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Starting Member
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Last Login: 9/25/2009 7:45:16 AM
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| Hello everyone, I'm new and wanted to ask, in preparation for a sheep dairy, what kind of seed is the best for hay fields to be bailed? I guess you could say I'm asking what is the best hay for sheep. The idea is for a dairy operation with sheep, so what would be the best type to use? I read somewhere that sheep have sensitive belly's, would a clover like ladina be better or some sort of fescue or blue grass? First time messing with sheep so I just do not know as far as pasture and what will carry them through the winter. Is a straight clover bale ok or should there be a mix involved? Thanks, Rob
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In some ways I think you are looking at this from the wrong point of view. Don't get me wrong, I think its important to plant grass that is going to give you plenty of nutritional value, but just about any grass will give you enough protein and minerals if harvested prior to maturity. What they lack will not be made up by growing this type of grass or legume versus that type...mineral supplements or addional feeds will give you that.
My fields are planted in a mixture of orchard grass, rye, timothy, clover, fescue and alfalfa. All of those grasses give me plenty of protein but this is feed destined for dairy cows and a dairy farm that receives big bonuses for the high protein content of the milk. With sheep dairy you are not going to get that so its not really of big importance. You only care that your sheep are getting enough, and any grass before maturity will give you that.
What you really need is a mixture of both cool and warm grasses. In our case the orchard grass matures the quickest, has really high protein content and yield...but once it goes past maturity it losses its palletability. This year we lost the crop. With a month of solid rain, we could not harvest it early enough and its matured so the cows won't do as well on this past prime grass.
But that is why timothy is in the mix. Its more of a warm season grass, maturing later then orchard grass so its in it's prime. We lost out on the orchard grass, but we can still get a quality feed once we get chopping haylage from the timothy grass. Clover matures even later and tolerates the heat of summer better too. And that is my point. A mixture of grasses is what you really want, that way the different grasses are growing whether its cool in the summer or fall, or really hot in the winter. In this way you can get multiple crops of hay that are all high in quality.
The best place to get an idea of what is best for your area, is to contact your local Cooperative Extension, NCRS Service or County Soil and Water Conservation District. I am on the local S&WCD Board and we have our own grass seed mix that is formulated for our type of soil and climate. People in the county can buy it at $45 dollars for a 50 pound bag which is very reasonable and the area farmers swear by it. I cannot say that your county S&WCD will have their own mix, but they can tell you what works best in your area and know where to get it in quantity.
I am not sure if this applies to you or not, but one thing to consider is the alfalfa percentage in the mix. Where I live anyway, unless the alfalfa mix is 25% or higher, you cannot put crop insurance on the crop of hay. Myself I think we (as a farm family) cater to the difficulties of growing alfalfa in Maine. Our PH level is far too low to adequately grow alfalfa, and yet we lose out on winter grazing and other factors all to ensure we have a 25% stand of it so we can maintain crop insurance.
Oh and one more thing. When you plant clover, it takes 2 years to get established. So if you decide to go with a heavy mix ratio of clover, just be prepared that the land won't be producing harvestable clover until the following year. If you are short on acreage, that could be a real concern so buy enough feed to make it through winter.
As a farmer, I am so successful at what I do, that even this nations poor people are fat!
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Starting Member
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Last Login: 9/25/2009 7:45:16 AM
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| Drawbar, That brings up a second question, Is it true that the feed has an effect on the taste of the milk? Let me go into this a little more, I simply want to make my own cheese in the long run. In essence I'm farming ground I have not bought as the place I want is at my next duty station, small enough to be a hobby farm close to the post and most importantly there is a trout stream on it ( I can already smell the smoke from the barbecue, yum, yum) Hopefully it will still be available when I get there in Sept. I'm with in 8 years of retiring, If the lord and uncle sam let me live that long, I had hopes of buying the place, having it paid off before I retire and settling down to the honest part of life, green farming and self sustainment. There will be many things to learn again as when I was a youngster we just did it, don't know why ( other than grandpa telling us to ) and he has gone to the (great soldiers home in the sky so there is no question sessions available anymore) I'm figuring on a few ewes, a ram a air of cows, a couple pigs and goats plus poultry and rabitts. I know now "not" to get a mule to guard the sheep " THANKS FOR THAT INFO", but will now have to decide on buying a tractor or a horse, and they eat a lot!! That would cover the basic meat food groups."OH Plus the trout"!! I will have a garden but I don't know what grows well around Ft. Knox so have not put much thought into it yet. By the way is it better to burn off a field when you are going for a specific type of ground cover before seeding it with what you want? Or just mowing it real short then drilling the seed you want? I can smell the bacon, taste the eggs and hear the rabbit fying already I sure hope nobody is in the market for a farm with a trout stream!! Rob
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