– Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Wayne County
Stockpiled forages can provide an economical late fall and winter feed. The general recommendation is to take a last cutting, clipping or grazing pass in early to mid-August and then let the pastures regrow and accumulate forage (stockpile) until the end of the growing season. Stockpiling research and on-farm trials results have shown this timing is the best compromise, amassing a substantial quantity while retaining an acceptable quality of forage stockpiled. Applying 50 lbs. /acre of actual nitrogen can increase both the quality and the quantity of the forage being stockpiled.
Tall fescue is the best grass species to stockpile because it retains its quality through the winter, even into the month of March. Orchardgrass has also been successfully used for stockpiled forage, providing good grazing in the late fall through the early winter period. Legumes are not a good choice for stockpiling because they lose their leaves after several heavy frosts in the fall.
Nitrogen fertilization can increase both the quality and the quantity of the forage being stockpiled. Plan to apply 50 to 60 lbs./acre of actual nitrogen. Research results from a southeastern Ohio location showed that applying nitrogen increased the crude protein content of stockpiled fescue as compared to the unfertilized fescue across late fall and into winter. Tall fescue fertilized in the mid-August time frame and sampled in November contained 14% crude protein (CP) vs. 9.5% CP for the unfertilized fescue. Dr. John Jennings, University of Arkansas Extension, conducted a demonstration to compare fertilized vs. unfertilized stockpiled forage. One fescue field had abundant summer growth and was left as is. Another fescue field was grazed off in late August then fertilized in September to encourage high-quality fall forage growth. In January, forage tests revealed that the unfertilized fescue was 7.9 percent CP and 56 percent TDN, while the fertilized fescue was 11 percent CP and 66 percent TDN.
Stockpiling research in both Ohio and Kentucky has demonstrated that nitrogen applied to tall fescue in the early to mid-August time period should return 20 to 30 lbs. of additional stockpiled dry matter (DM) per lb of nitrogen as compared to stockpiled fescue without supplemental nitrogen. Ohio research at the Jackson Experimental station compared DM yields of unfertilized stockpiled fescue to fertilized stockpiled fescue. The unfertilized fescue accumulated 2,290 lbs. of DM when stockpiled from mid-August to the end of the growing season. Fescue fertilized with 46 lbs./acre of nitrogen accumulated an additional 1420 lbs. of DM, for a total of 3710 lbs. of DM. The biggest risk to plans for stockpiled grazing is lack of rainfall. Late summer and early fall grass growth depends on soil moisture and rainfall.
Stockpiling grass in the late summer through fall period also benefits the grass plant. Fall is a critical time for the grass plant to store carbohydrate reserves that allow the plant to over winter and that determine the green up and vigor of new growth in the spring. Stockpiling allows grass to grow and build carbohydrate reserves during this critical period. If necessary, consider feeding hay in the August to November time period to allow some pasture paddocks to stockpile. Feeding first cutting hay at this time to cows as calves are weaned and the cow’s nutritional requirement drops makes sense. The lower quality forage matches the cow’s nutritional needs and allows higher quality forage to be stockpiled and then used when the cow’s nutritional needs are higher.