A call from the mad farmer in Tennessee, Jim Culpepper, alerted me to the similar qualities and nutrient levels between orchard grass and alfalfa. The latter is generally preferred by farmers with stock producing milk, perhaps because the cows and mares would eat themselves silly they like it so much.
For protein and digestible calories, alfalfa is outstanding food for livestock, even chickens and rabbits, who actually are only interested in the leaves and bits.
But from Herr Culpepper’s information on the subject, orchard grass can be even richer and more beneficial than alfalfa, depending on the time it is harvested and how it is put up for storage.
So, I took the plunge and for my most recent organic hay purchase, ordered seven tons of orchard grass and timothy. The hayman came today, delivered the goods, and the mares are already turning the grasses into compost.
My initial impressions of the hay are that it is quite clean, with long, narrow blades, lots of leaf and not much stem. Perhaps this load will last till spring finally shows up.
heirloom farming in the bluegrass 