# Orchard Grass with Oats Nurse Crop?



## mulberrygrovefamilyfarm (Feb 11, 2009)

Anybody ever plant orchard grass with oats as a nurse crop? I've got a bunch of oats left over from harvest that I'd like to use up and the only thing that I've got to plant it into are a couple of fields going into orchard grass and clover mix.


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## Haymike56 (May 3, 2010)

I always plant them with an Orchard Grass, Timothy and Alalpha mix. Then I cut them in the boot stage and bale it. The cows love it.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Used to do it all the time.Mix orchardgrass seed with oats in big box on drill and the alfalfa seed in alfalfa box.You can get by with 1 bpa if just for cover crop.It will stool out anyway.


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## dbergh (Jun 3, 2010)

Its a great way to get a crop established and also get something to cut and bale early on in the process. Makes great cattle feed. Just don't let it get too rank or it will tend to choke your grass unnecessarily. Its better feed anyway at the boot stage.


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## Toyes Hill Angus (Dec 21, 2010)

If you can't get it cut eairly enough, it turns into wrapped straw. we can't seem to gegt the weather to hold long enought to dry bale so it gets wrapped, and if it is cut later than than desired it turns into expensive, smelly straw, but the cows still fight to eat it. I use Oats for a cover exclusively.


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