Pasture

The benefits of frost seeding legumes

– Victor Shelton, Retired NRCS Agronomist/Grazing Specialist

Adding legumes by frost-seeding has a lot of benefits.

As I write this in late December, winter has definitely arrived.  Snow flurries are falling outside my window, and while warmer than usual temperatures lingered longer than expected, true winter weather has finally settled in.

Recently, I’ve had several conversations about increasing legumes in pastures through frost seeding.  This method offers numerous benefits for pasture health, soil fertility and forage quality. One key advantage is that legumes, like red and white clover, fix nitrogen in the soil, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers and promoting a more balanced plant community. This results in more resilient and sustainable pastures.

Frost seeding also increases the Continue reading The benefits of frost seeding legumes →

Posted by at Posted in Pasture

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 →

Getting the Most Out of Your Stockpiled Grass

– Dr. Chris Teutsch, UK Research and Education Center, Princeton

Figure 1. Strip grazing stockpiled grass can extending grazing by as much as 40%.

Stockpiling tall fescue is the is the most economical way feed cows during the winter months. Once stockpiled growth has accumulated, how you choose to utilize it can dramatically impact how may grazing days you get per acre. Research in Missouri showed that giving cows access to only enough forage for 3-days versus 14-days resulted in a 40% increase in grazing days per acre. The following tips will help to get the most out of your stockpiled forages.

Graze pastures that contain warm-season grasses first. Although we often like to think of pastures as monocultures, they are often complex mixtures of cool- and warm-season grasses, legumes and weedy forbs. If pastures contain warm-season grasses, use these first since their quality will Continue reading Getting the Most Out of Your Stockpiled Grass →

Posted by at Posted in Pasture

Managing the change in weather requires flexibility

– Victor Shelton, Retired NRCS Agronomist/Grazing Specialist

Stockpiled forage has a lot of benefits.

In All Creatures Great and Small, author James Herriot reflects on the routine of caring for animals through the changing seasons, “the winter days are closing in, the snow had begun to fall, and I felt the reassuring weight of the work ahead—the routine of feeding, checking, and caring for the animals that were always at my side, no matter the weather.” This sentiment remains relevant today, as the abrupt shift from warm late fall weather to a sudden cold snap marks the beginning of winter. Such transitions highlight how quickly seasons can turn, influencing both pasture conditions and livestock care. As forage growth halts and plants enter dormancy, the remaining forage becomes more like standing hay than pasture. Managing this change, as Herriot alludes to, requires flexibility and Continue reading Managing the change in weather requires flexibility →

Posted by at Posted in Pasture

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 →

Drought Damaged Pasture; What’s next?

– Jordan Penrose, Ohio State University Extension Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Morgan County

Despite recent rainfall, drought conditions persist in SE Ohio.

Drought conditions have affected most of Ohio at one point or more this summer and fall, and we need to consider the long-term effects that this could have on forages. Where I am at in Morgan County, in the southeastern part of the state we are still in D4 Exceptional Drought, and most farmers have been feeding hay and hauling water for a couple of months now. Forages have taken the back seat for now, as we try to make sure livestock have feed and water. While getting livestock through the winter is the main goal right now, we need to start looking at what will need to be done with pastures and hayfields. When we got rain in October from Hurricane Helene, our pastures and hayfields came out of dormancy and started to grow on my family’s farm. Hopefully, most of you took note as well if that rain brought your pastures and hayfields out of dormancy and had some sort of growth. The reason that I hope you took note is to gauge what Continue reading Drought Damaged Pasture; What’s next? →

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? →

“Normal” vs “Average” weather; The impact on forages

– Victor Shelton, Retired NRCS Agronomist/Grazing Specialist

Soil health helps to sequester carbon!

Not long after the October issue of Grazing Bites was released, I had a conversation with someone in Ohio about the concept of “normal.” He mentioned a presentation by Jim Gerrish, who noted that “normal precipitation is not average precipitation. In continental climates, seven out of ten years will see below-average precipitation, and normal conditions are often 10-15% below the long-term average.”

I agree with Jim. “Normal” weather typically refers to expected conditions based on long-term averages, such as temperature and precipitation patterns for a specific location and time of year. In contrast, “average” weather denotes the statistical mean over a defined period, like 30 years. Essentially, “normal” reflects expected weather, while “average” is a specific measurement.

However, perceptions of “normal weather” can Continue reading “Normal” vs “Average” weather; The impact on forages →

Drought related fencing issues

– Dean Kreager, Licking County Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator

Dry soils can create grounding issues.

The drought in this part of the country continues with very little chance of rain in the forecast.  With the shortage of available pasture and hay supplies, livestock may start thinking the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.  How secure are your fences?  No one likes to get that wake-up call or knock on the door letting you know you have livestock out.  There are a couple fencing issues that are related to drought to keep in mind.

One of the common problems that result in livestock escapes is the loss in effectiveness of electric fences.  Some animals have a knack of finding a faulted fence.  In wet conditions the problem is often with electrical faults from weeds overtaking fences, resulting in a greatly reduced electrical charge.  In dry conditions, these faults are not Continue reading Drought related fencing issues →