Agronomy & Farm Management Podcast: Managing forages and pastures in challenging times

Check out this recent podcast!

On last week’s podcast Christine Gelley addresses the various challenges forage and beef producers are facing from the 2024 drought in southeastern Ohio. Gelley is the Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension Educator in Noble County. She specializes in forages and pasture management, where she is the team leader for OSU Extension’s Integrated Forage Management Team and is the Vice President for the Ohio Forage & Grasslands Council.

Find the podcast and additional resources posted here.

Balancing the Animals and Available Forage

Graze stockpile whenever possible.

– Victor Shelton, Retired NRCS Agronomist/Grazing Specialist

I’m grateful to have enough hay for the livestock, especially since snow and ice can make grazing stockpiled forages difficult – if any remains available. Although 2024 brought more rainfall than usual, a dry late summer and fall reduced the amount of stockpiled forage, making it harder to meet the needs of the livestock as long as normal.

At the core of managing livestock during the winter months is the balance between the animals and the forage available to feed them.  Ideally, I’d prefer the livestock to graze stockpiled forages or annuals as long as possible outside of the perennial forage growing season. However, that’s not always practical, possible, or advisable. This balance constantly shifts, influenced by Continue reading Balancing the Animals and Available Forage

New OSU Extension Forage Agronomist

Dr. Emma Matcham, Assistant Professor, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, The Ohio State University

We are excited to introduce the newest Extension state specialist for integrated forage management, Dr. Emma Matcham. Prior to joining the faculty at OSU, Emma was an Assistant Professor of nutrient cycling and agronomy at the University of Florida and became a certified crop advisor (CCA) in 2020. She earned her BS and MS from OSU, and her PhD from the University of Wisconsin—Madison.

As an assistant professor and Extension state specialist, her lab focuses on applied forage systems research that helps address the . . .

Continue reading New OSU Extension Forage Agronomist

Ohio Forage and Grasslands Council to Meet in Reynoldsburg

Make plans to attend February 7.

The Ohio Forage and Grasslands Council will be hosting their Annual Meeting on Friday, February 7, 2025 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. at The Ohio Department of Agriculture (8995 East Main Street, Reynoldsburg OH 43068). This meeting serves as an opportunity to interact with forage growers of all backgrounds and interests and share with each other. Along with socialization you can listen to intriguing presentations, interact with vendors of forage growing supplies, and enjoy a delicious lunch.

The Ohio Forage and Grasslands Council is Ohio’s commodity organization for pasture and hay crops. The Ohio State University partners closely with the Ohio Forage and Grasslands Council to support forage education, research, and outreach throughout the state. It is the only organization of its kind, bringing together farmers, conservationists, academics, industry representatives, and service personnel into a shared environment to converse and build relationships that lead to more productive forage and Continue reading Ohio Forage and Grasslands Council to Meet in Reynoldsburg

Grazing Management Lunch and Learn Series: Native Warm Season Grasses

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Native warm season grasses often are not associated with pasture production here in Ohio. But native warm season grasses allow producers to diversify their operations and increase forage production. On this January 29 webinar (Microsoft Teams), join Jason at 12:15 p.m. as he talks about successfully managing warm season grass stands and how they can benefit your operation.

Click here to join this live event.

Variable Rate Frost Seeding Evaluated at UK Research and Education Center

– Dr. Chris D. Teutsch, Caroline Roper, and Brittany Hendrix, University of Kentucky Research and Education Center at Princeton

Figure 1. Pastures often contain rough and undulating terrain that makes maintaining a constant speed difficult.

Clover and other pasture legumes are important parts of sustainable grassland ecosystems. Legumes form a symbiotic relationship with Rhizobium bacteria. The Rhizobium bacteria fix nitrogen from the air into a plant available form and share it with the legume. In return the legume plant provides the bacteria with a place to live (nodules on the root system) and an energy source (sugar from photosynthesis). Nitrogen fixation is the second most important biochemical process on earth following photosynthesis. In addition to nitrogen fixation, legumes improve pasture quality and animal performance, and new research from our USDA Ag Research Unit in Lexington shows that a compound found in red clover may help to alleviate tall fescue toxicosis.

Frost seeding is the process of broadcasting clover or other legume seed onto existing pastures or hayfields in late winter and allowing freezing and thawing cycles to incorporate the seed into the soil (Teutsch et al., 2021). This method is most commonly used with Continue reading Variable Rate Frost Seeding Evaluated at UK Research and Education Center

Maintaining Forage Stability Amid Instability

Marina Miquilini, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Greene County, OSU Extension

Could warm season (C4) grasses solve a summer slump in forage growth?

When it comes to forage crops, we aim for stable production. But maybe it’s time to start thinking a step ahead. Stability means keeping things running smoothly with only minor hiccups during typical challenges. Today, however, we’re confronted with much larger challenges, such as extreme weather events, making adapting to these new realities essential.

That’s where resistance and resilience come into play. Basically, the overall stability of forage production depends on two key factors: how much a disturbance affects it (resistance) and how quickly it bounces back (resilience).

With that in mind, we’ll focus on understanding ways to boost resistance and resilience in forage crops, so we can Continue reading Maintaining Forage Stability Amid Instability

Winter Feeding Beef Cows on Pasture

Garth Ruff, Beef Cattle Field Specialist and Jason Hartschuh, Dairy Management Field Specialist, OSU Extension

Little has happened to improve the feed situation since drought conditions began. Photo: Wiseman

2024 has been a roller coaster year with regards to pasture production and growth across much of Ohio. Here in the east central part of the state, drought took ahold in July and really hasn’t eased up much. Pasture conditions continue to rate as poor or very poor and the hay crop was just a small percentage of a normal second cutting. Third cutting hay crop was nonexistent across the area.

At a series of programs across the region Jason Hartschuh and I discussed management options for winter feeding of beef cows in drought impacted areas the following were some of Continue reading Winter Feeding Beef Cows on Pasture

Pasture and Range Conditions Review

– Will Secor, Ph.D., Assistant Professor & Extension Livestock Economist, Masters of Agribusiness (MAB) Coordinator, Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics, University of Georgia

Recent rains have reduced the severity of drought.

Wet weather has been a welcome relief for many areas of the country over the last few weeks. In particular, rains in late October and early November alleviated drought or the severity of the drought for many areas of the Southern Plains and Southeast. However, significant portions of the U.S. remain in drought.

As of the end of October, the last report for the year, the USDA found that 51 percent of U.S. pasture and range conditions were poor or very poor. This compares to last year’s closing figure of 37 percent and the five-year average’s number of 36 percent. The only region with pasture and range conditions better than last year was the Northeast.

Conditions at the start of the reporting year (May 2024) were Continue reading Pasture and Range Conditions Review

Posted in Forages

Is the grass dead or dormant?

Where to from here?

Christine Gelley, OSU Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Noble County, Ohio

Prolonged drought in much of the state has led to many conversations about how bad the observed condition of pasture actually is and if it will bounce back when precipitation comes.

Back in July and August, I answered those questions with the response of “Right now, the grass is dormant. It is saving resources to rebound when moisture comes.” Now in October and November, I am less confident that the brown and crusty grass we see is dormant. Some of it is dead and some of it is Continue reading Is the grass dead or dormant?