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Contents:

• Now Is The Time To Plan For Autumn & Winter Grazing
• Does Aeration of Pastures & Hayfields Pay?
• 1999 EORDC Cereal Rye Grazing
• Summer Forage Seedings

[top] Now Is The Time To Plan For Autumn & Winter Grazing - Chris Penrose Extension Agent, Ag/Natural Resources, Athens County

For years we have heard how much we can save by stockpiling forages and growing annual crops such as brassicas (turnips, rape, kale, etc.) and cereal rye for fall and winter grazing. Now is the time to consider your options for these crops to extend your grazing season.

Stockpiling fescue and orchardgrass require the least effort and cost to extend the grazing season. Initiating the stockpiling can begin from the middle of July through early September. Beginning earlier may result in higher yields. Many will use hayfields after second cutting or pasture fields after grazing and clipping. Simply let the grass grow until fall when the other pastures become short. Fifty pounds of nitrogen is an ideal amount of fertilizer to stimulate growth which should be applied when stockpiling begins. Ammonium nitrate, (34-0-0, 150 pounds/ acre) if available is the best option since it is less volatile than urea. If urea is used, try to apply prior to a rain.

The results will be up to two tons per acre of forages that can be utilized November through January. Orchardgrass should be grazed by the end of the year, as the yields drop off into January, but quality is maintained. Fescue can be grazed in good years virtually through the winter but nutrients start leaching in February and quality starts suffering. Crude protein will stay in the teens through the end of the year, and 10% or better into February.

Brassicas and cereal rye are other options to extend the grazing season. These options seem to be more appealing if a hay or pasture field will be renovated. Brassicas need to be seeded from the middle of July through early August and are ready to graze in 60-90 days. For most brassicas maximum

quality is reached in 60 days and maximum yield is reached in 90 days. Cattle will graze off the tops first, then work on the bulbs last. Crude protein in the tops will be 14-18% and 8-10% in the bulbs. These are very low in fiber, so some supplemental hay or stockpiled forages will help improve utilization. These should be grazed prior to temperatures falling below 20 degrees.

Brassicas can be either no-tilled or conventionally seeded. All they need is good seed to soil contact, 50 pounds of nitrogen, and a little moisture to get going. Existing vegetation must be suppressed for successful stand establishment. It is a crop that can produce 10,000 pounds of dry matter in 90 days with only two to four pounds of seed per acre. Some producers in good years have actually broadcasted wheat or cereal rye when the cattle were about finished grazing and had a forage crop the next spring!

Cereal rye is another option that can produce a high quality crop for grazing in December and in March. What sets this crop apart from the rest is that it is high quality and is the first crop to green up in the spring. This works especially well for those with stocker calves that are overwintered. Rye should be planted from the middle of August through the middle of September at 90-100 pounds of seed per acre. When the rye is two to four inches tall, 50-75 pounds of nitrogen will stimulate growth and additional applications in March will increase production.

Any of these options can stretch winter allocation of feed and keep costs down, especially when stripped grazed with electric fence. However, now is the time to evaluate your winter feed needs so low cost options can be implemented.

[top] Does Aeration of Pastures & Hayfields Pay? - Dr. Carl S. Hoveland, Univ. of Georgia

A few replicated field experiments have been conducted with aerators or chisels on pastures or hayfields. Coastal bermudagrass on an eroded soil with a clay pan on the surface was chiseled to a depth of six inches which doubled or tripled forage yields in Texas. In Wales, a perennial ryegrass pasture on clay loam soil grazed with cattle for 26 was aerated with rotating long triangles that penetrated to a depth of 5 inches, doubling forage yield.

In contrast to these two success stories, other experiments have been less encouraging. In eastern Oklahoma treatment of a bermudagrass pasture with a spike-toothed aerator had little effect on yield. A large 2-year study on aeration was done on silty soil in Mississippi where an aerator, shank renovator, disk, and deep chisel were compared to controls. Treatments were also tested at different times of the year. The aerator penetrated to a depth of 2 inches on silty soil and nearly 23 inches on the sandy loam. None of the treatments had any effect on soil penetration resistance, moisture content, or forage yield.

Experiments at the University of Tennessee on fall fescue showed virtually no difference in forage yield between aerated and non-aerated areas. Demonstrations with aerated and non-aerated strips of tall fescue on four farms in south central Tennessee showed a forage yield advantage of only 214 pounds of dry forage per acre. The cost of aeration was estimated at approximately $10 per acre. It was concluded that aeration did not pay the expenses. In north Alabama, two types of soil aerators increased tall fescue yields but the cost of aeration exceeded the value of extra forage produced.

[top] 1999 EORDC Cereal Rye Grazing - Clif Little, Ag/NR Agent, OSU Extension

As livestock producers attempt to extend the grazing season the use of cool-season annuals must be considered. A cereal rye grazing project was implemented at EORDC in Belle Valley. We utilized cereal rye as a means to extend the grazing season and to provide rest for our stockpiled fescue plots. The rye was planted September 10th. One acre of cereal rye "Aroostook" was established by broadcasting at a rate of two bushels per acre onto disked soil. The field was then cultipacked. When the rye emerged 50 units of nitrogen was applied as ammonium nitrate. Seventy-four days later 22 crossbred ewe lambs were introduced to the rye. The ewes were rotationally grazed for 30 days. Rye strips were constructed with 3 strands of poly tape electric fence and step-in posts.

Spring growth was grazed May 1-3rd with 40 head of heifers, average weight 896 lbs. These heifers were provided free access to the entire paddock.

Fall production - 1980 lbs. of DM consumed Spring production - 2670 lbs. of DM consumed Cost/ton of DM consumed = $38.70

Summary
Cereal rye provided good quality late season and early season growth. Fall growth can be limited by dry weather and cold conditions. Spring growth of cereal rye is extremely rapid and probably not as well utilized due to the rapid growth of cool-season grasses at this time. Grazers should plan to seed cereal rye by early September so that the forage is generated for fall grazing when needed.

[top] Summer Forage Seedings - Mark Sulc, OSU Forage Specialist

Late summer can be an excellent time to establish forage crops. The most critical factor to successful summer seeding is having adequate moisture and planting early enough to ensure good stand establishment before a killing freeze. It is very risky to place seeds into bone-dry soil and hope for rains to come. If moisture is available and seedings are made early (late July to mid August), seedlings emerge rapidly and become well established before winter. Successful summer seedings can provide yields the following year that are very near to the full yield potential of established stands.

Moisture is usually more limited in pasture renovation situations, because the existing vegetation utilizes a lot of soil moisture. Therefore, pasture renovation in late summer is most successful with complete sod kill. Sod should be killed several weeks prior to seeding. If you plan to maintain the existing sod and seed into it, then it is usually better to wait until the time of frost seeding or early spring planting, especially when adding legumes to existing grass pastures.

The following steps will improve the chances for successful stand establishment:

1. 1. Soil test and apply needed lime and fertilizer and control problem perennial weeds well ahead of seeding. A preplant incorporated herbicide is usually not required when using tillage to prepare seedbeds in late summer. Post-emergence herbicides can be used in the fall if winter annual weed problems develop. For pasture renovation, aggressive sod suppression is very important to allow successful seedling establishment.
2. Prepare a very firm seedbed if using tillage. A loose seedbed dries out quickly. Avoid deep tillage right before seeding, but complete it several weeks ahead of seeding so there is a greater chance for rainfall to settle the soil before final seedbed preparation. A cultipacker or cultimulcher is an excellent last-pass tillage tool. The soil should be firm enough for a footprint to sink no deeper than 3/8 to 0.5 inch.
3. Plant seed shallow and in firm contact with the soil. Drills with press wheels usually provide the greatest success in the summer. Broadcasting seed on the surface without good soil coverage and without firm packing is usually a recipe for failure in the summer.
4. No-till seeding (with a good no-till drill) is an excellent way to conserve moisture and is the best option when renovating pastures, provided weeds are controlled and existing vegetation is suppressed prior to seeding. No-till also saves time and fuel. When following small grains, remove all straw. Any remaining stubble should either be left standing, or clipped and removed. Do not leave clipped stubble on the field as it will form a dense mat that will prevent good emergence. When no-tilling into sod, make sure good seed-soil contact is achieved without planting too deeply. CAUTION: No-till or reduced-till summer seedings of legumes are at risk of infection by Sclertotinia crown and stem rot, especially in fields where clover or alfalfa were present recently. Planting from mid- to late-August will dramatically increase the risk of damage by this disease compared with planting earlier, so plant legumes as early as possible and do not no-till where clover was grown recently. This caution is especially applicable to no-till pasture renovations.
5. Use high quality seed of known varieties. Cheap seed often results in big disappointments and shorter stand life. Make sure legume seed is inoculated with the proper rhizobium inoculant. If the seed is already inoculated in the bag, make sure it was stored in a cool environment, otherwise you should re-inoculate the seed to ensure viable rhizobium. Some reports have shown positive results from coated seed, especially under less than favorable conditions, but other reports have shown no benefit to coated seed.
6. Seed when soil moisture is adequate for germination and early seedling growth, or a strong rain system is in the forecast. Do not seed into a very dry seedbed, as there may be just enough moisture to germinate the seed but not enough for seedling establishment.
7. Do not use a companion small grain crop, as it will compete for moisture. If seeding on erosion prone soils, consider no-till seedings.
8. Seed early. Seedlings require 6 to 8 weeks of growth after emergence to have adequate vigor to survive the winter. Seed no later than August 15 in northern Ohio and by September 1 in southern Ohio. Slow establishing species like birdsfoot trefoil or reed canarygrass should be planted in early August or late July. Fast establishing species like red clover, alfalfa, and orchardgrass can be seeded up to the dates listed above if moisture is present. Kentucky bluegrass and timothy can actually be seeded 10 to 15 days later than the dates listed above. Keep in mind that the above dates assume sufficient moisture to establish the crop. Dry soils conditions and much delayed emergence will in essence provide the same risks as late plantings.
9. Scout new summer seedings for insects and weeds that will compete with seedling establishment. Watch carefully for any insect damage on legumes soon after emergence.
10. Do not harvest new summer seedings this fall. The only exception to this rule is perennial ryegrass. If perennial ryegrass has tillered and has more than six inches of growth in late fall, clip it back to 3 to 4 inches before snowfall.
11. Scout new seedings for winter annual weeds in October to November, and apply herbicides as needed. Winter annual weeds are much easier to control in late fall than in the spring.
12. Summer-seeded fields should be harvested a little later than established stands next spring. This will allow plants to become well established and build root reserves for strong regrowth.

All educational programs and activities conducted by Ohio State University Extension are available to all potential clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, sex, age, handicap or Vietnam-era veteran status. Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Admin. and Director, OSU Extension. TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868.

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Keith L. Smith, Director, Ohio State University Extension.

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