July 27, 2007

Options for producers with forage cuttings that aren't cutting it

With the recent rains and the possibility of more rain in the forecast, it's important to consider seeding another crop, said Keith Johnson, Purdue Extension forage specialist. That seeding, he said, can be done from mid-July through early September.

"The good news is there are several different options, and I would suggest that producers think about them as they work through the issues of dryness from early summertime," Johnson said. "Also realize that a lot of this yield loss started with the mid-April freeze that we incurred."

If land was harvested as wheat grain, there is a double-crop possibility, such as going back into the wheat stubble with spring oat, Johnson said.

He recommends adding forage turnip to the oat if higher-quality forage is desired.  The forage mixture is best harvested as silage or by grazing, he said.

"Because of the high quality of this feed, I recommend it be fed to less nutrition-requiring livestock at a rate of one-fourth oat and turnip and three-fourths low-quality forage like corn residue," Johnson said. 

"When grazed, the perfect solution would be to have an adjoining field of harvested corn and to strip-graze the oat and turnip combination."

At this time of season, other seeding options include late-summer annual grasses, such as sorghum-sudangrass, sudangrass or pearl millet, he said.  The amount of summer-annual grass crop seed in inventory will be low at this time of the growing season.

"Crops that do better in a cooler time frame, with growth opportunities in September and into early October, make good sense," Johnson said.

Looking farther down the road, planting small grains. such as soft, red winter wheat, cereal rye, winter triticale or annual ryegrass. may be of benefit, Johnson said.

One way to get livestock onto pasture earlier in 2008 may be to seed the small grains or annual ryegrass after soybean harvest.

Even though the growing season remaining is not adequate to produce enough forage to warrant grazing in the fall, it could provide a bit of grazing before the traditional time permanent pastures are ready to be grazed in the early spring, Johnson said.

This may not help with the need for winter feed, but the forage could be harvested as hay or silage in May, which would improve the forage inventory during the next growing season, Johnson said.

"Another option that has been with us a long time here in the Corn Belt is to make use of corn residues," Johnson said. "We have a lot of corn in the state, and that means we have a lot of residual material remaining. That fits very well into the plan for livestock with lower nutritional needs."

A common problem that livestock producers may face with turning these grazing options into reality is fencing and access to water.

Johnson said it is important to plan for the amount of feed needed, the amount the producer has and whether it is cost-effective to add temporary fencing and bring the livestock water on a daily basis.

"The idea of grazing the residues makes more sense from an economic standpoint than going out and retrieving the residues and packaging them up into large, round bales or rectangular bales and bringing them to the livestock," he said. "But with extreme need, you tend to do things that aren't the typical year-to-year practice, and the harvest of corn is certainly an opportunity."

A few counties have released Conservation Reserve Program acres, and some producers have the opportunity to harvest hay off that acreage. Contact a local Farm Service Agency to find out whether this is an option, Johnson said.

For information about additional options, contact Johnson at (765) 494-4800.

Writer: Julie Douglas, (765) 496-1050, douglajk@purdue.edu

Source:  Keith Johnson, (765) 494-4800, johnsonk@purdue.edu

Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu
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