Does anyone feed Peanut Hay? I have fed it to my goats in the past and they seem to love it, my brother has fed it to his horses and mules and many times they eat the Peanut Hay before their grain. Also wondering about growing Peanut Hay, I have been told that it takes a couple years before you are able to cut it for hay.

-- Mark (deadgoatman@webtv.net), August 15, 2000

Answers

According to an agricultural textbook I have from the late '40's, you plant peanuts just like you were growing them for the nuts, and then you harvest when the vines are at their prime, drying quickly to prevent loss of the leaves. I have never grown peanuts, but they are an annual warm weather crop, and don't know how they could possibly be held over through winter to obtain a second year's growth.

-- Hannah Maria Holly (hannahholly@hotmail.com), August 15, 2000.

Hannah thanks for your info. But the Peanut Hay I am seeking info about is a Peanut plant that does not produce peanuts and is grown stricktly for hay. I have a friend who grows a small pot of peanuts every year and last year I took the plants after the peanuts had been picked and the goats did not like them as much as the Peanut Hay.

-- Mark (deadgoatman@webtv.net), August 15, 2000.

The folks who we purchased our first purebred buck from used peanut hay to rest their alfalfa field. Everyone raves about peanut hay, though I think that this is probably a regional thing, they lived in Oklahoma and we also saw it for sale in Louisiana. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), August 16, 2000.

There are 2 kinds of peanut hay. One is a by-product of regular peanut production, baled after the peanuts are harvested. It is very highly regarded in the south as a livestock feed. The other is perennial peanut hay, which is relatively new, produces no usable nuts, but comes back year after year. It takes a while to establish, but produces large quantities of high quality hay, similar to alfalfa, which won't grow in the deep south. Both types are high in protein, and are excellent for all types of livestock.

-- Dan G. (dizzydan@yahoo.com), August 16, 2000.