Forages and Pasture

More Rain Doesn’t Fix Drought Pastures

Mindy Ward, Editor, Missouri Ruralist
(Previously published online with FarmProgress, Missouri Ruralist: July 16, 2024)

(Image Source: Drovers via Bryce Baldridge)

Although this article is geared towards the drought conditions experienced in Missouri this past summer, Mindy Ward provides our Eastern readers with 4 key tips on how to manage your drought stressed pastures after finally receiving some much needed fall moisture.

Here are four things to do to boost plant roots and future growth of fatigued grasses and forbs.

Recent heavy rains may provide relief to Missouri’s two-year drought, but Carson Roberts says one good rain won’t undo the damage to mismanaged pastures.

“Remember, it is not about how much rain you get,” the University of Missouri Extension state forage specialist says. “It’s about how much rain you can keep and access.” Continue reading More Rain Doesn’t Fix Drought Pastures →

Emergency Haying and Grazing of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Acreage Available for 70 Ohio Counties

David Marrison, OSU Extension Field Specialist, Farm Management

Drought conditions continued to degrade across Ohio. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor report on September 17, 59.56% of Ohio is experiencing severe or greater drought conditions with 9.5% classified as D4 or exceptional drought conditions (Figure 1). It is important to remember that D4 conditions only occur once every 50 to 100 years. Approximately 98% of the state is experiencing at least abnormally dry conditions. One silver lining is the current seven-day forecast shows the potential for rain in many areas of Ohio next week which should help slow the progress of drought should it occur.

The drought conditions have impacted both pastures and hayfields across Ohio. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) administered under the USDA Farm Service Agency permits emergency haying and grazing on certain CRP practices in a county designated as D2 or higher on the U.S. Drought Monitor, or in a county where there is at least a 40% loss in forage production.

Continue reading Emergency Haying and Grazing of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Acreage Available for 70 Ohio Counties →

Using Drought Stressed Soybeans for Hay or Silage

Jason Hartschuh, Dairy Management and Precision Livestock, Field Specialist

(Image Source: FARM SHOW Magazine)

Soybeans harvested as forage are high in protein and lower in fiber than grasses.

Long before soybeans were cultivated as oil seed crops, they were first domesticated and used in the United States primarily as a forage. Soybeans harvested as forage are high in protein and lower in fiber than grasses making them an excellent forage if harvested and stored properly. Soybeans harvested as a forage can have dry matter yields as high as 5 tons per acre but are often much lower when the soybeans are planted late as a rescue forage or transitioned to forage due to drought.

Soybean feed value from Hintz et.al. from the late 1980’s showed that when soybeans were harvested at R7, crude protein values across 3 different varieties ranged from 18.1-20.5%. The NDF values for the soybeans ranged from 39.5-42.2. Dry matter yield ranged from 3-3.6 tons per acre. Row spacing and seeding rate had little effect on yield or forage quality. However, harvest timing affected all factors. When harvested at Continue reading Using Drought Stressed Soybeans for Hay or Silage →

Forage Nitrate Toxicity a Major Concern as Drought Worsens

Jason Hartschuh, Dairy Management and Precision Livestock, Field Specialist

(Image Source: University of Missouri Extension)

Weather conditions across Ohio have been challenging this growing season with some areas of the state reaching a D3 drought status. Other areas of the state may not currently be under drought status but are drier than normal and at risk of quickly experiencing a flash drought. These adverse growing conditions can cause unforeseen challenges with forages. We have had multiple reports of high nitrate levels this year in early harvested summer annual forages as producers needed feed.

Plants readily take up nitrates from the soil, even under dry or cool conditions.  Once in the plant, nitrate is converted to nitrite, then ammonia, and finally into amino acids and plant protein. Any environmental stress that significantly slows down plant photosynthesis and metabolism can lead to excessive nitrate levels in the plant because the nitrate uptake from the soil will be faster than its metabolism into plant protein. Such stresses include drought, frost, extended cold weather, cloudy conditions, or hail damage. While Continue reading Forage Nitrate Toxicity a Major Concern as Drought Worsens →

Managing Forage to Finish 2024

Christine Gelley, OSU Extension Educator ANR, Noble County

With the drought conditions we have experienced this summer, many livestock producers and haymakers are concerned about the winter to come and how to stretch resources to next spring when the supply of stored forages will be low. Other than doing the rain dance and hoping for yield salvation on third cutting hay, what else can we do to boost forage availability now and through to the spring?

We can practice good management tactics. Those ones that we should be doing every year, but become more critical during times of stress, like now. We can restrict animals from overgrazing areas that we will need later this fall. We can consider reducing the size of the herd while prices are decent at the sale barn and have fewer mouths to feed through the winter. We can start shopping for supplemental winter feed now, because as supply dwindles and the months turn cold, demand will increase and so will costs.

There is limited time left to plant emergency annual forage crops, but it is an option. If we get Continue reading Managing Forage to Finish 2024 →

Fall Forage Management

Dr. John Yost, OSU Extension Educator ANR, Wayne County

The fall is a critical time in our yearly forage management calendar. Regardless of how the growing season has progressed, your fall management practices will set the stage for getting the next spring off on the right foot. In this article, we will give some recommendations on soil fertility, fall planting of new alfalfa stands, and when to take the last forage harvest for the season.

Your soil fertility program is far and above the most critical component of your alfalfa management. While current weather conditions and harvest timing will most influence the quality of a single cutting, a well-balanced fertility program will ensure that the plant has the available resources to perform within its environment. Again, the goal is to finish the growing season with a healthy plant that has had sufficient time to accumulate top growth that will protect the crown from cold temperatures during the late fall and winter. Allowing for enough top growth will Continue reading Fall Forage Management →

Clipping Pastures: An Age-Old Debate

Mike Rankin, Hay and Forage Grower Senior Editor
(Previously published in Hay & Forage Grower: July 23, 2024)

(Image Source: Hay & Forage Grower)

Farmers are known to have strong opinions and often readily express them. From a pasture management perspective, few topics illicit stronger feelings than when the clipping topic is put on the table.

I recently returned from a grazing dairy where I didn’t even have to broach the subject. As we walked down the lane to a far-off paddock, the farmer passionately went into a dissertation of why he routinely clips pastures after the first or second rotation. I’ve also been on farms where a strong stance was taken for not clipping.

The primary reason for clipping is to improve the forage quality of the pasture by eliminating the taller mature stems and seedheads. This sets pasture plants back to a vegetative state and creates a uniform stubble height. In doing so, the mature stems don’t restrict animals from accessing the vegetative growth in the lower canopy during the next rotation. A secondary reason to clip pastures — but with little economic significance — is simply that of visual appeal. Continue reading Clipping Pastures: An Age-Old Debate →

How to Sample Hay

Mindy Ward, Editor, Missouri Ruralist
(Previously published online with FarmProgress, Missouri Ruralist: July 5, 2024)

(Image Source: Hay and Forage Grower)

With the recent drought Ohio and much of the United States has experienced this year to date, analyzing and understanding forage quality will be critical for operation success. Wether you are feeding a few sheep in your back yard or have 1,ooo ewes indoors, knowing what you are providing to your stock in your pastures or in the feed bunks is important. This week, Mindy Ward outlines key steps to follow when collecting a hay sample.

As hay condition comes into question, take a closer look at your harvested bales.

Hay quality is a concern this year, Continue reading How to Sample Hay →

Plan Now to Make your Summer Forage Seeding!

Stan Smith, OSU Extension PA, Fairfield County

With Ohio’s wheat harvest being completed early this year it allows ample time to plan and prepare to do an August forage seeding. Over the next month soil fertility testing should be accomplished, perennial and biennial weeds can be controlled, and ample time remains for selecting and securing the desired forage species for seeding.

During the winter of 2021 the first session of the Ohio Beef Cattle Management School focused on making quality hay for beef cattle with an emphasis on soil fertility and seed species selection when doing a new seeding. The first video embedded below is the 38 minute presentation from that first Beef School session when Noble County Extension Educator Christine Gelley discussed considerations for selecting species for a new seeding and other critical considerations when establishing a new stand of forage. Beginning at about the 14 minute mark of the presentation Gelley spends a few minutes discussing the specifics of seed species selection for new seedings.

Also, posted in the second video below, Jason Hartschuh, OSU Extension Field Specialist for Dairy Management and Precision Livestock, discusses soil fertility practices that will prolong the life, quality and productivity of hay and forage stands.