# Lifespan of Hay Question



## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

So you got your hay field in good shape, it has timothy or orchard grass or alfalfa or whatever your preference for the hay would be. You cut early before the hay goes to seed every year.

Question is - since the hay is not reseeding, each year the plants are getting older. At some point, unless you reseed, does the hay die out simply due to old age?

Take it a step further. Say you had a field of timothy, orchard grass or some other variety of grass or legume. You cut before the hay goes to seed, however, occasionally you reseed, say with timothy as an example, after a period of time, would you wind up with a field of near 100 percent timothy?

Thanks!
Bill


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

leeave96 said:


> So you got your hay field in good shape, it has timothy or orchard grass or alfalfa or whatever your preference for the hay would be. You cut early before the hay goes to seed every year.
> 
> Question is - since the hay is not reseeding, each year the plants are getting older. At some point, unless you reseed, does the hay die out simply due to old age?
> 
> ...


I don't know much about Timothy, but we have 2 fields of orchard and brome. Mostly brome that is older then me and I'm 39. They are our best producing fields. I'm not sure what kind of brome or orchard it is. Sometimes I think I should let it seed out and harvest the seeds to plant elsewhere. These never have been reseeded. Some grasses spread by ribosomes and these in my field does.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

I think a lot of seeds still get on the ground during the cutting, tedding, raking and baling process. You may think you are cutting before seeds, but there's still quite a few there. 
My discbine gets hundreds of thousands of seeds on the big flat cover. So I think you knock a lot of seeds off in the haying process.


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

Good question. I don't know the answer. But one thing I do is mix 1pound/acre of the hayseed mix my fields are seeded to with the fertilizer and spread over the spring. Every few years just mix alfalfa seed to help keep it coming in strong. The mix I have is a alfalfa/brome/timothy mix. So far it seems to be working. Things have been getting thicker and higher yields till this year cause of the dry conditions.


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

Seems like here hayfields are always evolving and changing over time


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Would Timothy OG mix take hold if I applied it while applying a topdressing of mush soil in the late summer?


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

JD3430 said:


> Would Timothy OG mix take hold if I applied it while applying a topdressing of mush soil in the late summer?


JD-I assume that the mushsoil mix is spread like lime but how thick do you put it on? As long as the topdressing covers the seed and you get a shower or two I would think it would do great. Might want to run a chain harrow over it after you spread to make sure everything gets down to the soil instead of sitting on the blades of grass. How are you going to mix the seed into the soil additive?


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