Types Of Hay

Regardless of whether you bale your own hay, these large wagons are useful for so much more than their stated purpose of transporting hay. Add the fact that I often prune back the edges of fields (producing large piles of branches and small trees), and...

These ferns preferand slightly acidic soil. If you are using them in landscaping, they are great for border edging, ground coverage and naturalizing your garden. This fern is invasive, which makes it excellent for ground coverage, but because of its hardiness,...

The bars that run a hay rake's spring fingers shouldn't be terribly worn. For this, you'll need a mower. Haymaking Alternatives Make Sense Too Not every small farmer wants to make hay, yet we all want control over the quality and price of the forage our...

According to the most recent Kentucky Weekly Crop and Weather Report, about 90 percent of the state's pastureland was rated either poor or very poor. If you find you're short on your hay supply, buying additional hay now can save you a lot of headaches...

Whether it be a very wet season or a drought that limits your hay harvest, it's a good idea to have a backup plan for winter animal feed. If put up correctly (harvested with less than 20 days of growth), the Bermuda hays can be a good source of fiber...

Be sure to get hay of the best quality to limit the amount of seeds and get ready for a big yield of vegetables and flowers. Hay, though, just may give you the best yield you've ever gotten out of your garden.The first thing you need to know is that there...

Haystacks were common years ago before the invention of the hay baler, but today hay is handled much more efficiently and stored more easily because of this process.One of the uses for hay bales is for erosion control.

Does the hay have a high amount of leaf material (which has higher nutritional value), or have the leaves mostly shattered during cutting and baling? Legume: Alfalfa is the dominant member of the legume family when it comes to making hay, with clover...

Water the bale deeply. Hay-bale gardening is a nontraditional gardening technique that works well for gardeners with limited gardening space or those with limited mobility. You do not need to stake the bale if its binding is plastic or wire, because these...

If the feed value of the hay is less than that of years past, provide a nutritional supplement to your livestock. While farmers and ranchers wait for a break in the rain, hay fields continue to grow.

Contact your Cooperative Extension office for information about certified soil-testing laboratories and to learn more about soil testing in your area. Other forage day topics to be covered: Indiana sales tax as it relates to the forage enterprise Co-ensiling...

Unless you have hay wagons to spare and a lot of large, empty garage bays (wait—an empty garage bay on a farm?) where you can park full wagons of hay, you'll need to keep unloading wagons as you go along, which is also a time-consuming task.

Build them a sturdy place to dine. More free Hobby Farms downloads Grab Dennis Acevedo's “How Do I … Build a Hay Feeder” plans for the details. About the Author Dennis Acevedo is a computer programmer in Lexington, Ky., and a regular behind-the-scenes...

If weeds or grasses begin to grow from the bales, simply trim them to keep them short.Remove all the blossoms from the strawberry plants for the first few months after planting in order to encourage the plants to build up a food reserve.

But since a rose garden is generally a formal affair, it must be planned to perfection. For those of us who are Helen Hayes fans, we will always have fond memories of her. This article discusses both the woman and the rose.

Consider building a sacrifice lot for this purpose. How you feed hay will depend on the amount of time you have to devote to your livestock, your hay-storage capabilities and your farm's setup.

After all, lifting square bales that weigh about 50 pounds, by means of two pieces of twine—often while using just one hand—guarantees blisters if your hands aren't appropriately protected.

As an added bonus, you will rarely have to contend with some of the more annoying common garden weeds like dandelions, wiregrass or bindweed. Here are my top four reasons for starting a hay-bale garden of your own.

Agco Corporation, the company that manufactures Massey Ferguson and Hesston machinery, says straight-line design reduces strain on its baler frames, too. It was the forerunner of the neat, small balers we highlight here.

Check tarps on a regular basis to make sure they're securely tied down. Outdoor Storage If the hay storage area is open on one or more sides, or if it's a shed with only a roof, cover the fully-cured hay with a tarp to keep out weather and light.

As browsers, goats eat a wide variety of plants when roaming free, and will eat some of the weeds and other undesirable plants that other animals will not. If ingested, wire can cause “hardware” disease in cattle by perforating the gut and causing...

However, you may find it for a good price at a farm supply store.If you use mulch around edible plants, keep in mind that unless you buy organically grown hay, lucerne may contain pesticides.Lucerne mulch breaks down quickly, so it should be replenished...

Once the posts were in place, I installed guard rails running along the sides of the wagon. Essentially, a typical hay wagon is a large platform with a vertical wall on the back and a couple of diagonal beams to firmly secure that wall to the platform.

Remember the old idiom calling into question the validity of the very idea: Hay is for horses. Second, recognize that different types exist, and swine digest it differently than ruminants (sheep, cows, and so on).

They had evidently been deposited there years ago by the previous owner of the farm—further evidence (if any was needed) of the hard work that our rake has performed for decades.

But there's a huge downside to fescue, too. Plus, it's been around a long time! Tall fescue came to the United States from Europe in the late 1800s. Unusually thick umbilical cords are hard to break, and placentas can be so thick that the young can't...

Put the bales where animals like us goats can't climb on them. It's cheaper that way, but you have to know how to handle it or it gets wasted. They also store four bales under cover for emergency purposes.