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Reclaiming land for haying
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<blockquote data-quote="RDFF" data-source="post: 1797089" data-attributes="member: 39018"><p>There will always be individuals involved in agriculture that will not want to raise cattle, but that will choose to raise "cash crops" instead. Cash crops like corn, soybeans, hay..., and many others.</p><p></p><p>In some respects "hay" can potentially be a better "cash crop" from a soil biology perspective than are other cash crops like corn for example, because the entire ground surface is "armored" with green, living, typically perennial plants... while corn plants themselves typically will only be taking up about 10% of the soil surface directly with a plant. From an erosion perspective, that in itself gives the "win" to the hay field. And then there is the tillage and chemicals used there besides... and if you choose to grow corn and take all the corn plant as silage, or take the residue off as bales after harvesting the grain, and selling them, you've <u>really</u> done the soil a disservice. It's that "removal of everything that is grown" that really impacts the ability of the soil biology to be fed (they need something to consume or they die). Corn harvested only as grain returns alot of crop residue back to the soil. Haying however, as traditionally done, returns almost nothing of the above ground foliage... it is all (except for the root mass in the soil) typically intended to be removed, sold, and fed with the resulting manure applied somewhere else. <u>If the "hay" is being grazed off</u>, about 90% of the residue and any "grain" (seed) grown is returned back to the soil in the form of digested organic matter in the manure...</p><p></p><p>Obviously, I'm expecting that hay will be made somewhere., going so far as suggesting that hay from "somewhere else" could be brought to his land... thereby improving the soil even faster.</p><p></p><p>I was answering the OP's question with my best advice. Isn't that what this forum is for? If we have to guard our honest answers to avoid "stepping in it", then what's the point of discussing it? This isn't about "one method of ag" promoting itself antagonistically vs. another. It's about HOW what we do affects the biological functioning of the very soil functions we are dependent upon. What we do with our soil... has consequences. The more we understand and admit that honestly, the sooner we can begin working toward improving those functions. Not recognizing it... or if we do recognize it, ...not mentioning that reality and then not looking for ways to improve, only relegates us to continuing to operate within a degrading system.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RDFF, post: 1797089, member: 39018"] There will always be individuals involved in agriculture that will not want to raise cattle, but that will choose to raise "cash crops" instead. Cash crops like corn, soybeans, hay..., and many others. In some respects "hay" can potentially be a better "cash crop" from a soil biology perspective than are other cash crops like corn for example, because the entire ground surface is "armored" with green, living, typically perennial plants... while corn plants themselves typically will only be taking up about 10% of the soil surface directly with a plant. From an erosion perspective, that in itself gives the "win" to the hay field. And then there is the tillage and chemicals used there besides... and if you choose to grow corn and take all the corn plant as silage, or take the residue off as bales after harvesting the grain, and selling them, you've [U]really[/U] done the soil a disservice. It's that "removal of everything that is grown" that really impacts the ability of the soil biology to be fed (they need something to consume or they die). Corn harvested only as grain returns alot of crop residue back to the soil. Haying however, as traditionally done, returns almost nothing of the above ground foliage... it is all (except for the root mass in the soil) typically intended to be removed, sold, and fed with the resulting manure applied somewhere else. [U]If the "hay" is being grazed off[/U], about 90% of the residue and any "grain" (seed) grown is returned back to the soil in the form of digested organic matter in the manure... Obviously, I'm expecting that hay will be made somewhere., going so far as suggesting that hay from "somewhere else" could be brought to his land... thereby improving the soil even faster. I was answering the OP's question with my best advice. Isn't that what this forum is for? If we have to guard our honest answers to avoid "stepping in it", then what's the point of discussing it? This isn't about "one method of ag" promoting itself antagonistically vs. another. It's about HOW what we do affects the biological functioning of the very soil functions we are dependent upon. What we do with our soil... has consequences. The more we understand and admit that honestly, the sooner we can begin working toward improving those functions. Not recognizing it... or if we do recognize it, ...not mentioning that reality and then not looking for ways to improve, only relegates us to continuing to operate within a degrading system. [/QUOTE]
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