Organic Hay

[Blaidd]

I'm looking for organic Hay in central Texas. I am about 25 miles southest of Austin.

Thanks,

Dawn

[ZIPPER]

Dawn:

Not all hay is going to be strictly organic.

The main question to ask at your Farm and Ranch feed store is "has Piclaran (spl?) been used on this hay?"

To test, soak some of the hay in water to make a tea. Pour same on some grass or weeds and see if they die.

[Blaidd]

Thanks!

Besides wanting to raise my animals in such a way as to be nearly organic, I am also very sensitive to chemicals myself and I worry about handling the hay.

Is there anything else I should ask about? Is piclaran a herbicide or fertilizer?

Dawn

[ZIPPER]

Is there anything else I should ask about? Is piclaran a herbicide or fertilizer?

Dawn[/quote]

Dawn:

It is a herbicide. Chemical is pass thru the cattle so watch out where you get your poopy from also.

[Bluestem]

Get the second or better yet the third cutting. Picloram residue well be less. Look for native grass hay. It usually has not had anything sprayed on it.

[Robert D Bard]

There are a whole bunch of herbicides - never forget good ole round up.
Don't forget all the fertilizer - nitrates.
The hay I am getting is out of Ne and it is organic but not certified. No chemicals on this land for years and fertilized for several years with cow manure and compost, and the price is reasonable including hauling.
Bob Bard

[Brad Watson]

We have over 2,000 square bales, all organically grown for the past 9 years..... www.watsonranchorganic.com

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

Write to Cailou on this list and ask her about her hay. It's not "certified organic" but the only thing they use on it is molasses. Before they cleared the field it was native brush, so no chemicals have ever been used on it in recent history. It's Kleingrass and Lovegrass mix. The location is 40 miles southwest of San Antonio, but I think they might be able to deliver.

[Robert D Bard]

My hay guy contacted me to recently with a proposal. I will pay to fertilize with sea water (92 trace minerals, amino acids, enzymes, beneficial bacteria), liguid humate (trace minerals, fulvic acid, etc), and molasses. We are going to do 400 acres and therefore should have surplus of non certified organic hay. We are 60 miles north of Dallas and delivery can be arranged.
Robert D Bard

[Robert D Bard]

The first field with ocean water as fertilizer
was cut. This was a really good 20 acre
meadow but the most it had produced at
any time was 1700 small bales. This time
they cut 2217 bales. The grass was shorter
but thicker. It was so thick that it didn't lay
over after being cut (it did fall over after it
dried some and the winds pushed it over).
When tou use NPK for any crop it tends to
make bigger/taller crops - hay oats, apples,
etc but the largeness is due to water being
forced into the cells. With a complete organic
fertilizer like sea water, the plants produce
more grain, apples, hay, etc but they are
more dense with more product (food). I
recentlycompared organic apples and
non organic apples (same variety)at
Central Market and the organic was the best.
Robert D Bard

[Gar]

Hey Robert, where did you get all the sea water from? Was it trucked up from the coast. I was just wondering since we are so far from the gulf. It was very interesting of the difference in your harvest. I would never have thought all that salt would make that much of a difference. In fact, I would have thought it would have killed your hay crop. Guess you will have to add it to the Orgainc Research dept.
Thanks for letting us know of the great hay harvest.

[Robert D Bard]

We can not get sea water from Gulf as
the pollution is so bad - you should also
not eat anything from the gulf.
Using sea wate as a fertilizer has been
arounf for 50 years. It was started by
Dr. Murray MD back in the 40's. He was
concerned about the growing cancer rate,
but he discovered that fish and mammals
in the ocean never had cancer, but people
on land and fresh water fish did get cancer.
He learned that the cause of cancer was
from the lack of trace minerals. He did
several studies that proved his theory.
You can get the book from www.acresusa.com
or www.oceangrown.com
The amount of salt is very small - same as
the salt in our blood stream or tears - but
with out salt the trace minerals will not be
absorbed in the plant tissue.
Robert D Bard

[Subsoil72]

Blaidd wrote: Thanks!

Besides wanting to raise my animals in such a way as to be nearly organic, I am also very sensitive to chemicals myself and I worry about handling the hay.

Is there anything else I should ask about? Is piclaran a herbicide or fertilizer?

Dawn

As said above, picloram is a herbicide. When buying, ask if the grower has used Grazon p+D or Tordon 22K. These are the trade names and some growers if asked if picloram is used would say nope, I used Grazon, even though picloram is the active ingrediant.

The P+D is actually a premix of Picloram and 2,4-D. Tordon 22K is Picloram only.

The problem with picloram is it has a residual effect and if used for multch can kill the multched plants because it can remain in the hay after it is cut.

[Robert D Bard]

The problem with any herbicide or pesticide
is they are all bad and not needed for any
reason. I read a thing on the internet by an
MD that siad DDT should never have been
taken off the market and it should be called
vitamin DDT. How is that for stupid. Ms> Carson
is rolling.
Robert D Bard

[sandyacres]

Be careful with Kleingrass depending on what kind of critter you are planning to feed it to.

Let me quote fromToxic Plants of Texas:
Quote: If managed properly, kleingrass provides abundant, good-quality forage for cattle. However, saponins in the grass cause liver damage in horses, sheep and goats, with accompanying photosensitization in small ruminants. Cattle appear to be unaffected

That being said, we are in the San Antonio area and looking to find organic hay to feed to our horses. If anybody knows anybody, please let me know!