grazing cover crops

Dec 28 2012

Kura Clover – The Perennial Cover Crop

Kura Clover is an interesting option for cover cropping no-till corn producers. Why? Because Kura Clover forms a “living mulch.”

I have been working with Dr. Ken Albrecht from the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Kura Clover since the summer of 2000. During that summer as I traveled through eastern Iowa and NW Illinois I envisioned that before 2005 all of that region would have Kura Clover on it!

That never happened. But I am still very excited about Kura Clover as a feed source and cover crop.

What’s so great about Kura clover?

Kura clover:

Produces high yields with little additional nitrogen
Fixes gobs of nitrogen
Forms a “living mulch”
Survives forever – stands last 30+ years
Makes livestock producers/row crop farmers smile
Provides diverse options in the field
Saves cover croppers money – a one time investment in seed
Controls erosion
Is easy to work with in corn production

Why hasn’t Kura clover taken over the cover crop/forage world?

It establishes slowly.
It requires livestock (cattle or sheep) to be a part of the program for optimal benefit.
You cannot plant corn into Kura Clover every year.
You cannot plant soybeans into Kura Clover.
It must be inoculated with a special inoculant for it to establish/thrive.
It costs a lot in establishment year.
There are few producers of Kura clover seed – the biggest is CISCO Seeds.

This Kura Clover was ready to be sprayed with the second application of glyphosate to burn it back so the corn could take off. This plot yielded over 185 bu/ac the year this photo was taken.

Corn growing in Kura Clover in Arlington, Wisconsin.

Note that this photo (taken in October 2002) shows large ears and a beautiful crop of Kura Clover growing under the canopy. — This photo (taken in October 2002) shows large ears and a beautiful crop of Kura Clover growing under the canopy.

Oct 29 2012

Four Cover Crop Field Days in NW Indiana and Down-State Illinois

Root pit at field day — The plots in Indiana and at TNT farms will have soil pits to look at the roots and to see how the soil is benefitting from the cover crops.

I know that there are lots of cover crop field days that I do not list on this site.

However, I usually try to get cover crop field days listed on the Midwest Cover Crops Council website when I hear about them. However, I have four field days that I believe will be attractive to all of my Midwestern cover crop friends.

The first “event” listed below is actually 2 events on back to back days held in neighboring counties.

Jasper/Newton County Cover Crop Field Days – 2 days of cover crop tours put on by Newton and Jasper Counties in Indiana (NW IN). Dan Perkins and Rose Morgan are two of the top SWCD people for putting on field days in Indiana and there will be lots to see.

TNT Farm – Terry Taylor (TNT Farm) is an avid cover cropper and an excellent farmer in down-state Illinois. Terry is hosting a field day on his farm on November 7, 2012 that promises to be an excellent opportunity to learn about using cover crops on heavier soils.

Dudley Smith Farm Beef Cow-Calf Field Day – I will be speaking on The Role of Cover Crops in a Grazing Program in Pana, IL on November 8, 2012. I will be working that day with the “best of the best,” Ed Ballard, who introduced me to cover crops and extending the grazing season while using cover crops. I have spoken in years past at this event and U of I always puts on a great meeting that is very valuable to beef cattle producers.

As harvest winds down it is time to plan for 2013. Please consider attending one of these four meetings to learn more about how cover crops can impact your farming operation.

Dan Perkins with a large Radish — At the 2011 Cover Crop Field Days in Jasper and Newton County, Indiana, Dan Perkins found a BIG surprise of a radish. It will be interesting to see what is found in the field days this year.

Oct 10 2012

Applying Cover Crops with a High-Boy

Over the past few years farmers and ground applicators have been looking for new and innovative ways to apply cover crops. One of the more successful ways has been with a high-boy or Hagie sprayer/spreader. My friend Craig Simon from NE Indiana had a mixture of Oats and Rye and Turnips applied this way by Andy Ambriole in August 2012.

Craig intends to graze his cover crops as he has done for the past 3 years. Each year Craig has had his best corn and soybeans in the areas where he had cover crops the previous year.

Although not as fast as aerial applying cover crops; a high-boy type spreader does a fabulous job. Here is Andy Ambriole from near Ft. Wayne, IN applying Craig Simon's cover crop grazing mix of Oats, Winter Cereal Rye, and Appin Turnips in late August 2012. — Although not as fast as aerial applying cover crops; a high-boy type spreader does a fabulous job. Here is Andy Ambriole from near Ft. Wayne, IN applying Craig Simon’s cover crop grazing mix of Oats, Winter Cereal Rye, and Appin Turnips in late August 2012.

Craig Simons Grazing Mix — 12″ tall Appin turnips and oats along with corn stalks will provide excellent feed for the rest of the fall and winter. The winter cereal rye is short now but will grow more over winter and next spring to provide additional grazing opportunities.

The advantages of using a high-boy type applicator:

More exact placement of seed than aerial application
Little if any risk of any drift into neighboring fields
Faster application than drilling
Earlier application than drilling
Cost effective compared to aerial application and drilling

Disadvantages of using a high-boy type applicator:

Less acres covered in a day compared to aerial application
Soil conditions must be right to avoid compaction
Does not incorporate the seed like a drill

While there are few “disadvantages” this practice should increase in popularity over the next few years as more and more acres are covered with cover crops.

Andy's unit — Andy’s unit on display at a cover crop workshop. He has done a very good job and an increasing number of acres each year.

Craig Simons Grazer Mix 2 — Craig Simon’s cover crop mixture that was applied with a high-boy type spreader into standing corn is outstanding! He has a nice even spread and very consistent growth.

Jul 26 2012

Cover Crops for Fall and Winter Grazing

Cover Crops for Grazing

Cattle in trough — Beef producers can ill-afford to not graze this year in the fall or winter. I'm not sure they ever can but this year hay is very expensive.

Drought ’12 is causing many cattle producers to consider cover crops for fall and winter grazing. Hay is very expensive and in short supply, and corn silage will be short in many areas. A lack of feed is leaving a number of dairy and beef producers looking to liquidate their herds.

Two years ago I wrote about grazing cover crops in the winter. It highlights the value of oats, cereal rye, and turnips in combination. There is also an attached video included with that article.

See this post for video from this past winter.

Several producers have seen beef cattle gain up to 3.5#/head/ day when grazing cover crops over the winter.

Gene Schriefer an Ag/Ag Business agent from Iowa County Wisconsin has seen great results with grazing cover crops. Gene reports:

I just completed my third season of grazing seed salad cover crops on my own farm and have been working with several of our local dairy and beef graziers about incorporating this into their rotation. Thus far the lowest RFQ has been 220. I’ve done summer mixed, cool season mixes and summer and cool season mixes together. While initial livestock experience has been skeptical, once they get a taste, cattle (and sheep) cannot get enough and refuse to eat orchardgrass/red clover.

Utilization with break wires appears to be 90% or more (I’ll need to do a pre/post grazing residual measure). In 2009, the first year I stockpiled an August seeding into December waiting for snowfall. An 11″ snow storm hit us early in December and I released the cattle. They bury their heads under a foot of snow digging out the crop. So far we’re pretty bullish on covers for grazing and looking at doing more. Uniformly everyone (myself included) find the ground to be very mellow the following spring for seeding…

I’ve been encouraging dairies to try cover crops for summer and early fall to aid in managing manure applications.

Here are some additional options that may work in different situations and for different animals too.

Fall Forage Fast – For Grazing

Cattle grazing BMR Sudangrass — Many producers report that their cattle produce more milk when grazing BMR sudangrass or BMR sorghum sudangrass.

BMR Sudangrass or BMR Sorghum Sudangrass

In many areas it is getting late to plant these species (as of July 25). However, with good fertility, good moisture, and warm temperatures I have seen yields as high as seven tons of Dry Matter of BMR Sudangrass in the Thumb of Michigan when planted after wheat.

However, that included high fertility and excellent growing conditions. If it remains dry you should not plant these because you will run out of time to get adequate production. There are better options for shorter growing periods.

Oats and Appin Turnips

If a producer does not want to have their cover crop overwinter then Oats and Turnips are a great choice for fall and winter grazing. Plant 2 bu/acre of oats and add 5#/acre of Appin Turnips.

As you can see in the photo it is best to strip graze this mix to get the best results and the most feed. This mixture needs nitrogen and I’d recommend that you apply 50#/acre of actual N at planting time. This can be planted after wheat or after corn silage harvest in most regions.

Cereal Rye + Oats + Appin Turnips

This mix is for the producer that wants fall and spring feed. I have worked with this mixture since the early 2000’s with Ed Ballard (U of IL Extension). We measured yields as high as 5 tons DM/acre in the fall and an additional 2 tons/acre in the spring at the Dudley-Smith Farm near Pana, IL (Central IL). It was planted after a wheat crop was harvested.

Plant 1 bu/acre Cereal Rye + 1 1/2 bu/acre of Oats and 5#/acre of Appin Turnips.

Oats and Turnips and Rye — The oats are nearly 30" tall and the turnips are around 18" in this October photo. The cereal rye was about 6" tall at this time. This mixture was planted in late August and the photo was taken Oct 22 - approximately 8 weeks after planting. My daughter Grace was the model.

Cattle grazing Cereal Rye in April 2012 — Cattle grazing cereal rye and corn stalks in April 2012 in Northwest Indiana.

Cereal Rye and Cover Crop Radish

Nick Saathoff from Northern Illinois had excellent success in the fall and winter of 2012 grazing. Nick planted 1 bu/acre of Cereal Rye and I believe 5 # cover crop radishes. Nick grazed the cows up to Christmas in northern Illinois and had more rye to graze in the spring. While radishes are not grazed quite as well as turnips they still work well in this grazing situation.

Nick Saathoff's Rye and Radishes Oct 2012 — Cattle "knee deep" in rye and radishes in Northern Illinois in October 2012.

Grazing Radish and Rye in Dec 2012 in N. IL — Cattle grazing rye and radishes in late December 2012 in Northern IL. The production from this field greatly reduced how much hay had to be fed to the cattle and increased Nick's profits.

Oats and Austrian Winter Peas (or Forage Peas)

While this is not my favorite mixture, it is one that provides good quality feed, produces nitrogen, and is a very good cover crop. Why is it not my favorite? Cattle do not generally graze peas as well as they do other high quality forages (especially turnips). If growing conditions are good (not too hot and with good moisture), this mixture can crank out the yield!

I’d prefer that this mix is harvested but hey – grazing can sure work well for this too! Inoculate the peas and plant this mixture 1-2 inches deep to achieve the best stand.

Oats and Crimson Clover or Oats and Cereal Rye and Crimson Clover

These mixtures both can provide excellent grazing opportunities. Cattle will graze the crimson clover better than peas and very possibly will survive the winter in many regions for spring grazing (with or without the cereal rye). These mixes work well planted 1/2″deep – or plant the cereal grains 1-2″ deep and seed the crimson clover 1/4 to 1/2″ deep. For best fall grazing opportunities plant these in late July through mid-August in the Upper Midwest and into early September in the Corn Belt. Be sure to plant pre-inoculated crimson clover or inoculate the seed before planting.

Italian (or Annual) Ryegrass and Appin Turnips or Pasja Hybrid Brassica

This mixture can provide very good grazing opportunities where good moisture, moderate temperatures, and high fertility are present. This will be the highest forage quality of all of the mixes listed in this article. However, if it remains exceptionally hot and dry, this mixture will not be as productive as those previously mentioned. This mixture works best when strip grazed or rotationally grazed.

Italian Ryegrass like Feast II or Annual Ryegrass can be very productive in high fertility situations. Add Pasja or Appin and the yield and quality are greatly improved.

Apr 15 2012

Cover Crop Root Pits Reveal Plenty

During the first week of April I was in several root pits in northwest Indiana and boy did we find plenty of interesting factoids! I was assisted by Eileen Kladivko from Purdue University on one day and Barry Fisher, Indiana NRCS State Agronomist, on another day.

What We Found in the Cover Crop Root Pits

Night Crawler in NW IN cover crop plot — We found several night crawlers and smaller worms as well in each pit we were in

Earthworms galore, especially where we had radishes and/or crimson clover. But the earthworms were plentiful in all cover crop species.
Earthworm channels 48″ deep in a field that had been long term no-till with one year of cover crop annual ryegrass/radish mix (planted after soybeans).
Roots from two different crops in the same root zone/earthworm channel (soybeans and cover crop roots) over 30″ deep.
Earthworm eggs where radishes had decayed.
Soybean nodules 26″ deep on roots that went 44″ deep (long term no-till field – 10 years).
Annual ryegrass roots that were not as deep following corn as they were following soybeans (less N available for them to grow as vigorously).
Canola or oilseed rape in fields where bin run oats had been planted instead of seed oats.
Continued evidence of compaction. One year of cover crops does not eliminate all compaction issues (though roots from cover crops did penetrate through the compaction).
Radish and radish roots that were 34″ deep last fall were found at 40″ deep this spring (though dead).
Living radishes. Several radishes survived the Indiana winter (very mild winter), especially where they were protected by crimson clover and annual ryegrass.
20 earthworm channels and 5 earthworms in an area 8″ by 8″ square at 6 inches deep (in a mixture of annual ryegrass, crimson clover, and cover crop radishes).
700 acres of oats and radishes looking very different in the spring than it did in the fall! (Click the links to see the different videos)

Miscellaneous Notes from the Cover Crop Root Pits

The farmer from our first cover crop root pit dig on April 4th reported that he saw less visible drought stress where they had long term no-till and cover crops, attributing the healthier plants to increased root depth.

We saw several fields of cereal rye after corn stalks being grazed by beef cattle.

Barry Fisher encouraged everyone to “expand your farm vertically.” In other words, don’t just keep buying/renting more land. Instead, put cover crop roots down deeper to create better land where you farm – and get more yield.

Be sure to control your annual ryegrass instead of waiting on the crimson clover to grow taller. Much of the ryegrass was 10-12″ tall with the crimson clover at 6-8″ tall.

Farmers are becoming more creative with cover crop applications and types, and they are finding success – not surprising!