Forages - Making the Most With What's Left!

Agdex#:	120
Publication Date:	1998
Order#:	98-047
Last Reviewed:	1998
History:
Written by:	Scott Banks - Soil and Crop Specialist/OMAFRA; Joan McKinlay - Soil and Crop Specialist/OMAFRA

Forage fields should be examined in the spring to assess just how they overwintered. Late fall cuttings, little snow cover, ice cover and fluctuating temperatures are all conditions that may have an effect on these fields but it is the weather in March and April which will determine the condition that the fields will be in by summer.

The best option is to use the existing stand if at all possible. These plants have a good root system and will grow the best. They can be thickened by frost seeding or overseeding legume seed. Another alternative to encourage forage fields to produce well, is to fertilize them. Phosphorus and potash applied during the summer will strengthen plants so that they will better overwinter. Nitrogen applied in the spring and after each cut will encourage grass growth. A minimum of 75 kg/ha is required to see a response. In both these options, you are using the existing stand and improving on its production. Even if all the legumes are gone from a field, yields of 4.5 tonnes/ha (4 tons/ac) can be harvested if timothy is fertilized with nitrogen in this manner.

Maximizing the production from your pasture fields will also take pressure from your stored feed supplies. Intensive grazing management using strip grazing or rotational grazing will increase the pasture harvested from 30% in a continuous system to 55% in a rotational system to 66% in a strip grazing system. What other industry could afford to waste so much of what it grows. This is what is already there. There are also many ways to increase the quality and quantity of what is grown.

If the forage field is dead, then you may want to bring it into your crop rotation and seed down another field ahead of schedule. If seeding down, you should select a field that has good weed control and one where you can make a good seedbed. Check the herbicide use history in the field before planting alfalfa. Herbicides can have replanting restrictions. If you breakup a hayfield and reseed it in the spring, you run the risk of autotoxicity from any existing alfalfa plants. This means that they won't let the new seed germinate. A rule of thumb is three weeks dead, before you try to re-establish alfalfa. It is also hard to make a good seedbed and to get adequate weed control in fields where alfalfa is recently killed and the field spring plowed.

Annual forages can be an option to produce dry matter tonnage. Each one has benefits and drawbacks. Comparisons of production costs should be made. Equipment needed to handle them is necessary as many cannot be harvested in a dry form. You should decide what animals you will be feeding this material to and determine if the feed quality will be adequate. Ration balancing will be especially critical if this is a new feed for you to use.

Cereal silage is gaining in popularity as an excellent method of establishing a perennial forage. It provides forage in the year of establishment and is removed early enough in the season to allow a good establishment of the forage. Problems of grain regrowth, swath damage, rutting of wet fields and poor fall growth are avoided using this method.

Corn silage and sorghum offer a means of producing more dry matter per acre. Corn silage offers the highest yields but you must have the equipment available for harvest and have enough feed for the summer as it will be harvested during the fall. Sorghum offers lower yields but can be harvested 2-3 times during the growing season. These are considerations during short forage supplies. All annual forages, except corn silage can be handled as baleage. They are very difficult to dry down any further.

The following chart compares the costs that are associated with each of the annual forage options. Each annual forage incurs the costs of tillage, fertilizing and seed on an annual basis. Note the cost advantages of producing a perennial forage. This emphasizes the need to get back to a perennial forage as soon as possible. Annual forages fill an immediate need but are a more expensive means of producing dry matter.

Table 1. Annual Forages - Cost Comparison - April 1998.

* Establishment costs divided over four years plus annual fertilizer costs
+ $28.00 establishment cost/4 years + 27.00 annual fertilizer cost includes application.
++ Harvesting costs not included.
** Costs and yields will vary with time and location. These are for discussion only.