Friday on the Farm

Two fields were prepared for seeding ground for hay. We use a mixture of alfalfa, red clover, and brome with oats. We seed at a rate of 12 pounds of alfalfa, 4 pounds of red clover, 5 pounds of brome, and 2 bushel of oats per acre. The fields were drilled on April 8 and 9. Favorable weather conditions have been perfect for growth.    

forage peas: week 3

I checked on the field of peas today. Oh my goodness. I love this snap of the forage peas. It is a favorite.

Friday on the Farm

 

Between unloading corn and filling a grain bin, I checked on the field of rye. The rye has grown about two inches since last week. Through the corn residue, the rye is growing. The field of rye is starting to green.

 

forage peas: week 2

It is week two for the forage peas.

The forage peas were no-till drilled on October 2. And since then, the peas have received a good amount of moisture. The field of forage peas have had a nice start to growing.

 

Hopefully favorable weather conditions will continue for further growth into winter.

I look forward to scouting the field of Austrian Winter Peas next week!

Friday on the Farm

So, I am checking on the field of rye this morning. It is snowing. The flakes of snow were falling from the sky and melting on the rye.  

[ agriculture photos @ monicastevens.photoshelter.com ]

forage peas: week 1

We drilled peas on October 2 [ post from seeding peas ] and rye on October 3. The Austrian Winter Peas are forage peas. They will be chopped and bagged next spring as silage for our cows.

emerging peas

Today, I scouted the field. I was happy to see that the forage peas were emerging! And, I am excited to see how much they grow next week!

Friday on the Farm

Austrian Winter Peas were seeded in a field. Eight acres of winter peas will be used as forage. Next spring, they will be chopped and bagged as silage for our cows.

austrian winter peas

Rye and Austrian Winter Peas were drilled in a field where corn was chopped for silage. Seeding rye and peas on the field will protect the soil from erosion. The rye and peas will be chopped and bagged next spring as forage. It should be great forage!

peas and rye

It rained this morning, so the forage peas and rye should have a great start to growing. It look forward to seeing the progress of the peas!

forage peas

We no-till drilled peas into a field. The Austrian Winter Peas are a forage pea. These forage peas will be chopped and bagged next spring. We will use the pea silage as feed for our cows.
 

Austrian Winter Peas

The peas were seeded at a rate of 50 pounds per acre. And, they were drilled at a depth of 2 inches. Soil conditions were ideal for seeding the peas. We purchased fifty pound bags of peas to be seeded over an eight acre field. 

The peas will be an excellent forage. The pea silage will be high in protein. From what I have read, tonnage and percentage of protein depends on the maturity of the peas when harvested. When peas are beginning to blossom, they yield 1 to 2 tons per acre and are 15 to 20% protein. When peas are developing pods, they yield 1.5 to 3.5 tons per acre and are 10 to 15% protein.

I had been wanting to grow peas as forage for our cows. After two years, we decided to plant the winter peas. I am so very excited to watch them grow!

 

Friday on the Farm

In the afternoon, I drove out to the field to scout. The field of millet germinated and was off to a good start. Heat and moisture from rainfall has been great growing conditions. Though, it was really surprising how quickly the millet was growing. I very much look forward to seeing it grow before the cows graze.

millet

On May 27, a second field of rye was chopped and bagged. The ryelage will be used for feeding cows.  Following the rye, we decided to plant a crop for cows to graze during the summer in addition to their pasture.

 

 

We chose to no-till drill pearl millet into the field. It seemed to be the best option for us to plant. Cows will graze the field after the millet grows to a height of at least 20 inches. The field of millet will be used as rotational grazing throughout the summer. The millet will be grazed to a height of 6 to 8 inches. Grazing to this height will allow for regrowth.

We set the drill and seeded the millet at the rate of 25 pounds per acre. It was seeded at a depth of 1 inch. The soil moisture was great for seeding. Hopefully the millet will germinate quickly.

I am very excited about using the field of millet as part of grazing! And, I am looking forward to seeing the millet grow!

Friday on the Farm

 

The double cropped soybeans are emerging. These soybeans were planted on June 1. Rye was chopped and bagged as feed for cows to then plant soybeans. The planting conditions were excellent. The soil moisture was perfect for planting, and we have had plenty of sunshine.   

Friday morning, it rained. It was great timing for the crops. We finished rolling up our first crop hay yesterday, so it was perfect. This rain will be incredibly beneficial for the young field of soybeans.

 

[ agriculture photos @ monicastevens.photoshelter.com ]

Friday on the Farm

Last Thursday, we chopped and bagged a field of rye to use as feed for our cows. This afternoon, we no-till planted soybeans into that field. Residue from the harvested rye and corn from the previous crop year remain protecting the soil. We planted into nice soil conditions with having rain on Thursday and Tuesday. With the soil moisture and warm temperatures, the soybeans should germinate quickly.  

[ view agriculture photos @ monicastevens.photoshelter.com ]

Friday on the Farm

This afternoon, I checked in on the newly seeded hay field. The field was no-till drilled on April 13. Overall, the seeding looks good. We hope for continued favorable growing conditions. 

 

[ view agriculture photos @ monicastevens.photoshelter.com ]

conservation: rock chute

Conservation has always been at the heart of our farm. It is an ideal passed down through the generations. We truly believe in being conservationists and stewards of the land we love. My dad has practiced no-till farming for 35 years. Other conservation practices are implemented on the farm: contour farming, cover crops, grassed waterways, and filter strips. Permanent pasture is reserved for soil more sensitive to erosion from wind and water. And, hay is part of the crop rotation. Utilizing ground for growing hay also helps increase organic matter and soil fertility.   

When we were renovating part of a cattle pasture, conservation work was also completed. In 2009, tile was installed in a grassed waterway of a field  that borders the pasture. The tile outlet was in a creek that meanders through the pasture. A rock chute was installed at the edge of the creek to safely guide direct surface water off the field into the creek. The slope of the creek bank was slightly reduced and rock (rip rap) was placed along the creek bank as streambank stabilization. The rip rap was used to guard against erosion from water. After installation, we seeded brome along the rock.    



2009

It has been nine years since installation. And, the conservation practices used to protect the creek from water erosion have worked extremely well! It is quite impressive.

march 2018

seeding rye

This afternoon, we finished seeding rye as forage for our cattle.

 

bags of rye

Dad sprayed a 7 acre field of hay field to be seeded. The hay field had been cut and baled as forage since 2010. Since we need high quality and quantity of forage, we decided to seed the field. We no-till drilled rye into the field this morning. The rye was seeded at a rate of 72 pounds per acre. Rain is in the forecast, so it should be great for germination.

 

no-till drill filled with rye

We are planning on planting red clover and spring peas into the rye next spring. The rye, clover, and peas will then be chopped and bagged as silage. It should be a quality forage high in nutritional value. I am pretty excited about this forage for our cows!