Mixed Grass Hay

As I mentioned in another post, my climax Timothy field has not done very well over the past few years. It is late maturing (vs Clair which I have in other fields) and with that late maturity, does not do a very good job of competing with native grasses - most of which I have to believe are in the legacy seed bed.

So what I see is orchard grass, bluegrass and fescue (to name a few) growing in giving me a mixed grass hay field.

I’ve been asked, “Whats so great about Timothy and why is it better than a mixed grass hay?” I don’t really have an answer or have I found one online. I suppose if there were one negative, it would be the fescue content from a horse breeding standpoint. The other would be - with different grasses, there are different maturing dates and the overall hay quality could be impacted.

However - when we test this mixed grass (predominately Timothy still), it tests about as good as our straight Timothy. Our primary customer base is emerging as one where low ESC+starch (read low sugar), potassium and iron are more important than the hay verity or cutting.

We try to cut early for quality vs late for quantity, so our grass, while first cut stemmy, just doesn’t seem like it’s a broom folded up in a bale.

So my question to my Haytalk brethren is this - anyone making top quality, clean mixed grass hay, able to generate a good margin? It sure is a lot less hassle and lower overhead.

In our case, if we keep a mixed grass field, the goal would be to make it dominately Timothy via annual fall overseeding. We would call it Timothy/mixed grass hay. Like our other fields, it would be limed, fertilized and herbicide treated for clean broad leaf free hay. The “mixed” part of the grass would give us potential for additional cuttings when/if the Timothy goes dormant with the summer heat.

Is there a business case for “high end” mixed grass (no legumes) square bales of hay?

Thanks!
Bill

Mixed Grass Hay