putting in a hay field

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MindyLee

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Feb 4, 2009
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Location
Michigan
Tuesday I have a guy coming out to plow, till, disk and sample the ground here for a hay field. Its only about 4-5 acres but its a waste of space.

He asked me about what kind of seed to plant and my hubby told him 1/3 alfalfa and the rest timothy.

What do you guys sugesst?

I have 7 minis

2 stallions

5 mares

2 are easy keepers, 2 bred, 1 paceing skinny stallion, and the rest are refind show horses. No colic issues ever when it comes to hay BUT have a mare who foundered in the past before I owned her but not since. I have no clue y she foundered but her prev owner denied it but her feet said otherwise when buying her back in 2008.

Thanks!
 
If you have a county extension office in your area I would talk to someone in there.They can suggest the best kind of mix for hay in your area which will be determined by your soil and weather.If not, ask the people at your local feed store-they often sell seed for pasture and hay fields.If you have brood mares or plan to have any in the future be sure to get endophyte free fescue strains. We avoid clover in hay fields in this area since we have high humidity issues and clover takes longer to cure when cut due to the round shape and the cupping property of the leaves.If will often get moldy when all the other grasses are cured.I prefer some alfalfa because of the nutritiopn and the horses love it.Alfalfa is also very good if you get very dry weather.It will often survive lack of rain better than many grasses. You should be able to get lots of hay from 4-5 acres.You will need to have help to harvest it when it is ready.We grew some of our own hay in the past, but had trouble getting it cut,raked and baled at the right time because we had to depend on others to do it for us.Good luck-it is very nice to have your own hay source.Sometimes you can find people to do it if you split the cuttings with them..That often works since they have a vested interest in the hay.
 
Thanks for the info. The guy whos doing the field is doing everything from plowing, planting, cutting baling it. I get 1/3 of the cuttings and he gets the rest cause it all came out of his pocket and I have the field.

I think its fair!
 
Thanks for the info. The guy whos doing the field is doing everything from plowing, planting, cutting baling it. I get 1/3 of the cuttings and he gets the rest cause it all came out of his pocket and I have the field.

I think its fair!
Mindy, that is fair and normal share ratio (at least its what we do on shared crop - 1/3 to land owner, 2/3 to whomever does the work).
 
Typical grasses that you could mix with alfalfa in MI would be brome, late orchard grass, and timothy. There are some others that are commonly included in mixes, but not a major component. Check with MSU ext on what combination would work well in your specific site and for the proper Ca:p ratio for horses.
 

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