Oats as an Alternative Forage

– Allen Gahler, OSU Extension, Sandusky County and Jason Hartschuh, OSU Extension, Crawford County While some parts of Ohio have been rather dry this spring and into summer, other areas have been consistently wet throughout.  Either scenario can cause significant problems for grazing and haymaking.  If you are looking for alternative forages to either graze […]

Oats as a late summer forage crop

– Jason Hartschuh and Al Gahler, OSU Extension AgNR Educators (originally published in The Ohio Farmer) Oats is traditionally planted as the first crop in early April as a grain crop or an early season forage. One of the beauties of oats is its versatility in planting date. Oats can also be planted in the […]

Forage Shortage and Prevented Planting Acres . . . think OATS!

– Allen Gahler, Extension Educator, Sandusky County and Stan Smith, Program Assistant, Fairfield County Last week, USDA released the declaration that a cover crop planted onto prevented planting acres can now be harvested as a forage after September 1st, rather than the normal date of November 1st, which provides a small glimmer of hope for […]

Using Goats to Improve Cattle Pastures

– Marcus McCartney, OSU Extension AgNR Educator, Washington County (originally published in Farm & Dairy) Do you have leftover fair goats, or inherited some that did not make weight at the fair? Perhaps your kids or grandkids have been bugging you for the small ruminant animal for some time. Or by chance, did you come […]

Posted in Pasture

Oats, an Annual Forage to Consider

– Stan Smith, OSU Extension PA, Fairfield County With the wheat crop coming off early this year across Ohio, those who may need additional forage will soon have an excellent opportunity for acres to be available where annual forages can be planted and grazed or harvested yet this year. For those wanting acres available for […]

Oats: An Annual Forage to Consider

– Stan Smith, OSU Extension PA, Fairfield County As John mentions in the previous article, both hay quality and quantity throughout Ohio has suffered this year. At the same time, there are a number of acres – especially in Northwest Ohio – that remain unplanted from spring as a result of abundant rainfall. Further, considering […]

Oats Are an Annual Forage to Consider as a Double Crop After Wheat

– Stan Smith, OSU Extension PA, Fairfield County On May 1 of this year, not only were Ohio hay inventories down 55% from this time last year, but they were at their lowest since at least 1950. U.S. hay stocks were down 34 percent from a year ago and were the lowest May 1 stocks […]

Posted in Forages

Oats Are an Annual Forage to Consider For Presently Idle Acres

– Stan Smith, OSU Extension PA, Fairfield County Due to last fall’s extraordinarily wet weather, perhaps only half as much wheat was planted and ultimately harvested in Ohio this year. And, while those acres may have been intended for double crop soybeans, the persistent drought conditions have left many of them unplanted today. If you […]

Why Oats, and Not Cereal Rye or Wheat?

– Stan Smith, PA, Fairfield County OSU Extension Last week in this publication we suggested that planting oats on acres that were left unplanted to corn or soybeans this spring might be utilized for growing oats which could be grazed or harvested after November 1. Since then the question has been asked why we’d encourage […]