Management

Drought and Dust: Preparing for Winter Feed Shortages

Dr. Ted Wiseman, OSU Extension ANR Educator, Perry County

(Image Source: South Dakota State University and Canva)

Planning now will help mitigate some of the challenges ahead.

Depending on where you are in the state, you might be dealing with dry conditions or even severe drought. Here in southeastern Ohio, pastures are parched, and hay production has been disappointing, with very little to show for second or third cuttings.

This year, forage quantity is becoming a significant concern for many producers. Reports indicate that first cuttings yielded only 40-50% of what they should have, particularly in grass forage fields. Second and third cuttings have fared even worse, with some fields producing only 25% of a typical harvest, if anything at all. Many producers have already started feeding hay, raising concerns about whether there will be enough to last through the winter. Given the variable pasture conditions across the state due to ongoing dry spells, it’s crucial to start planning now to be better prepared for the fall and winter. Continue reading Drought and Dust: Preparing for Winter Feed Shortages →

D3 Drought – What Does That Mean?

Christine Gelley, OSU Extension Educator ANR, Noble County

Dry conditions have continued, despite all our best efforts to put in requests for rain. This past week, all of Noble County along with several other SE Ohio counties moved from the classification of D2- Severe Drought to D3- Extreme Drought. What does that mean, exactly, other than that it is really dry?

Well, it means that  a group of experts have evaluated the changing conditions that have resulted from the lack of precipitation to create the United States Drought Monitor Mapping System and determined that parts of Southeast Ohio have sustained drought conditions for so long that the impacts of drought will have an increased impact on the resiliency of the land to bounce back from  drought conditions, to the point that the potential economic damage could be substantial.

The Drought Monitor website explains Continue reading D3 Drought – What Does That Mean? →

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 →

Off-Season and Accelerated Lamb Production

Melanie Barkley, Senior Extension Educator: Livestock, Penn State Extension
Dr. Jayson K. Harper, Director, Penn State Fruit Research and Extension Center
Lynn Kime, Former Senior Extension Associate, Penn State University
David Hartman, Former Extension Educator: Livestock, Penn State University
(Previously published with Penn State Extension: January 4, 2023)

Sheep are ideally suited to small-scale and part-time farming operations in Pennsylvania due to their adaptability and nutritional versatility. Sheep can be fed a diet high in concentrates (similar to swine) or solely a forage diet. Furthermore, marketing opportunities are plentiful in the northeastern United States. Lambs can be marketed at any age and often vary in weight from 40 to 160 pounds, depending on the time of year and market demand. This publication will focus on accelerated production practices to take advantage of both off-season and holiday markets.

There are about 3,800 sheep producers in Pennsylvania with around 80,000 ewes, rams, and replacement

Continue reading…

Set Production Benchmarks for Sheep and Goat Production

Melanie Barkley, Senior Extension Educator: Livestock, Penn State Extension
(previously published with Penn State Extension: May 7, 2024)

No matter what type of business you work with, those who are successful will set goals and evaluate them on a regular basis. For a sheep or goat operation, producers can set production benchmarks to improve performance that could lead to more profitability. These production goals could focus on only one year, or they could focus on reaching goals five or ten years down the road.

Producers should start by evaluating the production characteristics that are most important to their operation. Then, use the results of the evaluation to assess how to improve performance. Production benchmarks often focus on basic production or performance, reproduction, health, nutrition, marketing or finances. A few examples might be lambing or kidding percentage, weaning weight, ewe or doe production, loin eye size, fat depth, or even resistance to internal parasites.

As producers think about Continue reading Set Production Benchmarks for Sheep and Goat Production →

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 Meet the Mineral Needs of Livestock in Mixed Pastures

Shelby Filley, Oregon State University, Regional Livestock and Forage
(Previously published on the Oregon State University Extension page: September, 2021)

(Image Source: Julianna Ranches, Oregon State University)

Minerals are critically important for the health and well-being of livestock. Reproductive performance and growth are improved when animals consume proper amounts of minerals (and vitamins). Animals have specific requirements for these minerals and differ by species and level of production.

One problem many have is that cattle, sheep and goats are frequently pastured together. Since sheep are vulnerable to copper toxicity, a general livestock mineral mix without copper is usually fed to the group. But that leaves cattle and goats without proper copper in their diets. This article provides alternatives for supplementing different livestock.

Sheep options
Purchase or construct a small-area mineral feeding station that larger animals can’t access. One option is Continue reading How to Meet the Mineral Needs of Livestock in Mixed Pastures →