Conserving a Herbal Ley

[steveR]

Cut it before the chicory gets too brittle?

I am told that this can be achieved... It will all be down to the timing....and the weather!

 

[steveR]

Hay is always underrated if you can make it the right way, right.
And that generally means plenty of heat units and very little molestation, which I understand isn't always the done thing.
Nothing but stalks likes being thrashed about.

Past 3-4 weeks have been phenomonal hay making weather. Poor crops, strong winds and LOADS of heat units

I got one batch in 72 hours after mowing, with no tedding, just bringing 4 into 2 rows and leaving them a day then 2 into 1 for baling and left another day, then bale. Lovely stuff.

But this is far from usual, as you well know.

 

[marco]

If you were making pit, finish the pit with grass?

 

[steveR]

If you were making pit, finish the pit with grass?

True, but no use to me as we don't do pit silage!

 

[som farmer]

ours, cut sat/sunday, spread Monday, rowed and baled Tuesday, easy, 22 acres, no imputs, 1 cut, no stock, 90, 5ft round bales, smells lovely, looks green, perfectly dry, crap grass. As my old man used to say, better than a snowball in winter !

 

[ollie989898]

Had a big client who tried various grassland mixtures. They were always mowed with triple mowers and put into a swath with autolumpers, no raking. I don't know how much leaf would be lost with some of these things if you start beating them about.

 

[Two Tone]

I've been making it into Round bale Silage, Haylage and conventionally baled hay for the past 3 years in June, no problem. Even get a 2nd cut off it in late September.

Can be a lot of clover in it which some horsey people don't like. Chicory can get a bit leggy if you cut it too late.
We feed the silage/haylage to cattle and Red Deer and they knock you over to get to it!

Very cheap, high-quality fodder that we get paid to grow as part of our Mid Tier Stewardship agreement. Can't get better than that.
Supposed to release an enzyme that kills Blackgrass seed if left there for 5 years.
When my MTS ends, we'll be moving it to another part of this farm to clean up the next worst part of it.

 

[steveR]

I've been making it into Round bale Silage, Haylage and conventionally baled hay for the past 3 years in June, no problem. Even get a 2nd cut off it in late September.

Can be a lot of clover in it which some horsey people don't like. Chicory can get a bit leggy if you cut it too late.
We feed the silage/haylage to cattle and Red Deer and they knock you over to get to it!

Very cheap, high-quality fodder that we get paid to grow as part of our Mid Tier Stewardship agreement. Can't get better than that.
Supposed to release an enzyme that kills Blackgrass seed if left there for 5 years.
When my MTS ends, we'll be moving it to another part of this farm to clean up the next worst part of it.

Can see a bike ride down the Cotswolds to see how the experts do it!! Have you done it yet??

Whose ley mix did you use?

Essentially, the Scheme I am hoping to get into is the same as MTS. Might have gone into MTS, but cannot do so until next year as I am already in HLS/ELS and they would not accept me into the simplified scheme.

 

[theboytheboy]

I've been making it into Round bale Silage, Haylage and conventionally baled hay for the past 3 years in June, no problem. Even get a 2nd cut off it in late September.

Can be a lot of clover in it which some horsey people don't like. Chicory can get a bit leggy if you cut it too late.
We feed the silage/haylage to cattle and Red Deer and they knock you over to get to it!

Very cheap, high-quality fodder that we get paid to grow as part of our Mid Tier Stewardship agreement. Can't get better than that.
Supposed to release an enzyme that kills Blackgrass seed if left there for 5 years.
When my MTS ends, we'll be moving it to another part of this farm to clean up the next worst part of it.

Is this for the gs4 option?

If so what seed mix did you use please?

 

[Two Tone]

Is this for the gs4 option?

If so what seed mix did you use please?

Yes GS4
We used the Kings Seeds mix because they made our MTS application for us.
But others around me have used the Cotswold Seed mix and both seem to be very good.

 

[steveR]

Yes GS4
We used the Kings Seeds mix because they made our MTS application for us.
But others around me have used the Cotswold Seed mix and both seem to be very good.

Thank you. Just like to see what is in the different mixes.

 

[Nick Adams]

Don't leave out the chicory, one of the most valuable components. I use Hurrells seeds, very reasonable and great to deal with. Would be better chopped, could you have a field clamp or improvise something? Herbal leys have improved my worst land and stayed green and lush recently when the ryegrass ran to seed.

 

[clod hopper]

Wondered that too. Thinking a lightish crop, (through a conditioner) and spread out straight away. Gently teasy into Windrows, and bale. Haylage or Silage will depend on the weather.

Might be time to get teh Acrobat out as it was great at just flicking a row over... I think some of the Alpine tedders work very gently on their "herby" crops...?

Been a long time since I seen a acrobat in work, as you say does a nice soft job.

 

[steveR]

Been a long time since I seen a acrobat in work, as you say does a nice soft job.

Dirty word for some but....


This outfit sell Acrobats new!

Or they have https://www.trwengineering.co.uk/beltrake similiar to the alpine kit, but a tad small....

Better looking kit for raking than an Acrobat... at a price. Be perfect front mounted with a baler on the back!

 

[Two Tone]

Can see a bike ride down the Cotswolds to see how the experts do it!! Have you done it yet??

Whose ley mix did you use?

Essentially, the Scheme I am hoping to get into is the same as MTS. Might have gone into MTS, but cannot do so until next year as I am already in HLS/ELS and they would not accept me into the simplified scheme.

Apologies, I didn’t see your post until now.
We used Kings Seeds because it was Frontier who suggested we went into a MTS agreement and they have experts, often former Natural England staff who recommended and do the application for us. Having been extremely sceptical about it all, it took my chap less than 5 minutes to convince me we should do it!

We are in year 4 of our agreement. The drought severely affected the yield this year, but I know that we will get a decent 2nd cut in September and there will be a massive resurgence of Clover in it.
This was cut last Monday and was baled Wednesday as Haylage.

 

[steveR]

And it exists!!

 

[steveR]

Apologies, I didn’t see your post until now.
We used Kings Seeds because it was Frontier who suggested we went into a MTS agreement and they have experts, often former Natural England staff who recommended and do the application for us. Having been extremely sceptical about it all, it took my chap less than 5 minutes to convince me we should do it!

We are in year 4 of our agreement. The drought severely affected the yield this year, but I know that we will get a decent 2nd cut in September and there will be a massive resurgence of Clover in it.
This was cut last Monday and was baled Wednesday as Haylage.
View attachment 890346
View attachment 890347

Cheers

Couldn't have got down as I was making some so-so grass into 2nd rate fodder for sucklers.... but it'll all count come January! So I'll forgive you

Light crop, but that is common enough this time... So mower conditioner, couple of days in the swathe and pick up? Perfect 2 days for the job. Presumably, you rake lightly?

Do you follow a similiar regime most years for conservation?

 

[som farmer]

on u tube, seem to be a lot of USA farmers using rakes/turners based on the acrobats wheel, 6 wheels a side, opens out in a v shape, looked a simple tool, doing a cracking job, never seen one over here, might well be some here, but a cracking simple machine.

 

[steveR]

on u tube, seem to be a lot of USA farmers using rakes/turners based on the acrobats wheel, 6 wheels a side, opens out in a v shape, looked a simple tool, doing a cracking job, never seen one over here, might well be some here, but a cracking simple machine.

I have always thought they would be perfect for raking up hay in front of my round baler. But having seen US hay crops, they are not quite the same as seen here in the UK and Ireland. But presumably, jusyt put less in!!

 

[Two Tone]

Cheers

Couldn't have got down as I was making some so-so grass into 2nd rate fodder for sucklers.... but it'll all count come January! So I'll forgive you

Light crop, but that is common enough this time... So mower conditioner, couple of days in the swathe and pick up? Perfect 2 days for the job. Presumably, you rake lightly?

Do you follow a similiar regime most years for conservation?

I forgot to say that Cotswold Seeds are also good for the CS mixtures too.

In the 1st year we cut (2018) I couldn’t believe the yields we were getting because it was new and there was undoubtedly some remaining Nitrogen fro the previous arable crop. Last year was good, but also affected by the droughts. The rain in June last year gave us a hell of a 2n’d cut in September.

This year we cut and tedded on Monday, left it Tuesday, then rowed it 6 mower widths into 1 on Wednesday. It was practically hay, but wrapped because I haven’t got a shed to put it in.

Same field 2018