Cover Crops for Forage

Jul 05 2013

Prevented Planting Seeding Options

I recorded this video a few weeks ago for the seed company I work for. After receiving numerous calls and e-mails asking for help on what to plant, I decided to put this presentation together. Many of the options I mentioned as being viable to plant in mid-June can still be planted in July.

Please check with your seed supplier for availability of the different species. Until new crop is harvested there are several species that are in short supply.

Prevented Planting Seeding Options video.

It may take a few minutes to download the video.

Jul 05 2013

Cover Crops and Prevented Plant Information Guidance

In late June I was on a farm in west central Wisconsin with two farmers that had over 3,000 of their nearly 6,000 acres that were too wet to plant in 2013. This is an example of what I have seen and heard and read on personal farm calls, numerous phone calls, and multiple e-mails that farmers have asked for advice on “what to do.”

On my way home from that on-farm visit I called Ryan Stockwell from the National Wildlife Federation. NWF has been a great friend to agriculture and cover cropping. I wanted to see what Ryan was hearing about potential changes in RMA Crop Insurance rulings for the upper Midwest – so farmers might be able to harvest their cover crops (or alternative forages) from their prevented planting acres before November 1, 2013. What I heard from Ryan was not good news for the livestock producer that is desperately short of feed because of the drought of 2012 and severe alfalfa winterkill during the winter of 2012-13.

As I lamented to Ryan how I thought that there should be some “flexibility” in the crop insurance regulations, it hit me that farmers could possibly make more money harvesting forages and NOT taking their crop insurance payment. That is when we got Sarah Carlson (Practical Farmers of Iowa) and Tom Kaspar (USDA-ARS National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in Ames, Iowa) involved.

If you are considering what to do with prevented planting acres and you need forage, or you are considering whether to put a cover crop on your prevented planting acres, then this article is for you. Please read Cover crops and prevented plant information guidance.

My marking numbers on a notebook I began while driving down I-90/94 tuned into a full fledged article that was well beyond my expectations. Thanks to Ryan, Sarah, and Tom for making this a scientific article that more than solidified my idea and well exceeded my abilities. You guys are the best!

May 08 2013

Cover Crops and Crop Insurance – Spring Reminders

UPDATE FROM RMA–Haying and Grazing of a Cover Crop – FINAL – 5-8-13

Cover Crops and Crop Insurance on Collision Course again?

Cover Crops and Crop Insurance issues seem to be heading to a collision course again this spring in much of the Midwest. In the Corn Belt wet fields have prevented planting with less than 10% of the corn planted by May 5 across the major corn producing states. In the Upper Midwest and even into Oklahoma and Arkansas 2-19″ of snow fell the first week of May. Dairy farmers are desperate for forage and up to 75% of the alfalfa in Wisconsin and Minnesota winterkilled. Many of those dairy farmers planted cover crop Winter Cereal Rye with hopes of harvesting Ryelage this spring to get some emergency feed after the devastating drought of 2012.

The cold, wet spring of 2013 is causing problems

But the cold wet spring (coldest on record in USA since 1975) may have farmers in a pinch with RMA again despite the Special Provisions for cover crops to the common crop insurance policy for the 2013 cropping year. As of May 8, 2013 the Rye is only around 10″ tall in most of Wisconsin…certainly not ready for harvest by the May 10 RMA cut-off for harvesting and still attaining crop insurance. Even in Indiana the cover crops are ‘exploding” into head after an exceptionally slow start to spring. The fact that these fields are not full of winter annuals that are headed out like neighboring fields should be applauded…so should fields with cover crops be penalized? It appears that farmers in the Upper Midwest have to choose between feed and crop insurance. In much of the Corn Belt the fields are still plenty wet. It is interesting that in some states the fields full of weeds qualify for crop insurance…yet fields with cover crops that have seed heads (instead of weeds with seed heads) do not qualify for cover crops. Go figure.

Please check with your crop insurance agent to see what regulations apply to you.

This field of Winter Cereal rye grew tremendously in very late April and early May. Now it is headed out. Doed this field qualify for crop insurance? — This field of Winter Cereal rye grew tremendously in very late April and early May. Now it is headed out. Does this field qualify for crop insurance?

Should farmers be penalized in a wet and cold year for growing a cover crop instead of having a field of winter annual weeds? Common sense says that a cover crop is better for agriculture than weeds.

Jul 17 2012

Harvesting Cover Crops for Emergency Fall Forage

Need Feed?

Corn - Drought stricken 2012 — 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

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

Ingham County Cover Crop Plot — 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

Crimson Clover can make a great fall forage and cover crop — 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 and Rye — 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)

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 for grazing or harvesting — 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.