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Cover Crops for Forage

Jul 28 2013

Cover Crop and Forage Meeting Aug 14, 2013

On August 14, 2013 the University of Wisconsin is holding an Agronomy Field Day at the Marshfield Ag Research Station.   The line-up of speakers looks outstanding and CEU credits are available for Certified Crop Advisers.

I will be speaking out at the cover crop plots looking at how we can use cover crops as forages and benefit the soil at the same time.

KY Forages April 2011 041
An Annual Ryegrass cover crop can make excellent dairy quality baleage/silage in the fall if planting after wheat. It also is a fabulous scavenger of N and P with deep roots.

For past blog posts on using cover crops for forages looks here and here.

Written by Dave Robison · Categorized: Cover Crop Benefits, Cover Crop Meetings, Cover Crop Plots, Cover Crops for Forage, Cover Crops in the Northland, Field Days · Tagged: cover crops, Cover Crops build soil, Cover Crops for feed, Cover Crops on Dairy Farms, University of Wisconsin

Oct 07 2012

Cover Crops in Wisconsin – Full Speed Ahead!

This cover crop field was ready for harvest in late September 2012.

I took a new management position in May of 2012 with Wisconsin based Legacy Seeds, Inc.

While my main responsibility lies in working with alfalfa and forages I also was pleased to find out that there were several folks in Wisconsin that were using cover crops!  Well, you would figure that I’d get involved more with cover crops in the Badger state, and I have.

Wisconsin Cover Crop Meetings

In February 2012 I conducted two cover crops meetings in the Fox Lake, WI area with over 75 producers present. The purpose of these meetings were to teach farmers about how cover crops can work in their farming operations.  I was very pleased with the outcome of those meetings as over 10,000 acres were planted on farms that were represented at those meetings.

In July I held three more cover crop meetings in Eau Claire, Waupaca, and Brillion, WI. All combined, there were over 150 farmers present and I’m confident that there were at least 30,000 acres of cover crops planted by those farmers.

While I don’t have figures of how many cover crops were planted in Wisconsin, I think there were as many as 250,000. Many of those acres were after wheat was harvested and a surprising number after corn and soybeans.

Cover Crops for Forage & Manure Management

Feed was one reason so many acres were planted. The severe drought has created a forage shortage.

But many farmers planted their cover crops because they want healthier soils and better production.  Still others planted because they want to hold onto the nutrients from their manure.  Whatever the reason, cover cropping is alive and well in Wisconsin – and growing.

You can click on the pictures below to see a larger image of each.

The Oats, Appin Turnip and Cowpea combination should make excellent haylage for the Wisconsin dairy market.
The nodules on the Austrian Winter Peas were multiple and large. This field will be planted to corn next year and it sure appears that a good amount of nitrogen will be in the soil and available for that corn crop.
This field of Austrian Winter Peas and Radish east of Green Bay, WI was planted after wheat in severe drought conditions. Thankfully some later rains came to get the mixture up and going.

Written by Dave Robison · Categorized: Cover Crop Benefits, Cover Crops for Forage, Cover Crops in the Northland, Nitrogen from Cover Crops · Tagged: cover crop meetings, cover crops, Cover Crops in Wisconsin, drought 2012, emergency feed from cover crops, Legacy Seeds, manure management with cover crops, producing nitrogen with cover crops, reducing compaction

Jul 17 2012

Harvesting Cover Crops for Emergency Fall Forage

Need Feed?

Many producers across the Midwest and beyond have very poor corn. Grain and Silage yields will be significantly lower than normal in 2012.

Harvesting cover crops for emergency fall forage may be able to play a major role in lessening the impact of the 2012 drought disaster for livestock producers.  As I traveled from Indiana to eastern Iowa and through Wisconsin I saw dry ponds, cracked soil, nearly dead alfalfa, completely brown pastures, and an exceptionally poor corn crop.

I have received phone call after phone call from dairy and beef producers asking what cover crops they can use to provide food for their animals this fall and winter.  Below I have listed a variety of choices that may work well for producers needing feed (if we get rain).  By the way, these choices are also excellent cover crops.

Fall Forage Fast- Mechanically Harvested

Sudangrass or Sorghum X Sudangrass

BMR Sudangrass is a great choice for fall feed - IF you can get your hands on some this year.

Both of these would be choice 1-A and 1-B. However the producers in Texas have been experiencing drought for the past few years and seed supply is exceptionally tight.  Choose BMR varieties if you can find them.

Spring Oats/Spring Triticale

This photo was taken south of East Lansing, MI in April 2010 and shows Oats in the center with Cereal Rye to the left and Spring Triticale to the right.

This is not a “sexy” choice but it is a very good option.  Oats sown in July and August will out-produce all of the winter cereal grains if a fall harvest is desired.  I have worked with Ed Ballard from the University of Illinois and Gary Wilson from Ohio State University Extension for a number of years on summer seeding Oats and found great success almost every year.

Stan Smith from OSU Extension is a real believer in summer seeding oats as seen in this excellent article.  Seed the Oats at 2 bu/acre and fertilize with 50+ Units of N or manure equivalent.  Spring Triticale will behave very similarly to Oats when summer seeded.

Oats and Crimson Clover

From this photo of crimson clover, you can see the potential forage value planted with oats (note the field in the background).

I really like this mix because it will be higher quality than plain oats.  Plant the oats in the grain box and the crimson clover in the small seed box.  Plant the oats at 2 bu/acre and the crimson clover at 5-8#/acre.

Nathan Anderson of Cherokee, Iowa (NW Iowa) planted this mixture in 2011 and had very good success. While taking one cutting for hay and grazing 2 times in the fall/winter, he showed a profit of nearly $140/acre in beef production (weight gain) and hay produced.

Make sure that the crimson clover is inoculated and do not plant the crimson clover more than 1/2″ deep.

Oats and Cereal Rye (or Winter Triticale)

Oats (left) and Rye (right) planted in August show the value of Oats as a fall forage in this photo taken in October 2011 in NE Indiana.


Harvest the oats in the fall and the cereal rye in the spring.  I’d look at 2 bu/acre oats and 1 -1/2 bu/acre on the cereal winter rye or triticale.  Consider adding 5-8# of Crimson clover to this mix as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oats (or Spring Triticale) and Peas (Forage or Austrian Winter Peas)

Austrian winter peas can produce A LOT of quality forage.

Plant a 50/50 mix of this combination for high quality fall forage.  Be sure to inoculate the peas.  Plant this mix 1 1/2 -2″ deep for best success.

 

 

Annual Ryegrass/Annual Ryegrass – Crimson Clover Mix or Italian Ryegrass

Annual ryegrass makes great fall and spring feed. It loves nitrogen, so apply plenty of manure. Add crimson clover to this, and WOW!

Annual Ryegrass or Italian Ryegrass will not produce the tonnage that the spring cereal grains will.  Ryegrass needs cooler temperatures, more moisture, and more fertility than the spring cereal grains need.  The main benefit is that you can get a very high quality forage…just not a lot of it unless you have the moisture, cooler temps, and higher fertility.  Maybe in the southern parts of the Midwest and further south this can be a good option.  Italian Ryegrass will not grow as aggressively in the fall as Annual Ryegrass will.

 

Spring or Winter Barley

Barley is a multipurpose cover crop that can be beneficial to hog, dairy, and beef producers.  It is a wonderful grain to use for feed and it is harvested for grain in June.  The haylage would be harvested in May with plenty of time to plant corn silage or Sudangrass.  Spring Barley planted in July/August will act like Oats and spring Triticale. Winter Barley will act more like cereal rye or winter Triticale.  Plant 2 bu/acre for grain production and 3 bu/acre for forage production.  Use less N than you would with Wheat or Ryegrass.

Spring or Winter Barley is also an option. Barley grain can be fed pretty similarly to corn and be harvested in June.

 

 

Written by Dave Robison · Categorized: Cover Crop Benefits, Cover Crops for Forage, Fall Grazing, Grazing Cover Crops · Tagged: cover crop radishes, cover crops, Cover Crops for Forage, Crimson Clover, Forage Peas, Oats, Pasja, Triticale, turnips, winter rye

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