The Rural Voice, 1998-05, Page 58Advice
Making the most with what's left
By Joan McKinlay
Soil and Crop Advisor
We will have to examine our foragc
fields in the spring to assess just how
they overwintered. Late fall cuttings,
little snow cover, ice cover and fluctu-
ating temperatures are all conditions
that may have had an effect on these
fields. They should still all be fine
now but the weather in the next two
months will de-termine the condition
that they will be in by summer. This
article is just to exam-ine the options,
not to predict a problem.
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 are
required to see a response. In both of
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
tons/ac can be harvested if timothy is
fertilized with nitrogen in this manner.
Maximizing the production from
your pasture fields, if present, will also
take pressure from your stored feed
supplies. Intensive grazing
management using strip grazing or
rotational grazing will increase the
pasture harvest from 30 per cent in a
continuous system to 55 per cent in a
rotational system to 66 per cent 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 field truly 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.
Products like Pursuit have
replanting restrictions. If you break up
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 these fields.
Annual forages can be an option to
produce dry matter tonnage. Each one
has benefits and drawbacks. Compari-
sons of production costs should be
made and an inventory of 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 critical if this is a
new feed for you to use.
Cereal silages are gaining in
popularity as an excellent method of
establishing a perennial forage. They
provide forage in the year of
establishment and are 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.0
Crop
Seed Cost
Fertilizer
Tillage
Planting
Herbicide
Total CosVAcre
D.M. Yield/ac
Cost/Tonne of D.M.
Land RenVtonne if $25 add
if $100 add
Considerations++
++
Corn Silage
$48.00
50.00
30.00
122.00
36.00
$176.00
5 tonnes
$35.20
$5.00
$20.00
Need
harvesting
equipment
Season
Harvested in fall
Consistent quality
Hay
$13.00'
34.00+
7.50
3.00
$57.50.
3.5 tonnes
$16.43'
$7.14
$28.60
Did it survive
the winter?
Produces
all summer
Barley Silage
$25.00
41.00
30.00
12.00
$108.00
2-3 tonnes
$36-$54
$8.33
$33.33
Chopped or baled
Harvested in July
Acts as a nurse crop
Yield affected
by maturity stage
Establishment costs divided over four years plus annual fertilizer costs
$28.00 establishment cosV4 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.
Triticale Silage
$42.00
41.00
30.00
12.00
$125.00
3 tonnes
$35.70-$62.50
$8.33
$33.33
Chopped or baled
Harvested in July
Acts as a nurse crop
Yield affected
by maturity stage
SorghumSudan
$15.00
41.00
30.00
12.00
$98.00
4 tonnes
$24.50
$6.25
$25.00
Need Harvesting
equipment
long season
2-3 Cuts per
season
Frost concern
54 THE RURAL VOICE