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July 2009
A
bi-monthly news publication of The Ohio State University Extension, Editors:
Clif Little and Mark Sulc
Contents:
Dear Friends, We hope your summer is going well. Enclosed please find program dates and articles we hope you will find useful. Your friends, Clif Little, Mark Sulc, [top] Ohio General Assembly's Proposal on Livestock Care Standards Board - Peggy Hall, Director, Agricultural & Resource Law Program, The Ohio State University Both the Ohio House of Representatives and the Ohio Senate passed resolutions this week to place the ballot issue on livestock care before Ohio voters in November. The resolutions propose amending the Ohio Constitution to create the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board. The Board would have authority to establish standards governing the care and well-being of livestock and poultry in Ohio. The two resolutions vary slightly. The Senate version includes language aimed at thwarting future attempts to change the law, by granting the Board “exclusive” authority for livestock care standards and stating that no other constitutional provision shall “impair” the powers granted to the Board. Here’s a quick summary of the Ohio Senate version of the proposed constitutional amendment:
The General Assembly is expected to resolve the differences in the two resolutions the first week in July. Upon agreement of the final language, the resolution will go to Ohio voters on the November 3, 2009 ballot. View the House resolution here and the Senate resolution here. Ballotpedia is a website useful for tracking ballot proposals, including background information, newspaper articles, fiscal studies, and statements by proponents and opponents. A page on Ballotpedia for the Ohio proposal is here. [top]Oats, planted late, continue to be our most dependable forage?!?!-Curt Stivison, Fairfield SWCD Engineering Technician & Stan Smith, Program Assistant, OSU Extension Fairfield County Most know that for the past seven years, we’ve spent much time in Fairfield County investigating the virtues of oats as an annual forage when they are planted during mid to late summer, or even into early fall. While we’ve harvested from 2 to 5 tons, and consistently realized average yields of 3+ tons of dry matter from oats planted in July and August after a harvested wheat crop, it’s also apparent that yield and quality can vary greatly as planting date, nitrogen fertilization, and perhaps even oat varieties differ from each field planted. For those looking to grow a cost-effective alternative forage crop yet this summer, and who have wheat stubble available, we offer these observations and recommendations based on experiences since 2002:
An additional advantage observed when using oats for an annual forage crop is the opportunity to capture the total tonnage produced with a single harvest cutting if grazing is not an option. It’s also important to note that the 3+ ton yields resulting from oats planted in early August after wheat and straw harvest, which have been experienced consistently in Fairfield County, exceed the average yields of the perennial hay crops produced in Fairfield County and also Ohio, on average, over the same time period. If you've yet to attend any of our field days to see for yourself the results of summer seeded oats, this web link has photos and data of several of the past years' efforts at the alternatives described above: http://beef.osu.edu/beef/graze/wntrgraz.htm. [top]The Grazing Contingency Plan-Clif Little, Extension Educator, Guernsey County When grass is green and abundant, our world as it relates to pasture management is serene. Perfect all of the time, wouldn’t it be nice if life could always be that way? Unfortunately, we will experience drought, excessive mud, severe winters, excessive forage growth, summer slumps, livestock sickness and livestock death. The truly successful grazers have a contingency plan for all of these periods. Let us look at each of these periods and discuss some management options. Farms will have different management options based on resources and not all options are appropriate for every grazer. Drought Contingency Plan: Each summer brings slowed forage growth. Temperature, rainfall, grazing management and forage species all influence the extent of forage growth during the summer. One should strive to maintain proper grazing heights throughout the season, especially during dry periods. The Natural Resource Conservation Service recommends the following minimum grazing heights for forage & legumes. ![]() Source: NRCS Grazing Management Plan The following notes accompany the chart above:
Grazing height is of utmost importance in terms of reducing plant stress, maintaining forage species diversity/productivity and maximizing livestock dry matter consumption. Another option to reduce forage needs during a drought is to cull unproductive animals. Reducing the livestock inventory prior to forage shortages helps to extend pasture mass and reduce forage and feed requirements. Some grazers utilize warm season perennials or summer annuals as a means to provide forage during dry periods. There are many options to choose from here and one must consider which livestock species will be grazed, cost and whether the forage is to be hayed or utilized for silage. Feeding hay and supplementing with feed concentrates can stretch pasture reserves. Feeding hay in a sacrifice paddock or on a heavy-use pad will allow for an extended pasture recovery period while preserving forage mass. When supplementing forage with grain concentrates, remember grain can increase total dry matter consumption and digestibility of poor quality forage. Carefully consider energy source fiber content and forage quality when selecting concentrates and supplementation strategy. Mud Contingency Plan: When livestock remain on pasture after excessive rainfall, severe damage can occur. To minimize damage, rotate livestock daily and remove animals to a sacrifice area or heavy-use pad as a last resort. Winter Contingency Plan: Once all freestanding forage is gone, one must have a plan and an area to feed livestock. The winter-feeding area should have a freeze-proof water source, which is well drained, is away from environmentally sensitive areas, and provides protection from inclement weather. Heavy-use pads make excellent winter-feeding areas. Excessive Forage Growth Contingency Plan: Excessive spring forage growth can be managed by moving livestock quickly through paddocks topping pasture growth and harvesting excess forage as hay or silage. Another option is to add livestock to the grazing system. New Arrival Contingency Plan: Sick and newly purchased livestock should not be immediately introduced to breeding animals. It may be wise to have a pasture or location dedicated to the care and monitoring of new arrivals and the sick. Ideally, this area would be isolated with no direct contact to other farm animals. It may be necessary to isolate animals for 30-90 days depending on your veterinarians’ recommendations. Mortality Contingency Plan: To reduce the potential spread of disease, all livestock producers need an approved plan to deal with normal mortality losses. The three most common means of dealing with livestock mortality are composting, burial and licensed renderer. Grazers utilizing composting must have attended an OSU Extension composting certification program. Master grazers make difficult times seem manageable by following a plan. The plan is a system that addresses all of the variables that can and will occur when raising livestock. To start your plan, contact Clif Little at the Guernsey County Extension office at 744-489-5300 or a member of the Forage Team. How does your pasture score? Knowing what is needed next, depends on knowing what you have now and why. That is why an evaluation of a pasture is a valuable tool. Dennis Cosgrove, Dan Undersander and James Cropper have developed such a tool known as the, “Guide to Pasture Condition Scoring.” The scorecard can help grazers identify and prioritized management practices that may improve pasture productivity. A well-managed pasture is both productive and sustainable. Scoring a pasture at the start of the grazing season, at peak forage growth, during forage shortages, during periods of forage stress and at the end of the grazing season can be useful for determining corrective actions. Pasture scoring uses ten visual evaluation indicators and each is ranked numerically from poor to excellent. The indicators can then be combined into an overall score. Indicators receiving the lowest scores are flagged for corrective management. Pasture condition varies throughout the year in response to management and climate. Scoring pastures yearly and during the same periods each year can help in identifying trends. Prioritize the lowest scoring indicators and decide whether to correct the causes for the rating. A description of pasture condition scoring is available at ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/GLTI/technical/publications/pasture-score-guide.pdf . The score sheet is available at ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/WI/grazing/pasture-score-sheet.pdf. [top]No Matter How You Slice It, It’s P to K, 1 to 4, 13 to 50!-Stan Smith, Fairfield County Program Assistant, OSU Extension Through the series of drought, escalating price, managing dynamic change, and every other type of ‘stress’ meeting we’ve hosted in Ohio the past three years, it’s apparent that the message regarding fertility is getting out there. While not a new story, simply put, fertilizer is expensive yet we all know you can’t starve a profit into a cow, and likewise, you can’t starve production or profit into a forage field either. The past year I’ve seen significantly more interest in soil testing, as well as receiving questions about interpreting soil tests and developing efficient fertilizer recommendations. It’s also apparent some of those who make fertilizer recommendations have not attended our meetings, or do not subscribe the concepts contained in the Tri-State Fertilizer Recommendations, OSU Extension bulletin E-2567 found on the web at http://ohioline.osu.edu/e2567/index.html Hence, let’s review:
To put that into a little different perspective, consider that the average hay yield in Ohio is and has been for decades about 3 tons per acre per year. At a ratio of 1 to 4 that’s 13 and 50 pounds P and K respectively multiplied times 3, or 39 pounds of P2O5 and 150 pounds of K2O per acre. As an FYI, since corn grain only removes about 0.27 pounds of K2O per bushel harvested, it would take a yield of over 555 bushels of corn to remove the same amount of potash that an average annual Ohio hay yield removes! To recap . . . you can’t starve a profit into a crop or critter, and one ton of hay removes P and K in a ratio of 1 to 4, or 13 pounds P2O5 to 50 pounds of K2O. To maintain current fertility levels in your soils, it must be replaced with either fertilizer, manure nutrients, or some other form of fertility . . . 1 to 4, 13 and 50 pounds, per ton of hay removed!
OSU Extension embraces human diversity and is committed to ensuring that all educational programs conducted by Ohio State University Extension are available to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, age, gender identity or expression, disability, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, or veteran status.
Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Agricultural Administration and Director, OSU Extension
TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868
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