# Teff experience this summer



## steve in IN (Sep 30, 2009)

Finished my Teff grass for the season. Here is my results. Planted 15 acres on June 10. Made 500 bales July 15. Made 600 bales August 21. Finished third cutting September 30 with 1103 bales. Learned a few things about it this summer and plan to try more next year. Wanted to no-till Orchard and Timothy but too dry. Customer response was favorable. Put almost all of last cutting in barn. With rains we had brought out alot of 2-3 dollar hay by the wannabes. Hard to believe I actaully tried something new and it worked. Usually when I try a new idea on a highway it backfires ,I know my sudan grass sure did. Oh well experiences like this just make the beer taste better.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

Bottums up! Glad to hear you did well. Is that a bit over 4 t/ac? 55-60# bales?


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

steve in IN said:


> Finished my Teff grass for the season. Here is my results. Planted 15 acres on June 10. Made 500 bales July 15. Made 600 bales August 21. Finished third cutting September 30 with 1103 bales. Learned a few things about it this summer and plan to try more next year. Wanted to no-till Orchard and Timothy but too dry. Customer response was favorable. Put almost all of last cutting in barn. With rains we had brought out alot of 2-3 dollar hay by the wannabes. Hard to believe I actaully tried something new and it worked. Usually when I try a new idea on a highway it backfires ,I know my sudan grass sure did. Oh well experiences like this just make the beer taste better.


So your third cutting produced as much as your first two cuttings? If you don't mind sharing, what are some of the things that you learned about your Teff this year?

Regards, Mike


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

That's amazing that you nearly got twice the amount 3 cutting as you did first. Our orchard and brome with fertilization producation always goes down from 1 to 3rd cuttings. Did you fertilize it any? Or was the 3rd more due to more moisture? How did you plant it? With a drill? Sorry. So many questions as I'm planning to plant 30 acres next year into a thin alfalfa stand after 1st cutting alfalfa.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Is teff hard to get dry? Did you see any elevated moisture levels in the bales? Reason I ask is because I just had a guy tell me he had baled teff that looked/tested/baled dry--but a few days later the hand probe was showing 40% moisture and the bales felt damp on top.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Saw this thread on Teff....

Regards, Mike

http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=117524&DisplayType=flat&setCookie=1


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Gearclash said:


> Is teff hard to get dry? Did you see any elevated moisture levels in the bales? Reason I ask is because I just had a guy tell me he had baled teff that looked/tested/baled dry--but a few days later the hand probe was showing 40% moisture and the bales felt damp on top.


Gearclash, I don't know how your friend raked the Teff, but I read a few threads this morning and they all said that Teff should not be windrowed and that it should not be raked until right before baling(1-2 hours or so). The thread also mentions that Teff will re-hydrate readily if allowed. I hope IN Steve will give some of his experiences.

Regards, Mike


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Good link you found MIke. Thanks, My cousin baled some Teff for a guy a couple of years ago. He said it cut, dried and baled like any other kind of grass around here. He didn't know about planting and watering though since he didn't do that. I missed buying a Brillion seeder at an auction recently. I'm concerned that my great plains drill will drill it to deep. But the seed guy I talked to had a customer that planted it, in his words, with a regular drill and it came up great. If I get a good crop I will windrow (I don't have any other choice), but I'll put the windrows wide. We however probably don't get as much dew or have as damp of ground as you folks to the east do.


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## steve in IN (Sep 30, 2009)

Wow! So many questions. I will try to give as much detail as I can and welcome any more that you may have. Sprayed 1 quart of glyphosate in April. Worked ground once with a vertical tillage tool. Then waited and waited and still waited till 8 tenths of rain fell around 10 of June. Seeded with Brillon seeder twice at a total of 10 pounds per acre. I was told by others that no-tilling with a drill will put seed to deep. Only want seed about one eight of an inch deep. By the time I finished seeding it was so dusty I could not see seeder. I figured that was a waste of time. About one week later ground looked fuzzy. Still no rain. Grass was growing one -two inches a day with no water. Cut first on July 18 baled the next day with no tedding. Hay was bone dry. I attribute this to the dry ground. About 25 days later ready to cut again. Tedded this time and took another day to dry. Third cutting was about one month later. Had plenty of rain by now. Did not ted but raked twice. Grass was a little tough to dry this time. Also twisted up. Try not to let it head out. This happened to me and grass is too fine to hold up its head. I put acid on both 2 and 3 . Third was sometimes too tough for plunger knife to cuit well. The only bales that gave me trouble with heating was second. Second and third not as green as first. I think this is because through my own fault the only fertilizer it got was 100 ponds of K and 100 pounds of 21-0-0-24S. I didnt put more on because of drought. Next year I will give it about 60 units of N total. This is what is recomended. Lessons learned-1 Fertilize because this grass will grow with little or no water. 2-Keep a close eye on grass so as not to let head out.3-If hay gets rained on after cutting ( as my second did) let hat dry longer. Seems to pick up moisture very easily and drys slowly after. I plan on testing the last cutting,its all I have in barn, to see what its feed valueis. Ill let you all know. Any other questions feel free to ask. Steve


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Thanks for your answers Steve, What variety of Teff did you plant? And did you order the seed in or get it from a local seed dealer?

That's amazing on how you say it grew with no water. I'm still slightly worried about planting with our great plains drill. It does Alfalfa great, but I'm sure not sure about even shallower. I'm not going to no till plant though. I'm tearing up a thin alfalfa field then packing it with our cultipacker/multcher most likely a couple times before planting. There is a used 6 foot Brillion for sale in town for $3500, but I'm not sure if it's worth it to buy as I know nothing about Brillion.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

I do handle Tiffany Teff seed.Can ship anywhere.Be glad to help anyone out getting it.

http://www.producers...y-teff-grass-2/


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

If I ordered now what would be the price per bag to 80645 in Colorado?


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Teslan said:


> If I ordered now what would be the price per bag to 80645 in Colorado?


Sent you a PM


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