Seeding question

for all you hay farmers like me. I am going to seed hayfields this spring with my friends 12 foot Brillion seeder. It is the double row cultipacker type with large and small seed boxes on top. I will be pulling it with my 170 so this is not off topic lol. My question is I am seeding brome grass in the large seed compartments and as it may cause bridging problems they [who is they?] recommend a few hand fulls of oats in with the brome to keep the fluffy seeds from bridging. my horse hay customers won't want to see oats [or straw] mixed in their bales, so what else could I mix into the hoppers to make the brome feed evenly and that won't grow? Any ideas? Thanks, Dana

Critters LOVE green or brown oat hay. They eat it like candy eveen if its intended for bedding. There's not much food value, but horses are created to eat poor quality feed, alfalfa is too good for them unless they are racing every day. And they will bloat if left to eat all the alfalfa it takes to satisfy their volume based hunger and if restricted to a square bale flake a day they will eat the barn trying to fill their belly and die from the splinters perforating their gut.

I tried seeding brome about 22 years ago with a JD FBB drill. I covered the area I wanted planted, stopped and checked the hopper of mixed oats and brome and it hadn't gone down. I covered the area again and again. And again. Still the hopper hadn't gone done. The long awns on the brome seed are VERY good at interlocking and bridging. I converted to planting by hand. With a slight breeze I held a handful of brome as high as I could reach and wiggled my fingers to let seed out and the breeze (3 to 5 mph was enough) spread the seed further than I could throw it. I found that I didn't need to work brome in, it took off laying on top the ground.

There are two machinery techniques that are reputed to work (and the Brillion seeder ought to be the best if the brome doesn't bridge). One is to use a hammer mill to chop off the awns to stop bridging, the other is to use a conservation drill that has a more agressive feeder in the hopper bottom that will reach up and grab seed, breaking up the bridge. I used a conservation drill for switchgrass borrowed from the county conservation board where switchgrass also likes to bridge in a conentional drill.

Gerald J.

The Brillion seeders I had, have an agitator in the large seed box, basically a wire cage roller tumbles the grass seed around above the adjustable openings in the bottom of the box. I would'nt plant any oats with the grass seed, just spray for weeds later and the grass won't have to compete with the oats. Making hay out of oats is a pain and if the oats lodge it will choke your grass stand.

Roger all this guys. I have always cover cropped with oats and know how animals love them and the guy [me] tring to dry them as well as the buyers dislikes them. I have NOT checked into the hopper yet but will soon. The seeder's owner said he always used a 3 pt fert spinner and spun on the oats and brome before using the packer seeder. I say jeepers I don't want that extra trip over the ground! Thanks, Dana

Roger that Bakwoods. Some seasons here in the upstate, like this past season, we never had over 3 consecutively good drying days.