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.