Cool Season Forages: Extend the grazing season and diversify homegrown feed
Cool season forages diversify the cropping system and the ration and maximize fields’ productivity by adding several additional tons of dry matter yield to each acre’s yearly total. They also keep fields covered year-round, providing many of the soil benefits of a cover crop. You’ll get the most production out of these forages in the…
Too much of a good thing? High yields of unfamiliar crops may take some getting used to
MasterGraze tillering corn and Iron Clay Cowpeas A voluminous forage harvest is usually a blessing. But this may not be the case for those who aren’t prepared for it. Some of our customers found themselves with more than they bargained for when they experimented with a mix of MasterGraze, a BMR tillering corn, and cowpeas,…
Fall Harvest Management Considerations
Rod Porter, Northern Region Coordinator, Trumansburg, NY As fall approaches, here are some points to consider as you make your final harvests for the year. Hay: Try to time your final cutting to be 3 weeks before the killing frost or wait until after killing frost has come. To maintain a strong stand be sure to…
KingFisher Premium Alfalfas
KingFisher Alfalfa with Organic Partner Grass Mix KingFisher alfalfas continue to stand out as the premier alfalfa varieties on the market. With consistent, high performance at the World Dairy Expo, this lineup of alfalfas is second to none. KF Enhancer II– Workhorse High yielder with excellent feed quality. Very eye catching variety with an excellent…
Seeding Rate and Planting Date – Winter Annual Forages
Seeding rate and seeding date are mutually influential. For example, a later seeding date with a grass crop might mean less tillering in the fall, demanding a higher seeding rate to achieve the same ground cover. Planting dates that stretch later into the fall produce far less cover crop biomass, heights, and ground cover. The…
Cover Crop Mixes: What are the limits to diversity?
The original Ray’s Crazy Mix. Seed size diversity makes planting a challenge, and usually means that a prepared seedbed and careful depth adjustment is critical. As we start adding more species to a mix, we are likely to see less expression of every species, especially with more variation in seed size. Diversity is always a…
Summer Annuals Going into Fall
Some graziers leave summer annuals growing into the fall, and wonder whether they can and should take advantage of these last fits of growth. The answer is that it’s possible, but you shouldn’t sacrifice a fall planting to do so. Also, you’ve heard about dangers like nitrates and prussic acid that come with stressed plants,…
Spring Annuals: A well-planned, last minute forage
Early spring is not too late to make the move to supplement your pastures with high-energy forage that can be grown in 60 days or less. Whether they stretch perennial pastures or winter annual small grain forage you planted this fall, spring annuals help diversify your inventory. They can also be part of a renovation…
A Pasture Pick-Me-Up for Summer
Beef cattle grazing Mojo Crabgrass in North Carolina (Photo by Josh Baker) Improved forage crabgrass varieties are not weeds, but high-quality, high-producing forages that fit well from the Mid-Atlantic region through the Southeast. With good fertility and moisture conditions, crabgrass forage can yield 3-5 tons of dry matter. As a low-growing summer annual crop, crabgrass…
The best advice for a small grain forage stand after a balmy start to winter? Leave it alone
Damage from grazing heavily frosted Cosaque Winter Oats, Georgia Did your small grain forages get away from you during the fall? It’s been a common problem this winter. Snow mold from overgrown winter annual forage is certainly a risk, but we still don’t recommend cutting or grazing in the middle of winter. You probably did…
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