Jacob Springs hay program

Jacob Springs Farm has the equipment and capabilities needed to produce quality irrigated grass hay and alfalfa.

2014

In 2014 we cut, raked, and baled approximately 35 acres of hay using our own equipment. This was enough to provide for our own livestock as well as for external sale. The Kolb property would allow us to expand hay production in the short term. In our observation, despite it’s excellent water rights, favorable ditch setup, and suitable stands of alfalfa, the property has been underutilized in terms of it’s capability to produce quality hay. We intend to irrigate more frequently and attempt three or four cuttings per season. Our intention would be to transition the entire property to organic management (although we have not yet decided if we will pursue organic certification) and market the hay to local buyers such as horse owners. Over time, we would aim to decrease the portion of the property used to produce hay and increase the portion used as pasture provided we could retain current hay leases and obtain additional leases of hay ground at other locations.

2015

We cut the Boulder Valley Community Church property putting up 170 bales of grass hay in the first cutting on the front acreage () while rotationally grazing the beef herd 15 -18 animals on the back acreage () in the spring. The back acreage yielded 800 very light bales (25-40 lbs) of nice alfalfa for the second cutting. The bales were light to avoid replacing so many shear bolts on the baler as the baler sheared a bolt on each of the first 5 turns round the field.