A quarterly news publication of The Ohio State University Extension, Editors: Clif Little and Mark Sulc
This newsletter is made possible with support from the Bob & Jewell Evans Foundation
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Contents:

• Forage Performance Data Available
• Great Lakes Grazing Network Financial Summary
• Using Corn for Livestock Grazing
• Is There Any Hope for Tall Fescue in Ohio?
  

[top] Forage Performance Data Available - Mark Sulc, OSU Forage Specialist

The 2001 Ohio Forage Performance Trial Report is available at extension offices and on the Internet. In fact, there are several excellent websites where you can find performance data for forage varieties. While most trials are conducted under hay cutting management, a few states do have a few tests under grazing.

The best place to start looking for information is at our own Ohio Forage Performance Trial website, at http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~perf/. Click on the forage report for 2001 to see our Ohio data for alfalfa, red clover, and cool-season grass variety trials. Also at the table of contents page of the 2001 Ohio Forage Report, near the bottom of the page, you can find links to performance trial data from other states across the country (http://www.naaic.org/Resources/yields.html).

Another link shown on the Ohio Forage 2001 site, is an excellent website at http://www1.uwex.edu /ces/ag/alfalfa/. This site was developed by the University of Wisconsin to compare alfalfa variety performance in university trials across 10 states and Ontario. On this website, you can specify your own criteria for performance comparisons and summaries, including: what year(s), what state(s), and which two varieties you want to compare. Based on your selected criteria, a summary will be generated for each variety compared to the trial average (by age of stand). If the two varieties you selected were tested side-by-side in the same trial(s), it will generate a summary of those head-to-head comparisons across the years and states you specified in your criteria selection. Data through 2000 has been loaded into that database. The 2001 data should be loaded into the database in the near future.

[top] Great Lakes Grazing Network Financial Summary - Clif Little, Extension Agent, Ag/NR

Recently Tom Noyes and I collected farm financial records from dairy grazers in Ohio. Ten other states and one province in Canada also collected data from grazing dairies. Records were sent to Tom Kriegl at the University of Wisconsin Center for Dairy Profitability for comparison. The following information was compiled by Tom Kriegl for presentation at the Great Lakes Grazing Conference this February.

Results indicated grazers in the Great Lakes Grazing Network averaged a higher net farm income per cow and higher net farm income from operations per hundredweight equivalent of milk sold when compared to the average 605 Wisconsin confinement dairy farms.

Table 1 compares the top third with the bottom third of grazers using per hundredweight equivalent of milk sold (CST eq). Thirty-nine grazers are divided into top and bottom thirds using CWT eq. The 13 grazers with the lowest basic cost are in the top group while those with the highest basic cost are in the bottom group.

Other interesting points:

• Grazers' net farm income per farm was higher even though the average conventional dairy had 108.8 cows, compared to 69 for the average grazer.
  
• Grazers experienced increased profitability despite substantially lower production (16,153 vs. 20,546 lbs.)
  
• Grazers' cost per cwt. milk equivalent sold was lower than confinement by $1.10.

Grazers in this case are economically competitive. Grazing dairies in this study did have a lower income per farm and per cow; however, this was offset by lower expenses. Net farm income for grazing dairies was greater than for the confinement operations in this study. For more information about this study attend the Great Lakes Grazing Conference Feb. 11.

[Top] Using Corn for Livestock Grazing - Jim Hoorman, Ext. Agent, Water Quality, Hardin County Clif Little, Ext. Agent, Ag/NR Jeff McCutcheon, Ext. Agent, Ag/NR

Typically corn is grown and harvested by livestock producers for either grain or silage. As livestock producers try to reduce their cost of production many look at ways to reduce their feed cost. Feed cost has been identified as the biggest single cost of producing an animal making up 50-70 % of the cost of production. To reduce feed cost, producers are exploring options to extend the grazing season. The grazing of standing corn can be a viable alternative forage in some operations. Corn provides several options to livestock producers. As an annual it is extremely flexible as to when it can be grazed. It has been successfully used during the summer, fall and even winter. Using livestock to graze corn reduces the need for investment in harvest and feeding equipment. With the potential to produce more than ten tons of dry forage per acre, few annual crops can compare to corn in terms of dry matter (DM) yield per acre and cost per rate of gain.

Any hybrid of corn can be grazed. Although if the field is only intended for grazing, then the selection should be narrowed to hybrids bred for silage or grazing. There have been several corn varieties bred for high forage yields, high digestibility, low fiber levels and high stover digestibility. Hybrid selection should start with identifying a group of hybrids that are adapted to the area in terms of maturity, disease and insect resistance and drought tolerance and tonnage.

Corn intended for grazing can be planted the same as if it was intended for grain or silage. Most corn in Ohio is planted early May to early June. Early planting will produce more dry matter per acre than later planted corn. See the Ohio Agronomy Guide, Bulletin 472 and Corn Silage Production, Management and Feeding, North Central Regional Publication 574 for more information on producing corn.

When planting no-till or into a sod field, a planter box seed treatment should be used to control wire worms, seed corn maggots, and other corn insects. Care should be given to the type and amounts of herbicide used when planting grazing corn. Since this corn is to be grazed, post emergent herbicides probably are unnecessary. Early season weed control can be achieved with pre-emergence or pre-plant incorporations of herbicides. Late season weed control may not be an issue since this can be accomplished by the grazing animal. The current edition of the Weed Control Guide for Ohio Field Crops, Bulletin 789, contains a listing of grazing restrictions for different corn herbicides. Check current labels for grazing, harvest and replanting restrictions prior to herbicide use.

Grazing corn can be utilized by many categories of livestock. Stocker cattle, beef heifers and cows have excellent weight gains grazing corn. Dairy farmers have utilized grazing corn to feed dairy cows and dairy heifers for breeding. Sheep, goats, and swine have all been used to graze corn successfully. From the animals nutritional standpoint, grazing immature corn is similar to grazing other summer annuals. The big difference comes when the plant reaches maturity. As the corn matures and dries, the loss in the feed value of the forage, leaves and stalk, is compensated by the gain in value from the grain produced. The main decision for the grazer is deciding when additional forage is needed in their systems.

Corn, being a warm season annual grass, can be planted as it would be for grain or delayed planting as producers would for corn silage. Consequently, harvest by grazing may take place from 30 to 100 or more days following planting. Traditionally, producers have planted grazing corn as they would for corn silage, planting corn in late May or early June and grazing it 70 to 90 days following planting. This late summer and early fall grazing allows them to rest and stockpile their perennial pastures for late fall/early winter grazing.

Most of our pasture grasses are cool season grasses that go dormant during the hot summer months of late June, July, August and early September. Corn can be grazed for that mid-summer slump that occurs when the temperatures are hot and/or the moisture is short. If forages are short during a dry period in early June, some producers have had success grazing sheep on corn when the plants are 18 inches tall. They rotated the animals quickly as to protect the growing point (3-4 inches above the ground).

Corn may also be grazed in late summer or extremely late in the season, even after it is fully mature, providing needed energy and shelter during the winter months. Typically, the corn plant loses some leaves and stalks begin to break down as the winter progresses. This causes a loss in highly digestible plant matter and protein. However, the remaining stalks, leaves, and grain are still excellent supplemental feed for over wintering beef cows, stockers, and growing animals. Depending on the type of livestock used, producers may need to supplement to compensate for lower protein levels. In an upcoming issue, we'll discuss how to actually graze the corn.

[Top] Is There Any Hope for Tall Fescue in Ohio? - Dr. David Barker, Dr. Mark Sulc, Clif Little, Chris Penrose, Dave Samples, Traci Bultemeier & John McCormick

Tall fescue pastures in Ohio are highly infected with toxic endophyte that can reduce animal performance. Currently, farmers' options are: 1) tolerate it, and use other species to dilute its effects or avoid grazing it during critical periods, or 2) replant with endophyte-free fescue. These are not good options, since pastures will become re-invaded by wild-fescue in 2-5 years. A new option became available in 2001, and that was novel-endophyte tall fescue. Novel endophyte has the same benefits of the toxic endophyte (drought tolerance, insect resistance, greater production) but it is not toxic to livestock.

We planted novel endophyte at three OARDC locations in Ohio (South Charleston, Belle Valley and Jackson), following either 40 years of cropping without tall fescue, 2 years of cropping since previous fescue or 1 year of cropping since fescue. Our aim was to compare the performance of the novel endophyte against the same tall fescue variety with no endophyte. Also we aimed to test whether novel-endophyte infected (MaxQ) fescue is more resistant to re-invasion by K31-type tall fescue and it's associated wild-type endophyte (wild-E), than endophyte-free (E-) tall fescue swards.

The most significant result by fall 2001 was the differences in re-invasion of the plots by wild-E tall fescue. MaxQ, wild-E and E- fescue look identical, so we used an antibody test to differentiate them.

1) At the site with 40 years of previous cropping before fescue was planted, there was no re-invasion by wild fescue and it's associated toxic endophyte. After 2 years of corn, the re-invasion by wild fescue averaged 2.3%. After 1 year of turnips, the re-invasion by wild fescue average 7.3%. We will monitor increases in wild-endophyte in the pastures over the next few years.

2) At the worst site, the amount of wild fescue in MaxQ was only 2.2%, but in endophyte-free tall fescue it was 12.4%. So through the first six months, the novel endophyte (non-toxic) tall fescue has competed more effectively and has reduced the rate of re-invasion by the wild (toxic) tall fescue.

Conclusion: Novel endophytes seem to give hope for tall fescue use in Ohio. Renovated stands with novel endophytes seem to be more competitive against wild-endophyte than endophyte-free fescue stands, and retain the benefits of wild endophytes and are not toxic to livestock. We will continue monitoring these pasture studies in 2002.

Pennington Seed Company and OARDC funded this project.

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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