# Thimothy and Orchard Grass for cow hay



## Dan Ridder (Sep 17, 2011)

I live in central Nebraska, have been farming/ranching for more than 40 years. I must admit I know nothing about Timothy or Orchard Grass. I need a lot of cow and feeder cattle hay. I currently use alfalfa, cane, corn silage, and Wet Distillers Grain for feed. I always cuss the cane(sumac) because of the problem of getting it put up right. It always takes 2 to 3 weeks to cure and usually gets rained on before baling. Would Timothy or Orchard Grass take the place of the cane hay? And would it do OK in Central Nebraska with annual rainfall of maybe 23 inches? Also how to plant and how long does it last. Thanks in advance


----------



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Dan, You would not be happy with production of Timothy or Orchard grass with 24" of annual rainfall. I am afraid that grass stand persistance would also be rather short in time. Now if you could irrigate, it would help the production of these two cool season grasses but the volume would probably be short of what you are accustomed to having with canes or sudans. Timothy would be especially iffy for your climate. I am not saying that it could not be done, I am saying that the production would be less than satisfactory as a bulk feed for your cattle. Generally folks either drill or broadcast orchard grass and timothy needs to be broadcasted or drop seeded with some type of seeder, then cultipacked. Timothy excells with cool summer temps and plentiful rain fall....New England type climates. I grow Timothy here in Tennessee, and it does pretty well but does not excell.
We see that you joined a couple of months ago and I just wanted to say welcome to a interesting and informative family of forage producers from all across our country.

Regards, Mike


----------



## Dan Ridder (Sep 17, 2011)

Thanks for the info. This is a great site !!


----------



## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Timothy is known as the horseman's hay. It's ready about the first week in June. I found it's really good feed, but it's not high yield. Hereabouts, I was getting 1-2 cuttings a year when it was really dry, but I haven't tried it recently. It goes dormant over 85 and was real sensitive to crown damage from traffic.

I'm not familiar with your climate, but a lot of guys in this area grow sudan grass for cattle feed. It's an annual, but very high yiled. I understand it's a little hard to get dried but, with your low humidity, it might be worth a try.

Ralph


----------



## Waterway64 (Dec 2, 2011)

We have lost the dairies out of this region and demand for orchardgrass x alfalfa hay by horse and ranch buyers has caused me to switch. I farm at the edge of the Black Hills on irrigated ground and orchard grass is a good producer all summer with at least as good a dry down as alfalfa.


----------



## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

I raise orchard and brome grass that's irrigated and the horsey people love it. But cattle owners have started to feed it as well and our neighbor says his cattle do as well or better on the grass in the winter then alfalfa.


----------

