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Post by LauraD on Oct 1, 2015 10:56:34 GMT
This plant is all throughout the old hayfield in the place we're trying to buy. Can anyone tell me what it is? It's about 2 feet tall. Here's one picture... A close-up... And part of the field...
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Post by shellymay on Oct 1, 2015 11:57:52 GMT
Yes that is Lespedeza and it is great stuff, they say if you let animals graze it that it has the natural ability to kill parasites within the animal, they say for the bigger live stock cows/horses that it makes great hay (kinda like alfalfa) small animals find it hard to eat when baled at such a tall and bigger dia of stem....but baled young or shorter in fields works good for smaller livestock... Do research
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Post by shellymay on Oct 1, 2015 12:15:46 GMT
Sorry I was in a hurry, but wanted to tell you that you are sitting on a gold mine, goats will love it (I believe you talked about getting goats) and the hay is pricey to purchase, check out the cost of the seed alone, very expensive....
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Post by oxankle on Oct 3, 2015 1:44:26 GMT
That is ceresia Lespedeza. It sends roots far down--I've seen specimens taken from a strip mine where the roots curled all the way around the walls of a county agent's office at ceiling level.
Cattle do not like to eat it when it gets tall and stemmy. I don't know what goats will think of it. It is extremely high in protein, like alfalfa. Cut and baled; it must be baled quickly because the leaves fall off the stems as soon as it dries a bit.
Baled rough, at the mature stage those pictures show, the hay would need to be ground, but if ground the cattle would eat the ground hay like candy. It would have to be fed in bunks as the leaves will sift out like powder.
Ceresia is a legume, like clover, but does not fix a lot of nitrogen in the soil One agent told me "About enough for its own use". Even so, a self-supporting plant that is 24% protein is nothing to sneeze at.
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Post by LauraD on Oct 5, 2015 21:31:48 GMT
Great to hear. The neighbors described it as a hayfield of "natural grasses" that hadn't been used as such for a couple of years. Hopefully our offer for the place will get accepted...
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