Menu

Stay in Touch
Sign up for ENews
Subscribe Now

Unlimited access >

Menu

Do People Hay Fields for Free?

Around The Farm
#1

If we go forward with this land and stick to our game plan year we will have 12-14 acres that could be hayed in theory.

As it is, from what I’ve read so few acres is not worth a good farmers time unless it is essentially in their backyard.

In upstate SC what are the odds I could find someone who would want to hay the field in exchange for taking it all or maybe a 80-20 or 90-10? What other arrangements have people worked out?

The field is weedy and I don’t even know what grass is growing. I’m having an extension specialist out ASAP to learn more about what I’m looking at and recommendations on how to start improving the land. Any recommendations on resources for learning about things like soil testing and grass improvement?

My biggest concern is maintaining AG status on newly purchased land, keeping grass at reasonable length, and alleviating the need to bushhog and waste a bunch of potential hay we don’t need right now.

It seems like it could be a win-win in theory but perhaps finding someone to hay for free just isn’t a thing?

#2

You can get a decent amount of hay from 12-14 acres. I assume you mean free to the farmer vs renting the land from you? I’m not familiar with SC but in my area farmers appreciate “free leased” land as it’s getting more and more expensive to find farm land. If you want to keep the hay likely you’ll have to figure out a deal, you pay for lime/seed etc or get a discount per bale? If they are strictly using the land and keeping the hay that’s different.

1 Like
#3

some horse rescues will take standing hay, bale it themselves … if you could find one that would do the same you could at least obtain a write off for the value of the hay given (not sure sure if such would of any value these days) … but the land would used as in an agriculture use thus possibly reducing the property tax

#4

Ask around at neighbouring farms close by, who are making hay, have equipment. You are offering the hay for free, to someone who wants to cut it and take it away? It will depend on what sort of shape the fields are in, the quality of the crop, if someone will take you up on this offer. If it is so bad that it is not worth their time and diesel, they won’t take you up on it. If it is OK, they well may do it. If it is so bad that they don’t want to do this, then the answer is just to brush hog it for this year, and work on improving the quality of the crop for next year. Sounds like you are getting some good info on this already, but again, if you can find a local hay farmer (the one who accepts your offer to hay it this year might be a place to start), ASK them for their input about what needs to be done to improve your fields. Local knowledge can be helpful.

“Old School” farmers are keen to rip up fields with ploughs after spraying with herbicide, level and reseed. “Other” methods are less intrusive, more environmentally sensitive, and often cheaper and easier- aeriation, fertilizer, and seed drill.

#5

This is a pretty big deal for me. We want land because we want an opportunity to participate in protecting land and the environment to the degree possible. Spraying a bunch of unnecessary junk that negative impacts the land is a hard no in my book.

Perhaps planning on bush hogging year one, soil testing, and then finding a farmer willing to partner with us year 2 makes more sense.

Anyone know of resources for grass identification?

1 Like
#6

For hay? No they’re not. I don’t know any “old school” farmers who do that with their hay fields. The oldest “old school” farmer I know, who is nearly 80, does none of the things you claim. In fact, if you’ve got a good hay field established, it would be stupid, wasteful, and counterproductive to “rip it up” with plows.

In reply to the OP’s question, yes, if you get a decent hay field re-established and you’re in an area where people are actively growing hay, you should have no trouble getting someone to come in and cut, bale, and remove your hay, either taking it all or doing some kind of split with you. One of my former neighbors did a 50-50 split, but he had a lot more acreage than you do, so it was worth haying for just half of the product.

Your county extension agent is your best resource. Just keeping your fields bush hogged fairly short for a year or two will do a pretty good job of significantly reducing weeds and encouraging grass to grow. But, most modern herbicides have a pretty friendly environmental profile, minimally toxic to things that aren’t plants and degrading rapidly in the soil so any decision not to use them should be based on cost considerations or personal philosophy, not some perceived need to protect the environment.

9 Likes
#7

You should contact your agricultural department about grass identification. You can also look online.

I bought a regional guide to native plants that includes the major hay grass that has escaped.

If you want to ID grass its very helpful to have the boot stage flower heads as these are most distinct.

I would suggest going out with sisscors and harvesting the entire stalk from ground up with the flower heads. Then you can take them inside the house and lay them out on paper and do your ID work in comfort. The stalks will remain useful after they dry up. I say entire stalk because then you know how tall the grass is.

Good way to develop your own eye for grass!

The grass is likely flowering now!

Anything in the grass and clover family will make passable hay. Other broad leaf weeds are undesirable.

If your pasture is full weeds you might borrow goats!

Interestingly I get to see derelict or abandoned hay fields and the good grass is quite persistent even after years of neglect.

We also have an invasive species if reed canary swamp grass that is good grazing young but turns to twiggy 6 foot mess at maturity and makes unpalatable hay. If you have something like that locally it may look nice now but not be a good hay crop.

2 Likes
#8

Alfalfa stands out west do indeed get sprayed and the field worked with a disk, maybe a plow but probably not…then planted to an alternative hay crop ( triticale, barley, oats, wheat &peas, and such) for a year or two, and then a new stand of alfalfa planted.

Do ask your extension agent about resources for organic farming, if that is your interest.

And yes, a farmer might well be interested in your hay crop, providing that he has machinery close to you, the hay crop is salable or usable for him, and there aren’t giant rocks, old wire fence, old refrigerators, etc lurking under the grass. If you inadvertently run the mower over something solid that you can’t see under the grass at mowing time, you might do more damage to your equipment than the hay is worth. A farmer in our neck of the woods would go walk through the field after the snow melted and before the grass started growing.

2 Likes
#9

No, they are not!!! The reason is that the method your allude is very expensive and takes from half a year to a year and a half to be profitable. Given that “old school farmers” throw nickles around like they were manhole covers I find your statement seriously flawed.

A field of weeds is worthless as hay. It can be cut, dried, and baled but it’s still weeds. In SC there are lots things in weedy fields you DO NOT WANT to feed to livestock. Here’s a start on what might be out there https://plants.usda.gov/java/noxious?rptType=State&statefips=45

The local Extension office is a valuable resource in both evaluating the field and it’s contents as well as having possible reference to folks who might be interested in using the land.

This is a pretty big deal for me. We want land because we want an opportunity to participate in protecting land and the environment to the degree possible. Spraying a bunch of unnecessary junk that negative impacts the land is a hard no in my book.

Your professional farmer has the same goal as you, but adds “making money” to the list. They will use chemicals and other aids to production but NOBODY with any sense engages in “spraying a bunch of unnecessary junk” 'cause that costs money. And the chemicals they will use are selected because they will assist in production this year as well as on into the future. If any of this is a “hard no” then plan on just bush-hogging the land (and unnecessarily burning a bunch of diesel).

G.

11 Likes
#10

We hay 12-ish acres. A local farmer is our hay guy. He has cows. We do the irrigating and fertilizing (well, pay someone to do it) and he does all the hay stuff. He takes the first cutting (in round bales for his cows) and we take the second cutting (small squares). He does do our neighbors fields as well so total acreage is probably close to 40 or so. Ask around.

#11

Sounds like OP is new to pastures and haying and having land.

”‹Getting local advice from your ag department and local farmers will be your best bet. Also teach yourself to identify local plants.

There are millions of plants in the world but in one region and especially one habitat there are probably only a couple dozen at most.

Learn your grasses and your weeds and then you will be better able to spot new or unusual or invasive plants.

If there is visually a significant amount of broadleaf weeds (other than clover) in your field, then you don’t have a hay field or even a good pasture, and you may have toxic plants in there.

You will need to clear those weeds out before you will have functional pasture or hay fields. Honestly everything around horses and land seems to require gasoline input, whether you plow and reseed or bush hog and hope the grass beats the weeds. What you choose will depend on the type and tenacity of the weeds you are fighting, and the tenacity of the local grass as well.

Also you need to know about your soil and drainage. Within a 20 mile radius you can have sandy hills, river bottom clay, pasture that grows year round, pasture that dies off of drought every summer, pasture that is standing water all winter.

Each of these situations will favor certain grasses and weeds over others. You need to observe your land closely over the course of a year to know how it behaves.

Useful also to know the history of the land. Overgrazing will kill off the grass and let the unpalatable and toxic weeds proliferate.

3 Likes
#12

[ATTACH=JSON]{“alt”:“Click image for larger version Name: image.jpg Views: 2 Size: 19.0 KB ID: 10397476”,“data-align”:“none”,“data-attachmentid”:“10397476”,“data-size”:“full”}[/ATTACH]

  1. If the field is weedy, someone with cows or goats may have interest in taking it.

  2. In 15 years, we have only put 2-4-D on our pastures once; we have 25 acres in Middle Tennessee where pastures are lush as long as they aren’t over-grazed.

. That was the year we came out of an exceptional drought status that lasted two years. The ground cracked and stunk like the ground in SoCal’s Low Desert where I lived five years.

2.1. I am afraid we are going to have to put 2-4-D down this Fall as the miserable wiry Hop Clover is getting out of control and all of a sudden I see big patches of red & white clover and we are also polluted with alsike clover.

Depending on rainfall, we bush hog 3-6 times during the season.

The picture above is a section of pasture after bush hogging four weekends ago. We had to bush hog again this weekend as the pasture grass was already up to the headlights on the four-wheelers.

My point is, you will likely have to put 2-4-D or something similar down once in awhile. The main thing is to be diligent about frequent bush hogging. We cut to about 6"-8".

The real story of how horses graze is they find their favorite spots and graze it down to the dirt, lol. I have laid two horses to rest, and have two remaining. I have to keep them separated. One horse has ~19 acres to himself – the rascal eats in half dozen places and I can find every one of them without much trouble ---- just look where the grass doesn’t seem to grow, lollol.

image.jpg

1 Like
#13

12-14 acres is enough that it may be profitable, and even more so if it is near their farm and/or other fields they already cut.

So you just have to ask around. I know some farmers that hay very small parcels - but they are near or on the way to other fields they hay. My own property is only about 8 acres but we didn’t get any takers from our inquiry. That said, we didn’t try too hard. I know of at least one or two farmers that we didn’t ask that might be interested - but that would mean we would have to avoid trampling it, etc., and my kids would ride ATVs and I run my dogs there…so we didn’t pursue it further.

Definitely find a farmer or two to ask - they will likely know who is around your area. And definitely check out the cooperative extension for your area. They will also know who is local and who farms what.

#14

A stocking rate of 1 horse per 19 acres is going to be a very different management problem than a stocking rate of one horse per acre!!! :slight_smile: And that’s just for those who do maximum turnout on pasture. If the turnout is on paddocks where the stocking rate is multiple horses per acre the problem is even more dramatic and will require a more dramatic solution.

Since horses are spot grazers you will ALWAYS have to manage those spots. We rotate regularly and then treat for weeds; seed, fertilize, and lime if required; and then rest until we get a decent cover. This time of year that time is measured in weeks. In winter it’s measured in months.

Hay fields, done well, are very pleasant to look at. Grazing pastures usually are not.

But the issue, here, is less turnout management than the value of weedy field in SC. Given that in the South you have a much longer growing season and a larger range of weeds with varying levels of toxicity the management problem is clear. To “do it right” will take some RoundUp, a soil test, and then chemical treatment (fertilizer and lime) to adjust the soil balance for the seed that will follow. This will be true no matter where you find yourself in North America (or likely in the world). There are a bunch of charlatans out there who will hawk “natural” systems that the hawkers say don’t require these efforts. The goal of these people is not a lush, green pasture/hay field. It’s separating the owner from the contents of their wallet. The Extension Service is not always of the highest quality but in general will give a more professional, and realistic, assessment than somebody looking to sell you something. Pay attention to them.

G.

1 Like
#15

Yes, it is seriously flawed in our opinion too. Apparently this did not come through in my post? Expensive too. Yet we still see it all the time. Like the OP, it’s a “hard no” in our book too. For a number of reasons. When we moved onto this farm, the fields were quite depleted, had not been well cared for for years. Fields were “used and abused”. We had good success with some aeration, seed drill, water and fertilizer, on the advice of a friend who had a clue. OP, ask your neighbours for input on your hay fields. They already know your land, have watched what has gone on there for years. You may or may not take their advice, but it is still a good idea to ask, and a way to introduce yourself into your new neighbourhood. They may be the ones you end up making a deal with to do some work on the fields, or can suggest someone else local to do the work, if the fields are OK for haying. They can identify the grasses there, and will have an opinion on whether it is worth haying this year, either by them or someone else. Should you too become a hay farmer in the future with your own equipment, they can be further help to you in learning about the practice. Farming neighbours often help each other out with broken equipment, borrowing a tool, doing some welding.

2 Likes
#16

My objection was primarily to the “old school farmers” reference. That was pretty clear to me! :slight_smile:

In the U.S. you don’t have to rely on neighbors for professional advice as we have the Extension Service that is usually affiliated with an ag school. I don’t know if Canada (or any of the Provinces) have such a system or not. Local advice can be valuable but it can also be “old school” and reflect prejudice and “daddydiditthataway” thinking. While most of that has been killed off by the economic pressures of modern agriculture it can still be found in the dark corners of some farming districts!!! :wink:

Having a good, working relationship with neighbors is always a Good Thing.

Maintaining a healthy soil means making it productive and “sustainable” (a word I absolutely HATE as it has become a very “mushy” concept rife with PC assertions that fly in the face of reality). This means if the OP wants to produce hay that will earn money then there are a series to things they must do, all of which will require significant expense. They also said, " We want land because we want an opportunity to participate in protecting land and the environment to the degree possible." This suggests another, very different agenda. To return the land to a less noxious (i.e. weed invested) patch and to a condition where it reflects a more “local” mix of native vegetation would also require significant expense to get rid of the invasive species and re-establish native varieties. The latter approach might take less money for ongoing maintenance but would likely produce little or no income (unless they wanted income and then would plant native varieties that would have marketable production).

The two roads, hay production or native vegetation, are not necessarily mutually exclusive. It’s here that Extension, again, can add expertise. If the local office does not have the information the OP needs then their parent organization likely will. But OP must be ready to hear some things they don’t want to hear on the subject. They also have to be conscious of the charlatans who hawk all manner of expensive, proprietary “natural solutions” that are bunk and hokum.

I wish the OP well in their venture.

G.

3 Likes
#17

I think that a lot of our local hay growers with established fields don’t put alot of inputs into those fields. And from what I’ve seen, old hay fields can persist a long time. Indeed, I think that it is grazing pastures that get worn down, that get weeds replacing grass. The horses eat down the grass, leave the noxious weeds, and those proliferate.

Once OP gets a hay field established I would think they could maintain it with just some annual fertilizer which could be manure based.

Getting the weeds out is another matter.

In the park where I ride, there are teams of volunteer “Weed Busters” going after the several species of invasive plants. And yes, they selectively use Glyphosphate on some of them. It’s considered OK for our wetlands. There just is apparently nothing else that works on Japanese Knotweed with its rhizomes. Indeed, I am not 100% sure it is working!

If you want to get rid of Himalayan Blackberry (our kudzu equivalent) you need heavy equipment.

So even the most conscientious environmental rehabilitation will sometimes need to use herbicides and backhoes to start the process.

These aren’t plants you can weed by hand or even use a weedeater.

1 Like
#18

This reminds me I need to go out and tackle some Himalayan blackberries that are getting started…

OP I have about three acres in hay right now, not by choice, just by design because I am waiting to put in more paddocks and an arena. Finding someone to cut it isn’t horribly difficult, lots of small time hay guys out there who hunt out people with acreage here and there. I have never charged and I don’t take the hay myself (orchard and fescue mix, have a horse that can’t eat orchard), so that makes it more interesting to folks knowing they are getting good hay for the cost of their time and labor/diesel. If I had a field of weeds, probably not so much :no:

#19

12-14 acres can yield a good amount of hay. Look for a neighboring land owner who bales their own hay and see what kind of a deal you can work out.

Spraying to kill the weeds is not going to harm anything and will improve your field, not damage it. It will only need to be done once.

After spraying to kill the weeds ( once they are dead) you can go back and no-till in a pasture mix ( go heavy) which will give you a good stand of mixed grass for the next year.

Having ground worth baling makes it worth the time and money it takes to improve it. After all , you may use it yourself one day.

#20

@GraceLikeRain , farm purchase? Let us know when you can, if you get it done so we can celebrate with you! Good luck!

Get your Digital Subscription here - only $21.95 / year

Subscribe here
See gift options

Sign up to our monthly newsletter!

By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.

Copyright © 2023 The Chronicle of the Horse