About the Ranch	Orchard Grass & Hay	Natural Cattle
Fly Fishing	Wildlife	Maps & Directions

Orchard Grass & Hay

Orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata) is an excellent hay production crop especially for horses and cattle.  It also makes good pasture for wildlife.

Orchard grass is a long lived, cool-season perennial bunch grass that grows 2-4' tall.  It reproduces from seed and forms tufted shoots held together by short rhizomes.  It is a native grass of Europe and Eurasia cultivated in North America since 1760.  With adequate nutrition, it produces a very high-protein forage.

Rocky Ridge Ranch starts the processing of hay with a 4890 John Deere 14 foot swather.  The first cutting is usually baled out of the windrow without raking to maintain color and reduce leaf damage.  The second and third cuttings are double raked with a 216 New Holland hydraulic rake.  Baling is done with two Ag-co 4655 in-line sixteen inch by eighteen inch by forty-eight inch balers.  The bales are then picked up with a New Holland BW 28 and block-stacked in blocks of 67 bales.  All blocks are stored inside of one of five barns.  The blocks that will be shipped are stored on plastic to prevent them from absorbing moisture from the ground.  The shipping is done with a Hyster 180 equipped with a Cliff Squeeze.  Most trucks haul eight or nine blocks.  The bales weigh 90-95 pounds each, which means each truck can haul 536 or 603 bales, or 25-28 tons.

For more information, email info@rockyridgeranchoregon.com or call (541)490-9972.