Hay, haylage or silage?

[norfolk'n'good]

Right, we are responsible for about 30 acres of meadowland that is in an HLS. For the last few years we have had alot of problems with certain members of the comunity thinking as these meadows have access for anyone in the village, they can also dump about 30 horses on there as well! Anyway, these horses have now gone (perhaps the demand for horse meat is not so great now?). These meadows are not what they used to be, we used to cut them for hay every year but for the last few years they have just been topped and the horses have done them no favours. What we are now left with is a bit of a mess, yes there is grass there but mixed in with nettles, thistles and a weed that has a thin red stalk and white flower and grows quite tall, any ideas? I want to cut the meadows and remove the vegetation but I have no need for it, so would it be better for hay, haylage or silage and would i be able to get rid of it. Really is truely organic, but not alot of good to be honest.

 

[Lincsman]

Top it and keep spraying it then next year hay but what does HLS allow?

 

[RobFZS]

top now for silage cut in September if it ain't too shite.

 

[norfolk'n'good]

Top it and keep spraying it then next year hay but what does HLS allow?

SSSI meadows so spraying not an option, can only cut after July 15.

 

[blackbob]

Definitely hay. You could try wrapping it, but... 'Cultivated' grasses are bred and selected to contain plenty of sugars, which are fermented into acids in the process of silage/haylage-making, it is these acids which preserve it. Your grasses/nettles etc may or may not contain enough sugar, if they do then you will get silage, but if not you'll end up with expensively-wrapped compost.
Another worry - if your meadow contains plants which are poisonous, such as ragwort, if you make silage/haylage it may well poison whatever animals it is fed to, as the toxins will permeate through the whole mass. With hay, however, the animals are more likely to pick out the grass and reject the rest. We have made hay in the past with old grassland like yours, put a bale of it in a feed ring for the cows in winter, and next day the docks, thistles, ragwort etc are all that's left in the bottom of the feeder.
I'm not saying you'll get much for it, it may have little more feed value than straw, but I wouldn't waste bale-wrap on it

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Hay is your only option, dog shite hay will sell somewhere as we can see what's in it, don't do haylage as no one wants a mystery in a bag

 

[roscoe erf]

hay seems the sensible direction but word to the wise be careful selling it to horsey folk if it is as bad as you say as down that path trouble lays.

 

[Old Boar]

The plant you describe sounds like Redshank. It is high in Vit C, but is toxic in large quantities, so if there is a lot, hay would be a problem. In my experience, nothing eats it, including pigs. The seeds last up to 45 years in the soil, so getting rid of it is a problem, but it does not like lime. When I have patches of it, I strim it down to ground level just before it flowers, which it does not like.

 

[Princess Pooper]

Also agree sounds like redshank. I would talk to your Natural England adviser - ours is extremely practical and pragmatic - about the best way to restore these meadows. If they are an SSSI and have deteriorated significantly you might be in trouble if you don't show willing regarding sorting them out. What is the reason for SSSI designation? It can be found on the NE website if you don't know. Those target species will be the priority as far as NE are concerned and they might actually recommend something like early season grazing followed by a later hay cut. For this year, as the weather is with you, get it cut and baled as hay asap to get as much weed seed off as cheaply as possible, even if you end up burning the bales if you can't sell them!Then next year manage with advice from NE, which might include some spot spraying or weed wiping of worst areas.

 

[Walterp]

Hay is your only option, dog shite hay will sell somewhere as we can see what's in it, don't do haylage as no one wants a mystery in a bag

Err, it's called 'suckler cow hay'...

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Err, it's called 'suckler cow hay'...

Don't tell him that he'll up the price

 

[norfolk'n'good]

Thanks for that, will get it cut for hay and see where we go from there. The meadows have had orchids growing in them in the past, but I have to say the horses seem to have put an end to anything that was any good on them. The problem was know one wanted to know about helping to get rid of the horses, not NE, police, rspca, council, none of them, so these meadows have been neglected and may take time to bring back up to scratch. Not worried about making anything on the hay but would be nice to cover my costs!

 

[Old Boar]

I would not be at all surprised if the orchids come back. They are suprisingly tough. I would bet that if you had let the horses out on the road, the police would have been there like a shot. Maybe you should have sold them to Tesco and covered your costs!

 

[Pasty]

Bump!

I've got 8 acres which has been neglected for years. I've flailed it once but with my kit took an age. But it did knock the thistle before the flowers got established. Lots of nettle up the top, lots of creeping thistle although back to young plants at the mo with no flowers due to previous top and some doc which has gone to seed already so that's blown for this year. Once the sheep are off I'll be having another go at it, mainly to knock back the thistle again before the next crop of flowers. But was wondering about hay. It would be used by me for my goats and maybe some for the ewes over winter (wilts and jacob). I doubt they would fuss over a few bits of thistle, certainly not the goats. The nettle should be fine I'm told, even beneficial. Not much dock to worry about.

I suppose the question is, do I just spend time and fuel flailing it again. Or do I get someone in to bale it and if I did that, would I find a market for such hay? Probably not among horsy folk. Really would be looking to maybe keep back 50 or so bales for the goats and sell the rest to cover costs. Maybe I could sell it for £8 a bale as specialist goat hay..............