Farmers advice

[Firewoodjoe]

i want to plant an annual for more tonage on my small field. I was going to do corn and let the cattle rationally graze it but been thinking of getting a chopper and doing sudan or sorghum something like that. I know this is all over the web and I’ve read up on it. Just want to keep it simple and cheap and looking for opinions if anyone one has one. Thanks. 

[Nebraska]

Little bit of innerseeding rye and turnips or radishes Iin my part of the country. I've seen cattle grazed intensively  in corn by walking a hot wire through the rows a little  at a time, guy was using two wires on spools moved them a couple rows at a time as they got eaten.  He didn't chop, just moved the cattle on to it when pasture ran short. I don't know if Sorghum or Sudan  would yield more feed peracre than corn.

[Firewoodjoe]

That’s why I initial chose corn. And my early snows won’t knock it down. Even if I cut the Sudan sorghum two three times it won’t have as much tonnage?

[btulloh]

I’ve grown quite a bit of that Sudax and it’s impressive in terms of growth rate and volume but there’s not much bulk to it.  Around here it’s used mainly to add organics to the soil plus the root system is very good at breaking up clay soils. I’ll be curious to see what you decide to plant. 

[Southside]

I have to think you are at the edge of where SudanX will prosper. What about a mix of cereal Rye and a long season forage soybean? Tonnage, protein, and nitrogen at the same time. Plus you can get multiple grazings from both. 

[Firewoodjoe]

It’s grown in the up. A lot of guys grow it here for soil builder. Plow it under. I think it will grow fine just not sure if it’s what I want. Cereals won’t get the tonnage per acre. The land is hard to get around here. So I want the most feed that will grow. 

[brianJ]

i want to plant an annual for more tonage on my small field. I was going to do corn and let the cattle rationally graze it but been thinking of getting a chopper and doing sudan or sorghum something like that. I know this is all over the web and I’ve read up on it. Just want to keep it simple and cheap and looking for opinions if anyone one has one. Thanks.

How many head?    How many acres in the field?    What is growing there now?  
Corn is a lot of expense due to high fertilizer need.    Without knowing any of your circumstances Id say going with silage is a bad choice because it is a whole other line of equipment.    Cool season grass will put out the tonnage.   Just needs fertilizer.

[Firewoodjoe]

This is very small time. But want everything in order if and when I get more. I only have 4 head left right now. And I only have tractor and tilliage equipment. I have a good hay source but want to cut cost as much as possible and have a guy just down the road that does custom hay on the side. I already have a cool season field for pasture. And have 10 I’d like to put in to the annual. That’s here at my place then I’ll check into some fields around here not being used. So that’s why I want to decide on silage or hay/haylege before I go buy equipment. This is not a money maker mostly a hobby for the ground we have. Maybe more latter I don’t know. I’m younge enough. Equipment was another reason I was going to pasture. Just fence. And I don’t want to hear this is not worth the hassle for a few head  i know. But I’m not the type to run before I can walk. 

[btulloh]

Your county extension agent would have suggestions specific to your area. Good resource and someone you should have on your speed dial. 

[Firewoodjoe]

Everything around here is brome Timothy alfalfa mammoth clover some birdsfoot and so on. The normals. I planted orchard grass pre annual rye and mammoth clover and it’s pretty decent. Most years and most crips forages of this type yield 2-4 ton per acre. Corn or sorghum will yield 10-18. That’s why I’m looking at that. There’s equipment around here. There’s one guy that feeds feeders all summer off a small field of straight Sudan. Just green chopps it. By the time he gets across it the start is ready to cut again. But I want winter storied feed also. Also the Sudan’s and sorghums are more drought resistan. 

[btulloh]

So you’re talking about sorghum and not the hybrid?  I’ve never grown that and I’m not familiar with the inputs. Maybe it’s a lot less demanding than corn?  Seems like it would be better to stay away from corn based on your equipment and the fertilizer needed for a good corn yield. How’s your rainfall?

[A-z farmer]

I really like Bmr sorghum and we put it into 4x5 wrapped balage.It costs us about 5 dollars a bale for the white plastic and 1 dollar for the net wrap per bale .Does your neighbor have a balage round baler and a wrapper .We make about 1500 of it a year and really like the quality of wrapped bale-age
 .Rotational grazing is great if you have the acres and the paddocks with water access and a good long growin season .Our grazing season here is from May until October depending on moisture and temperature.Good luck on your decision 

[Firewoodjoe]

Rain fall is usually good except July and August. His baler is not. But I have another farmer friend that is but has never done it. He is tried and true dry hay only. There cows he says! Lol everyone to there own opinions 😁 I’d love to just pasture but i don’t know if I could make it work. I think a small chopper and a wagon then a small covered pile would be pretty simple. I’ve helped farms do it all on a larger scale. I may try the corn this year in my own ground and see how they graze it. How long how much money and much waste. I planted a field for the deer once with just a disc and broadcast   was 4-5 foot with small ears. No fertilizer either. And that was just shell corn. Somethylike that would be cheap and easy to do. 10 acres would feed a few for sure. 

[A-z farmer]

We do not plant sorghum until the ground is warm enough which is usually end of May in to early June .Back in the 1990s we planted over 300 acres of sorghum because we had such a wet spring and did not get all the corn planted .Well we started chopping it when it was 30 inches tall and by the time we got through all of it it was 12 feet tall I think it can grow 6 inches a day under Good growing conditions.We ended up buying a new chopper and learned a hard lesson that year.

[Firewoodjoe]

Yeah I wouldn’t want to plant a lot. I’ll play it safe and do corn this year. See what happens. Thanks

[farmfromkansas]

Late to the party, but I plan to plant oats for hay this year.  Just can't find enough good hay.  Have tried the BMR sorghum sedan, millet, but oats is the cows favorite.  They mostly just turn their noses up at the other stuff, and leave half of it in the feeder.  Oats they eat every bite, if you bale it green just after it heads out.  Don't wait and let it start to turn, or you will have to thrash it.  Ask me how I know. I bale alfalfa, prairie hay, brome, about anything that will lay there including wheat straw, but cows prefer alfalfa, early cut brome, and oats over about anything else.  And brome is 3rd on the list.

[hedgerow]

We have a dairy guy in my area that puts oats in cuts them while they are green and bales them or they green chop them. Then they go right in and notill soy beans in the same ground. Works pretty good and the oats makes great cow feed. 

[SwampDonkey]

Good old timothy hay and not too heavy on clover. Yes, oats to. I seen the neighbors trying to feed 30 head with one round bale of 'weeds', literally, and in fall some corn stalks on a wagon in the evening. Starving. Them cows was always out in other people's fields. His pasture was down to the mud, was terrible dry here. Had to water by trough, was usually knocked over in the day. Very unusual weather.

[Stoneyacrefarm]

Timothy and clover hay for me up here in the northeast. 
I’m averaging 6-7 4x4 round bales to the acre for first cut. 
Newer seeded field and fertilized. 
That’s pretty decent for around here. 

[farmfromkansas]

I also plan to plant beans after baling the oats, if we have sufficient moisture to get the beans up.  Seed guy told me you get a boost from the oats in the bean crop, that is if we have enough moisture.  It all depends on rain.