DanielW
Member
- Location
- Haliburton, Ontario
Hi folks,
Bit of an odd question: I have a small (4 acre) field of fall rye at my father's farm - about 80 miles distant from my main farm (Note that this is cereal rye - not ryegrass). I broadcast-seeded it into this sandy, sloped field last October just to provide some ground cover and prevent erosion, expecting to just plow it down in the spring.
It ended up coming along so well that I left it, intending to bale it as green feed before it headed out. Unfortunately I then had to travel for work for what was supposed to be a short trip but ended up being over a month. By the time I came back it had all headed out and was past when it would have been suitable for green feed.
Not sure what to do with it now. Because it's only 4 acres, I'm not too concerned about it, and it's not worth bringing a combine down 80 miles from the main farm nor finding someone local to combine it (don't know what I'd do with a pile of rye anyway). I can always use as much straw as I can get for cattle bedding, so I was thinking I'd just cut it and bale it as straw - heads and all. My only concern: One of the neighbours (who's a nice guy, but a bit of a nutty horse person) thought the long, stiff beards on the rye could cause grief if the animals started to chew their bedding. He thought it might catch in their throats and cause irritation. Would anyone else be concerned about this? I've baled oats (heads and all) for straw before, but obviously they don't have the beards that rye/wheat/barley does. If I let it get dry enough, I'm thinking the crimping rolls on the haybine will probably shatter most of the grain off anyway, so maybe it's not a concern?
Any thoughts/speculation is greatly appreciated.
Bit of an odd question: I have a small (4 acre) field of fall rye at my father's farm - about 80 miles distant from my main farm (Note that this is cereal rye - not ryegrass). I broadcast-seeded it into this sandy, sloped field last October just to provide some ground cover and prevent erosion, expecting to just plow it down in the spring.
It ended up coming along so well that I left it, intending to bale it as green feed before it headed out. Unfortunately I then had to travel for work for what was supposed to be a short trip but ended up being over a month. By the time I came back it had all headed out and was past when it would have been suitable for green feed.
Not sure what to do with it now. Because it's only 4 acres, I'm not too concerned about it, and it's not worth bringing a combine down 80 miles from the main farm nor finding someone local to combine it (don't know what I'd do with a pile of rye anyway). I can always use as much straw as I can get for cattle bedding, so I was thinking I'd just cut it and bale it as straw - heads and all. My only concern: One of the neighbours (who's a nice guy, but a bit of a nutty horse person) thought the long, stiff beards on the rye could cause grief if the animals started to chew their bedding. He thought it might catch in their throats and cause irritation. Would anyone else be concerned about this? I've baled oats (heads and all) for straw before, but obviously they don't have the beards that rye/wheat/barley does. If I let it get dry enough, I'm thinking the crimping rolls on the haybine will probably shatter most of the grain off anyway, so maybe it's not a concern?
Any thoughts/speculation is greatly appreciated.