Pasture management

[smurfette]

Could you let your horses graze on your hayfield in the winter, then before the new growth came in, take them off of it so it would grow enough for a good hay crop in the fall? Would letting them graze on it all winter be bad for the next year's hay crop?

 

[Pasofever]

Damn you are full of questions tonight..

 

[smurfette]

Damn you are full of questions tonight..

I know... stuff I've been thinking about for a while, just never have much time to post... so do you have an opinion on the hayfield thing?

 

[Pasofever]

I know... stuff I've been thinking about for a while, just never have much time to post... so do you have an opinion on the hayfield thing?

Sorry NO..I have no hayfield..I have basically 4 dry lots...little grass...I would assume you could but don't know for sure...good luck...

 

[spellbound]

We don't ever use the hay field for grazing. If we did, we'd find manure baled up with the hay. Even manure that's six months old can still end up clumped up in the hay bale.

 

[2baymares]

I would not want to feed my horses hay that was baled around manure.
Plus , some hay grasses will not hold up to the pressure of grazing. Then you would end up with nothing. What type of hay are you growing? Tall Fescue can withstand grazing if you must graze it.

 

[Robin]

Could you let your horses graze on your hayfield in the winter, then before the new growth came in, take them off of it so it would grow enough for a good hay crop in the fall? Would letting them graze on it all winter be bad for the next year's hay crop?

NO, Dont do it. The crop (Yield)comes in sparse, does not fully mature and yes you bale up horse crap in it. It was a pretty much as to speak, a waste to bale the horses did not want to eat it. Wasted alot of it due to the manure in it.

 

[SouthernMdRocks]

I know... stuff I've been thinking about for a while, just never have much time to post... so do you have an opinion on the hayfield thing?

I wish I had the acreage to ponder these questions. I think you are fine using it during the winter months as long as it doesn't get grazed down to nothing.

 

[Cowgirl]

I would not want to feed my horses hay that was baled around manure.
Plus , some hay grasses will not hold up to the pressure of grazing. Then you would end up with nothing. What type of hay are you growing? Tall Fescue can withstand grazing if you must graze it.

I wouldn't be worried about the manure. You should be dragging your fields after your horses are done with it anyways. Dragging the fields will help get rid of the piles, and you're not supposed to scrape the ground when you rake hay anyways.

The biggest factor is type of grass/legume planted. Tall fescue is an excellent grass for winter grazing. It can be stockpiled in late summer/early fall for winter grazing. The frost makes the grass highly palatable. The only time you need to be careful with fescue is with broodmares, and that's only in the last 3 months of pregnancy. Fescue gets a bad rap, but it's an excellent forage species.

I really don't think there's anything wrong with grazing hay fields in the winter (depending on species). In fact, it's very common on most farms to have dual purpose fields. Not everyone has strictly pasture/hay fields.

 

[chicamuxen]

At the large farm that I boarded at for years they had one field that was used for grazing and hay, all the rest of the hay fields were for strickly hay use. The hay fields produced significantly more bales per acre than the pasture/hay field. The farm manager told me that using the field for grazing compacts the soil which reduces the grass growth. I also can tell you that grass stores it's energy in the lower few inches of the stems. Thant's why horses like the short grass better, it really has more sugars in it. Anyway, this energy is what the grass uses to grow. So if you use the field for grazing in the cool months when the grass isn't growing then the horses will graze it short and rob the grass of it's own food for spring growth. This is always true of any pasture of course. It's the reason to not graze a field short. Sucks for us with few acres.

chicamuxen

 

[Cowgirl]

I also can tell you that grass stores it's energy in the lower few inches of the stems. Thant's why horses like the short grass better, it really has more sugars in it. Anyway, this energy is what the grass uses to grow. So if you use the field for grazing in the cool months when the grass isn't growing then the horses will graze it short and rob the grass of it's own food for spring growth.

chicamuxen

That's true, but remember most grasses are dormant in the winter months, so the energy is stored in the roots.