14, 2009)

The way we do hybrid Bermuda grass is we use Bermuda King diggers and spriggers to dig the roots loose into a trailer than we use a tractor to load them in the field and on average if you are doing it by hand you can get 40-50 acres done in about 12 hrs. If you use a manure wagon to sling them out you don't get quite as good coverage but it works and then they are lightly disked in. I have heard of people using tops before but the success I have heard is kind of iffy too and no one can tell us the exact weight of the bales consistently or how much to put on. you can see some pictures here of us sprigging......Jim Russell Hay & Sprig Farm, Inc. - We grow and produce high quality Tifton 85, Tifton 44 and Coastal bermuda grass sprigs for sale

Also unless you are doing Alfalfa or some kind of winter grass you will not need a drill.


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## Blue Duck (Jun 4, 2009)

RCF That is a nice looking set-up!! I have never heard of pulling two spriggers at once. I use a 3 row that seems to take forever to cover the ground but I mostly do conservation sprigging (waterways) and load the sprigger with a pitch fork.


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## scrapiron (Mar 10, 2010)

Mr. Mike 120: Tift 85 is a great hay, we have 30 ac of it. It is the most productive we have,Russell is a fairly close second. Tift 85 has to be babied to get it established,if we can get a 30% "take" that is great, we usually have to hand sprigg fill in the second year to really get it going. During our summer rainy season,3 to 4 months, it is very hard to get 3 consective days with no rain, if Tift 85 goes over about 35 days "here" without being cut it gets stemmy and the nutritional value drops very fast. Costal is just about as bad,Russell will hold up to about 35-45 days,that is why I want to try Jiggs, it may out produce Russell and hold up better.

scrapiron


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## scrapiron (Mar 10, 2010)

Mr RCF:Locally there are no diggers, "machines".We are about to go into our spring drought. Our last rain will be in about 5-10 days, no rain until June when the rainy season starts.When we get enough soil moisture to plant spriggs it is better for us to plant greentops.We only loose about1 1/2 cuttings of hay from our donor field.

scrapiron


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## tw30 (Apr 4, 2010)

so i need a sprigger to plant beramuda/tifton 85 ? Where do i find a sprigger . and why dont them make tifton/beramuda seed?thank you


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## RCF (Sep 14, 2009)

Scrapiron- Ok your seasons are different then ours we usually run out of moisture by June and our sprigging season is from 1st of March to 1st of June usually. How do you buy the tops is it by the bale or weight? How much do you put down to the acre? That seems odd to me that you have a hard time establishing tifton 85 we planted behind our house last year and we got 656 3x3's (avg 800#s) off of 60 acres and 3 cuttings. I guess just another example of how every place is different.


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## RCF (Sep 14, 2009)

tw-30...Any Hybrid Bermuda grass seed is sterile so there for the seed does not germinate and make a new plant you have to dig up the roots and replant them. (that's the simplified version) You can find a used sprigger and put them out yourself but its alot of work it just depends on how much you want to do but its usually best to hire someone to do it for you if you have never done it or seen it done.


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## tw30 (Apr 4, 2010)

maybe i shouldnt gett into hybrids yet lol .


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## tw30 (Apr 4, 2010)

pace myself , my neighbor was feeding his horse small aflafla cubes today , i said want that me them buck wild . he just laughed , i could might grow aflafla


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## RCF (Sep 14, 2009)

I didn't mean to scare you away from hybrids but anything you plant you are going to have a learning curve from either getting it established to making good hay or machinery.


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## tw30 (Apr 4, 2010)

maybe i can get some money and afford to fly up to the hay expo in june so i can learn more







.hay farming to me is the most intersesting , plus the green fields are seneric compared to plowed fields


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## scrapiron (Mar 10, 2010)

RCF: We normally establish a nursery of grass first,1 to 5 ac.Min amount of green tops is 1000lb per acre.I like 14-1500lb of Tift85 as so few will root and live the first year. A small sq baler follows the mower making 80/100lb bales,about 24"long.Transport to the field, load the slinger put them out, push into ground, hoping it is raining when you do this.The green tops standing cost $200 per acre of ground sprigged if you supply all equipment AND labor. Last year a couple of guys only charged $1500 per acre 10 acre min, all inclusive, cut ground, sprigged,rolled. They supplied everything except rain.There is only about 300 ac of Tift85 in this area,most is Tift 44 or Costal. I have the only Russell, it cost me more than Tift85 to start a nursery. I had to go 300 miles one way to get my green tops.

scrapiron


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## RCF (Sep 14, 2009)

Ok thanks for the info scrapiron.......we actually drove out to Georgia to get our 85 sprigs we started out with around 8 acres


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## scrapiron (Mar 10, 2010)

I hope you got cert. spriggs. That is a drive you don't make in a few hrs, more like a road trip.

scrapiron


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## RCF (Sep 14, 2009)

Yea grandpa picked them up in 92 I believe, they where certified and I think came from a place pretty close to where they where developed Gpa actually talked to the guy who made it but we where not allowed into the trailer to tromp them down or anything I remember him being pretty nervous about it but we now have around 250 acres of it and have sprigged lots of it across TX, OK, AR, and sold some to LA.


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

scrapiron said:


> Mr. Mike 120: Tift 85 is a great hay, we have 30 ac of it. It is the most productive we have,Russell is a fairly close second. Tift 85 has to be babied to get it established,if we can get a 30% "take" that is great, we usually have to hand sprigg fill in the second year to really get it going. During our summer rainy season,3 to 4 months, it is very hard to get 3 consective days with no rain, if Tift 85 goes over about 35 days "here" without being cut it gets stemmy and the nutritional value drops very fast. Costal is just about as bad,Russell will hold up to about 35-45 days,that is why I want to try Jiggs, it may out produce Russell and hold up better.scrapiron


Like RCF said...Your weather is much different from ours. Usually in July/August I'd love to have your rain. This time of the year I'm hoping for long clear periods. I usually cut my T-85 every 30 days. I've had weather delay my first cutting where it got so stemy that cows wouldn't eat it. After the first cutting, I can usually stay on a 28-30 day schedule. A friend has Jiggs. He says that he can let it go a lot longer but it will eventually get stemy as well. It doesn't produce near what T-85 will but it seems to be a lot easier to plant with tops.


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## tw30 (Apr 4, 2010)

think im going to plant aflaafla when i do start , might try and find a local hay farmer to apprentice under learn the ropes etc


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## scrapiron (Mar 10, 2010)

Mike120: You might not like our summer rainy season. Every afternoon a thunderstorm that last 30-90 min and will drop 3/4"to 2" of rain.I have seen it do that for 60 days in a row with a total 2 month rainfall of 70".Five miles away they only had 20" of rain in the same time. Our sand hills get dry very fast,5miles away in the flat woods they will flood with just a little bit of rain. This winter we have had real good rain,none in the last 12 days until this morning,we were getting irrigation time dry,the flat woods have 18" of water standing on them.

scrapiron.


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## jpruett (Apr 14, 2010)

Yep, the best thing you can do is find someone to mentor you and that is sure cure your itch to be a hay farmer. Several things jump out here:

* You are in the wrong place for Alfalfa. These guys explain it better than me: SS-AGR-188/AG192: Alfalfa Production in Florida

* Bermuda prigging used to run about $100/acre, but is getting higher every year. I recently got a quote for $175/acre in north Alabama.

* Bermuda grows fast and requires multiple cuttings per year or you end up with only stems after it lays over. You have to cut around weather. You would probably need several crews cutting/baling for 100 acres... at least for square bales. So... you migh also need a round baler.

* Horse folks like square bales. You get about 100 bales to the acre with proper management, rain, and fertilization. Horse hay can't get rained on (it molds) so you must have a barn. The bales are 14x18x36 inches. Can you do the math and tell me how many 40x100 barns you will need for 200 acres?? You can generally only stack about 10 high with handling equipment.

* You can expect $500 of fertilizer for every 10 acres about 3-4 times per year.

* Automated hay equipment is nicely priced at about $10,000 for accumlator and single grapple. You will need another grapple at the unloading side.

* If you don't have enough cash to pay for the land, do the math and see how much interest is on $300,000 (at least $15k/year initially). You will need a new square baler because you are going to wear it out with 200 acres... $20k. The tractor will be at least $15-20K and you need 2 of them. Each barn to hold 4000 bales may be around $20k also.

Ok... I doubt you can appreciate where this is going, but it never ends. I am trying to forget how much my tax man told me I lost last year!!! Think big, but start small. You will need to build up your clients because they will not come back if you do not fertilize or cut in a timely fashion. Hay is all about proper management and good/bad luck (weather) goes with all farming.


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