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Rye For Hay

Categories: Grains and Forage Crops

When is the best time to cut rye for hay, and how should it best be

handled? Would it be well to cut it up and blow it into the barn, and

would it do all right for silage?



Rye makes poor hay on account of its woody stems and must be cut earlier

than other grains. After that it is handled as is other hay. Cutting it

up would probably be more of a help than to other grain hay. It could be

put into the silo, but would of course have to be cut pretty green and

would have to run through a cutter and blower. Putting it in whole would

be out of the question. In the silo, the fermentation would largely

overcome the woodiness of the stems. It would also as a silage balance

up nicely with alfalfa, and the best way to do would be to mix it with

alfalfa when putting it in.



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