How to grow straw please

Trewsers

Trewsers

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Oct 13, 2004
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We have just over 13 acres that we can use and only actually use about 3 or four atm. OH is looking to invest in some equipment (small baler / spreader) as we already have access to a tractor. Now, we were wondering how to grow straw?:eek::eek: Terribly embarrased about asking really - is it a "crop" that grows tall? I've never seen / known anybody round me to ask. Don't laugh please!!!!!! Just thought we could save some money on bedding next winter. Will definitely be baling our own hay as last summer end we were left with monsterously long field grass which never got used (and I know this will spoil the land if something not done with it). Don't want cows on it particularly (long story but they wind Joeup!) and the sheep can't keep coming on cos if they get on then the cows will. Anyway, thought it would be nice to be self sufficient so to speak. Any thoughts help from you guys?:)
 
I would go for barley or oat crop if given the choice. What you may be better off doing first is to see which crop you would be able to sell and for how much? You'd also need to look at how those types of crops are cut and what sort of machinery you would need.

The alternative is hay/hayledge - good quality weed free hay goes for £4.50 per bale and is easier to produce.
 
Its not really practical, you need good quality arable land, a plough and a combine harvester, or pay someone to harvest for you.

They grow wheat on our yard and the last two summers have been so wet that it had gone off when they harvested in September. Luckily they had crops from other farms.

If you make haylage you will need a wrapping machine in addition to a cutter, a turner and a baler.

Probably the easiest is some nice small bale hay. The last time I had some baled they charged 20p a bale, £1.20 if you wanted it wrapping, that was from a contractor. I had already cut and turned it.

If you dont want to store the excess you can sell it straight from the field and use the money to buy in some good straw. Hay usually fetches a lot more money than straw.
 
Thanks for the replies! We've already priced up small baler / cutter / wrapper - the reason why we are having to look into doing it ourselves is because nobody local wants to do it for us. There is just no interest at all, basically because most farmers are extremely busy around us - and such a small piece of land simply isn't worth their while getting involved with. We may try for some hay as well or hayledge - we even offered our nearest farmer a 3 acre field full of the stuf for FREE last summer, but they weren't interested!
Just seems crazy us sitting on 13 acres when hardly any of its used. There are various reasons for this, one field (our biggest one) simply isn't good enough for us to turn Joe out into - its too steep for his bad legs and on this basis (in accordance with vets advice) we've decided not to bother using it for that.
I suspected it was a crop and I had heard about oat straw. Will inform OH and see what we can come up with!!!!! We are on the look out for a tractor for ourselves, BUT - we only have a limited budget for one, and they are very hard to come by in that price bracket near us. Lots to think about for the summer me thinks!
 
We used to have all the equipment but to be honest it cost us a lot in maintenance etc and was a nightmare for us to manouvre onto/off tractor.

We sold the lot and just spend the money on local farmer once a year harrowing/rolling and fertilising and buy in hay. If you have excess grass leave it standing and feed as fogage (growing forage) during the autumn/winter.

If the big field is too steep for the horse it may well be too steep for working with a small tractor and need a 4WD one which will be expensive
 
Do you have any farming companies in your area that grow potatoes? Up here they rent fields from farmers for their crops. Potatoes also "cleanse" the soil. It's a way of the land earning it's keep but no hassle for you, plus the land will benefit from it.

Otherwise barley or oats and sell to a local grain merchant. You will need plough, seeder, harrow, fertiliser spreader, combine and baler.
 
eml said:
If the big field is too steep for the horse it may well be too steep for working with a small tractor and need a 4WD one which will be expensive
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Yes, its a 4wd one we have access to and its a 4wd one we'd like to buy. To be honest, we need one for the rollling and harrowing as NOBODY wants to do it for us!!!! Around us all the contractors / farmers are busy maintaining their own land and simply don't want the extra work / income. We have paid people to roll it in the past years - but I hate relying on other people - and its quite stressful wondering if its ever going to get done and when. We've been having a good think about all this - and have started to put money aside for it - I think its the only way I'm ever going to get peace of mind.
Last summer was a nightmare trying to get folk in to do stuff - I even offered to give any potential hay away!!
 
sarchie said:
Do you have any farming companies in your area that grow potatoes? Up here they rent fields from farmers for their crops. Potatoes also "cleanse" the soil. It's a way of the land earning it's keep but no hassle for you, plus the land will benefit from it.

Otherwise barley or oats and sell to a local grain merchant. You will need plough, seeder, harrow, fertiliser spreader, combine and baler.
Click to expand...

There aren't any potato growers near me that I know of - but I could ask around. But if its anything like trying to get somebody interested in baling for us - forget it:rolleyes: Honestly, its more hassle than its worth - but I guess our little bit of land isn't of interest.
 
eml - how does that work then with fogage? I understood that you can't leave the grass long or it will do more harm than good to the land? (Somebody local told me that at the back end of last year?). If you feed it to the horses, then will it not ferment once cut if you don't bale it and wrap? (Sorry, if I've got the wrong end of the stick!)
 
For fogage you just leave it long. It wilts like hay so the horses basically have standing hay to eat in the field in autumn/winter. You need a fairly strong mix of timothy/rye to keep the grass standing. It has the added advantage of self reseeding to bulk up the sward. Remains can then be topped back when doing spring tasks.

Never heard about leaving long grass harming land as long as it doesn't sit in a tangled mat and smother young growth. Very different to the long unpalatable grass that can accumulate in toilet areas, that definately needs regular topping (we use and old lawn tractor on highest setting for that!)
 
Trewsers, sorry, re-read your first post but don't understand why the sheep can't go on. Could you advertise it as sheep grazing and stipulate no cattle?
 
You could try land share? I saw this on Rivercottage but I think C4 do it as well. You let other people grow things on your land and then you get half the produce :)

You're an inspiration whatever you do! I can't wait until I can afford to own my own land to do things with like have horses at home, grow hay etc. Let alone a house. It's all just a dream atm.
 
sarchie said:
Trewsers, sorry, re-read your first post but don't understand why the sheep can't go on. Could you advertise it as sheep grazing and stipulate no cattle?
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Ah, all very complicated:rolleyes: Our neighbouring farmer has "free range" creatures - and there really is no way of fencing them out !!! I don't mind the sheep wandering around - but last summer we had a lot of trouble with the cattle - and as he's so nice and accommodating (lets me ride wherever I want on his 800 acres!) I don't want to be awkward, saying he can put sheep in the field but not cattle (besides, last year I put some in the fields that were fenced but had terrible trouble getting water to them, they drank like fish:eek:). The sheep are more than welcome to graze but I can't leave the gates open as the cattle will creep in as well - plus they chased me one day (all very scary:eek:) and they got Joe all hot and bothered when he was meant to be recovering from a leg injury:eek::(
 
shockblue said:
You could try land share? I saw this on Rivercottage but I think C4 do it as well. You let other people grow things on your land and then you get half the produce :)
Click to expand...

That would be interesting! Trouble is, nobody where we are seems at all interested! I think that the neighbouring farmers are just so busy doing their own thing, they can't be bothered with us! One of my "ideas" when we first moved in was to grow a crop of some description, I used to love growing my own veg when we lived in suburbia (although obviously on a much smaller scale).
 
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