Late Summer and Fall Pasture

Now is the time! Plan now for late summer and fall pasture, and take action to make it happen. Planning and action now will pay big dividends later in the season.

The options: warm season annual grasses, cereals, and brassicas. Each of these has their advantages and weaknesses, and will fit into different situations.

Warm season annual grasses include pearl millet, foxtail millet, sorghum-sudan grass and corn. These species grow well in warm conditions, and need warm soils for germination. The millets can be grazed or harvested as hay/haylage. The recommended seeding rate for pearl millet is 8 - 18 lbs/acre. Seed into a fine firm seedbed. Apply 70% of your corn fertility rate. Split the nitrogen half at planting, and half after first cut/grazing. The millets are ready for grazing 6-7 weeks after planting, and several weeks later for hay.

Sorghum-sudan grass is another alternative for late summer forage. Seed sorghum-sudan grass at 14 to 18 lbs/acre. Fertility requirements are similar to corn. Seed into a fine seedbed in 7" or 14" rows.

Do not graze or harvest until 24" tall, due to risk of nitrate poisoning. Where sorghum will be grazed, use strip grazing to reduce wastage and allow for regrowth. Sorghum-sudan grass works very well in a green chop situation.

Late seeded spring cereals make good late season forage. Oats or barley work well. Seed in late July or early August for forage in about 6-8 weeks time. Cereals are easy to establish and can be utilized following cereal grain harvest. A seeding rate of 100 lbs. per acre broadcast in early August and cultivated in provides mid September forage at a low cost. Addition of a small amount of nitrogen (30 lbs/ac) will help stimulate growth.

Forage brassicas include forage turnips, forage rape and kale. These crops provide good pasture for the September to early December period. They need to be seeded into a fine seedbed in early to mid summer, and produce most of their growth once the heat of summer starts to subside. Seeding rate varies by species from a low of 2 lbs/acre for rape and turnips to 4 lbs/acre for kale. Be absolutely sure to provide mineral to livestock grazing brassicas, to prevent nutritional problems.

If the need for extra forage in the early fall exists, then plan in June. Use the appropriate seeding dates during June to early August to provide late summer and fall pasture. For more information on the above options, refer to these OMAFRA online factsheets - Forage Pearl Millet, Forage Sorghum-Sudan Grass, and Cereals and Cereal-Pea Mixtures.

Related Links

• Forage Pearl Millet, OMAFRA Factsheet Order No. 98-045
• Forage Sorghum-Sudan Grass, OMAFRA Factsheet Order No. 98-043
• Cereals and Cereal-Pea Mixtures, OMAFRA Factsheet Order No. 98-041

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