Gardening in bales allows you to transform rocky, uneven or clay soil — or even a paved parking spot — into fertile growing space. Straw bales work well because they have fewer seeds in them, which results in fewer weed problems, but Bermuda grass,...
Follow these tips to help hay baling days go as smoothly as possible. What's better than producing your own hay for your livestock? Start as Early as Possible To anyone who has ever baled hay, this is obvious but it bears repeating—the process is slow...
Hay-bale gardening is an innovative raised-bed technique that allows you to grow a range of vegetables or ornamentals directly within a decomposing hay or straw bale. The only drawback to hay-bale gardening is finding a helpful friend to physically install...
But please do not eat them.: I found just parting the stalks by hand or with a shovel to open up an area about the size of a 1 pound coffee can worked for me, but some folks cut out a small section instead.
Here in the Ozarks, hay is expensive, so Mom and Dad buy most of our hay in big bales. They also store four bales under cover for emergency purposes. Put the bales where animals like us goats can't climb on them.
Dad made one two whole panels long across the front of the Boer goats' paddock but used bolt cutters to snip the third panel into pieces for smaller groups. Dad gets mad when we goats and sheep pull hay out of conventional feeders, then fling it around,...
Read our charts to help analyze your hay. Download a copy of Carol Ekarius's hay analysis charts>> Like our free downloads ? Learn more about the quality of hay you feed your animals.
Have you developed any alternative uses for your hay wagon? If you want to take advantage of your hay wagon on a more regular basis, here are a few ideas to help get you started. In fact, allow me to revise my original statement: I think my hay wagons...
Read on to learn more.) is a deciduous fern that, when crushed, releases a scent of fresh mowed hay. If your garden is in need some thinning out from these persistent plants, you can easily control the spread by pulling out some of the growth in spring.Caring...
Most farmers are happy to show new folks the ropes. Today's compact tractor horsepower is determined by measuring crankshaft power, so vintage and modern horsepower ratings aren't the same.
“It can help [farmers] feed hay more economically and efficiently.” Tags farmers , grazing , livestock However, the timely rains diminished in July for some areas of the state and haven't returned in significant amounts in most places since then.
She lives on a 10-acre hobby farm in northwest Indiana with her husband, Mark, 75 chickens, two Lamancha goats, two horses, and an assortment of cats and dogs. Hay is a substitute for forage rooted in a pasture.
While small square bales are ideal for ease of feeding, putting them up, is more labor-, time- and cost-intensive than baling large round or large square bales. At the same time, hay shortages have become a way of life.
Depending on your climate and property, it may even be a pricey piece of your livestock budget all year long. Save yourself some money feeding your livestock this winter by setting up a hay feeder that reduces waste.
Some hay dealers and feed stores sell guaranteed fescue-free grass hay for just this reason. It flourished as a wild plant and was officially discovered in Kentucky in 1931, then released in 1943 as Kentucky 31 Fescue.
Savings, however, come in reduced energy needs when operating the structure. With post-and-beam infill construction, like the one we used on the granary, straw bales are inserted between supporting studs and other framing that supports the roof.
It is dry and hollow and there is no nutrition left in it. There is no need to till the soil or enrich it with topsoil. We tend to use the words interchangeably, but there is a big difference:Hay is grass that has been cut while it is still green and...
Growing plants in a straw bale garden can be further elevated by locating the bales in a raised bed. After two weeks of preparing the bale, stick your hand inside the bale to determine warmth.
Depending on the weather and the length of your growing season, it can be possible to cut hay early in the year, let it regrow, and then cut it once or even twice more before fall arrives.
Additionally, when cows are limit-fed, it's important to realize that free-choice consumption of a vitamin-mineral mix can exceed the desired daily level, and it might be necessary to add additional salt as an intake limiter to achieve the desired level...
Ideal body weight and a body weight score are also calculated for Arabians, ponies and stock horses. As hay prices soar, new mobile apps developed at University of Minnesota Extension can help horse owners more precisely determine how much hay to purchase...
While this might have been a welcome change from the drought of 2012, an overabundance of moisture can cause myriad problems and complications for our row-crop farmers, as well as completely halt hay production .
Building on this innovation, in 1937, Pennsylvanian Ed Nolt used knotters from the improved Innes baler to hand-build the first successful automatic pickup square baler. While each has unique features unto itself, the Massey Ferguson 1835 and Hesston...
Other forage day topics to be covered: Indiana sales tax as it relates to the forage enterprise Co-ensiling forage and distillers grains Possible double crop forage crops to follow winter wheat Attributes of a viable lignocellulosic biofuel forage crop...
It might take a day or two to break them in and loosen them up (which is pretty typical, I've found), but before long I expect they'll fit perfectly and be ready for a busy summer of baling hay and who knows what else.
Download our simple plans and provide a sturdy place to feed your livestock. How Do I … Build a Hay Feeder! By Dennis M. Find more free downloads . About the Author Dennis Acevedo is a computer programmer in Lexington, Ky., and a regular behind-the-scenes...
Place the hay 6 inches deep and spread it out 6 inches to each side of the row, so that the row is at least 1 foot wide and 6 inches deep.Add more straw as the plants begin to peek through, in order to keep the base of the plant entirely covered.