Too late to bale?

[freewheat]

I seeded a bit of land down to alfalfa/orchard grass in mid July, and got a good catch. But the wild oats and volunteer canola ended up uncontrolled, so I ended up with an involuntary "cover crop" so to speak.

Can I bale this mixture after the alfalfa freezes off and browns off? I realize the quality would not be awesome, but I need to bulk up my feed supply some more, with the poor hay yield this year and a few more sheep to feed this winter.

I saw Kato mention in the other thread that they wanted to bale a second cut after frost. I do not want to harm the alfalfa, and do not want to waste my time and fuel. But it does seem as though 5 foot high wild oats could sort of smother the alfalfa from growing well when spring comes, after it has fallen flat, so this would be another reason to clear the field.

What say you?

Thanks.

[perfecho]

I would cut and bale...if anyone wraps bales in your area, making it into silage would make it more palatable. Expensive, but so is feed this year.

[grassfarmer]

i'd cut it sooner rather than later - preserve the quality you have now. It's so late in the season I think you'd be safe cutting the alfalfa now as it isn't going to try and regrow much now rather than wait for a frost. Might get your wild oats before they go to seed too. Silage and sheep isn't always a great combination - if you get dirt in the bales the sheep can get listeriosis.

[kato]

We cut and baled a second cut. Haven't had a killing frost yet, but we needed to get the corrals cleaned, and a good coating of manure should slow down a regrowth. The idea is that you don't want the plants to start a vigorous growth and use up what they've already stored in their roots.

The second cut was the best hay we made this year too. My sheep will have a good winter. I like to commandeer the best stuff for them. Lol hubby's cows can have the other .