Catch us on 1170 WWVA, Sunday mornings at 5:00 AM
7/5/2015: Livestock Graded Sales, and Water Drainage
7/12/2015: Stormwaters, Nutrient Management, and Soil Compaction
7/19/2015: Toxic Plants to Livestock
7/26/2015: Soil Health and Cucurbits
Hay and Forages
Pasture Stability and Resiliency
Plants are biochemical factories that are at the base of the food pyramid for nearly all animals on earth (surface). The raw materials plants utilize for synthesizing essentially all components for life are found in the air, water, and in the soil.
To break it down further, 96% of plant requirements are CO2 and water. If you include Nitrogen, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, and Phosphorous, you arrive at 99.4% of all plant requirements. (Taiz and Zeiger, 2002) Proper soil health and environmental conditions such as sunlight, water and soil nutrients are essential for plant health and resiliency from pests and diseases.
Even though 99.4% is close to 100%, it isn’t quite there. It is very important to understand that amending the soil is a major part of plant nutrient needs, but it does not achieve 100% of a plant’s requirement. Having plant diversity and microbe life in the soil will increase the availability of micro-nutrients and increase plant stability in an ecosystem. Whether it be a garden, pasture, or forest; the resiliency of that ecosystem increases with diversity to both biological and abiotic stresses (pests and environmental factors).
One way to increase ecosystem diversity is to incorporate legumes in a pasture field. Legume incorporation in a pasture field has been shown to increase output with decreased monetary input in many experiments across the nation. Things to consider when incorporating legumes in a field are:
- Could there by residual effects from a pesticide?
- Products like Milestone can have up to 2 years of broadleaf residual effects on broadleaf plants
- Did I inoculate the legume seed with the proper bacterial inoculant?
- Nodules are a symbiotic relationship between the legume plant and different types of Rhizobia bacteria. If the Inoculate spores are not compatible to that plant, expired or non-viable due to improper storage, nodules will not appear and Nitrogen fixation will not occur.
- Have I recently applied Nitrogen to the soil?
- A legume will not establish the symbiotic relationship with the Rhizobium bacteria unless there is a need for more N. When Nitrogen is plenty the plant will not make nodules or very few.
There are many ways to increase bio diversity; including: forbs, a variety of grasses, and legumes in a pasture field are some examples. Doing so will create a balance in nutrient uptake and availability resulting in stability. Remember that plants are the foundation of the food pyramid, creating a stable foundation will only increase output above that!
A quote from Bill Murphy:
“If you do not find any legumes, a soil fertility or pH problem most likely exists. It’s absolutely essential to have 30 to 50% legume content in your pasture to obtain the excellent quality forage needed to achieve high livestock production levels at low cost.”
—Bill Murphy, Greener Pastures On Your Side Of The Fence, 1998
Hay Moisture Levels
We have had a very wet June this year and baling hay has been a tough thing for most farmers in the state. Moisture levels have a direct effect on hay quality. What I have found to be a consistent number in the literature is 20% moisture maximum. To be more specific:
- Small squares to be 20% or less,
- Large round, 18% or less and
- Large squares, 16%
Hay baled at 20% moisture or higher has a high probability of developing mold, which will decrease the quality of hay by decreasing both protein and total nonstructural carbohydrates (TNC) AKA energy! The mold will also make the hay less palatable to livestock and could potentially be toxic, especially for horses. Even hay baled between 15%-20% moisture will experience what is known as “sweating”. Sweating, in regard to hay bales, refers to microbial respiration, which will create heat and result in dry matter (DM) loss. A good rule of thumb is that you should expect a 1% DM loss per 1% decrease of moisture after baling. As an example, hay baled at 20% moisture that is stored and dried down to 12%; will result in 8% DM loss.
Understandably, this month has been a double edged sword in regards to losing quality by not baling, or losing quality by baling with moisture levels that are too high. Therefore, my recommendation to ensure adequate livestock nutrition this winter is to have a forage analysis done on the hay baled this year. Once you have those results, develop a corresponding supplemental feed program, if necessary, based on the nutritional requirements of your livestock. Remember that grains are doing exceptionally well this year, so far. This could possibly result in reasonable grain prices for the winter months…
Put up hay at right moisture
As I was writing this article Monday afternoon, it was just starting to sprinkle. I have only had around .3” of rain in three weeks. My pasture fields and lawn was starting to go dormant. I hope we finally received some rain. While we hadn’t received much rain, farmers have been challenged to get up hay because of the cloudy conditions. I had a call last week on when is hay ready to bale? Uncle Ermil taught me the “feel” test over 40 years ago and it has served me well, but there is really a science behind it. If you are making small square bales, the moisture content needs to be 20% or less; for round bales, 18% or less; and for large square bales, 16% or less.
What happens if we bale hay and the moisture content is too high? Bad things. If lucky, maybe the hay will only mold, but if it is too moist and starts heating, it could catch fire. If the hay heats to 100-120o, it will be fine; if it goes above that, monitor daily. Once it gets to 140o, consider tearing down the stack. At 150-160o, call the fire department, and once it gets to 160o, there will be smoldering pockets and hot spots, and gases will ignite hay when exposed to air (source: Washington State University Extension, Steve Fransen and Ned Zaugg). This has been a challenging few weeks trying to get up hay, let’s not making it worse by putting up hay too wet and burning things up.
To Cut or Not To Cut? – Chris Penrose
That is the question many farmers have been facing the past week. As I mentioned last week, we need sunshine to cure hay. If hay is made before it is dry enough, it can mold or even catch fire. If farmers wait to cut hay, quality goes down. If they cut hay and it gets rained on, it may be okay if it does not lie on the ground too long. If it rains and it is a week or more before it dries out, it will start to mold and rot, then it is lost. Many years we have a period like this and it is not good. We need rain and we need sunshine. It seems we should get one or the other, but lately, we have received neither. So the question many faced on Sunday was to cut or not to cut hay? Which is right and which is wrong? Hopefully by the time you read this, farmers will know the answer and hopefully, they were right.