A Forage Primer

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A Forage Primer

• Rene Mabon

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Agenda

• The main forage species
• Blends
• Blend Management
• Establishment
• Corn Production
• Grazing, Silage, Grain
• Questions
• Forages very broad so interaction is always a key

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Forage Species

• Legumes
• Grasses

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Main Forage Species

• Alfalfa
• Brome Grasses
• Fescues
• Wheatgrasses
• Timothy
• Orchard Grass
• Other Grasses and Legumes

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Choosing Perennial Forages Species

• Area of Adaptation
• Special soil conditions
• Growth Habit
• Uses
• Yield Potential
• Forage Quality
• Persistence

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Choosing the right forage species ?

• What is it going to be used for?
• Are theyre any special issues to consider?
• Soil conditions
• Disease Insect Considerations
• Management plan
• Is the species being selected suitable for use
  and conditions?

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Legumes

• Alfalfa
• Sweet Clover
• Birds Foot Trefoil
• Red Clover
• Alsike Clover

• Cicer Milk Vetch
• Sainfoin
• Other Clovers

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Alfalfa

• Queen of the Forages
• Hay Pasture
• Pure stands and Mixtures
• High Quality
• High Yield
• Widely adapted
• Persistent

225,000 seeds per lbs 1lbs per acre 5 seeds per
sq ft
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Alfalfa Crown Structure Key

• Crown Buds
• Key for over-wintering
• Re-growth
• Impact of harvest Mgt
• Variety Selection
• Diseases

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Alfalfa Root Types
Tap Root
Branched Root
Sunken Crown
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Alfalfa Varieties

• Disease Resistance
• Multifoliate
• Traffic Tolerance
• Sunken Crowns
• Branched Roots
• MsSunstra Hybrids

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Sweet Clover

• Biennial Crop
• Drought Tolerant
• High Nitrogen Fixation
• Low Coumarin for Hay Production
• Volunteers Dormant Seed

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Birdsfoot Trefoil

• Non-Bloat Legume
• Branched Tap Root
• Poor Seedling Vigor
• Pasture
• Likes Moisture
• Reseeds

370,000 seeds per lbs 1lbs per acre 8 seeds per
sq ft
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Red Clover

• Tolerant of Acid Soils
• Short Lived
• Bloat
• Hay Pasture
• Easy Establishment

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Alsike Clover

• Tolerates Wet Low Areas
• Acid Soils
• Toxicity Potential in Horses

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Cicer Milkvetch

• Non-bloat
• Pasture Mixes
• Slow to establish (2-3 years)
• Moderate to long persistence
• Moderate tolerane to drought, salinity and
  alkalinity

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Other Legumes

• Sainfoin
• Non Bloat, Limited Regrowth
• White Clover
• Lawn Mixtures
• Pastures
• Kura Clover
• Slow to establish, Bloat

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Grasses

• Bunch
• Sod
• Short
• Tall

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Grasses

• Overwintering
• Regrowth
• Grazing Management

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Grasses

• Bromes
• Wheatgrasses
• Fescues, Orchardgrass Timothy
• Ryes
• Others
• Reed Canarygrass, Kentucky Bluegrass, Native
  Species

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Smooth Brome
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Brome Grass

• Smooth Brome
• Erect structure
• Great for haying
• Aggressively rhizomatous
• Great for soil stabilization
• Most drought tolerant of the bromes
• Some salinity tolerance
• Slow regrowth

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Smooth Bromegrass

• Aggressive Sod
• Persistent
• Hay Pasture

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Meadow Brome
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Meadow Brome

• Bunch type growth habit
• Low growing point
• Very good early season growth
• Great grazing species
• Rapid regrowth
• Not great for haying
• Poor tolerance to salinity and drought

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Meadow Bromegrass

• Less Competitive than Smooth Brome
• Fluffy Seed
• Varieties
• Moisture and Nutrients Important

88,000 seeds per lbs 1lbs per acre 2 seeds per
sq ft
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Hybrid Brome
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Hybrid Brome

• Smooth/Meadow
• Better Regrowth than smooth and Less than Meadow
• More Elongation than Meadow
• Less Competitive

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Timothy

• Bunch Grass
• Very Palatable
• Persistent
• Wet Soils
• Acid Soils

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Timothy

• Easy to Over graze
• Moisture
• Hay Pasture

1,100,000 seeds per lbs 1lbs per acre 26 seeds
per sq ft
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Wheatgrasses

• Crested
• Intermediate, Pubescent
• Slender
• Tall
• Western
• Northern

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Wheatgrass

• Tame species
• Intermediate
• Pubescent
• Crested
• Tall

• Native species
• Western
• Northern
• Slender
• Awned
• Streambank

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Crested Wheatgrass

• Bunch Grass
• Very Drought Tolerant
• Early Spring Growth
• Can become Wolfy
• Not as Palatable as Matures

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Wheatgrasses

• Crested Wheatgrass
• Very common
• Very long lived
• Drought tolerant
• Excellent early season growth
• Gets wolfy late in season impalatable
• Diploid type Fairway, Parkland
• Tetraploid type Goliath, Kirk

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Intermediate and Pubscent Wheatgrass

• Like Quackgrass
• Not as strong rhizomes
• Good with Alfalfa for Hay Blend

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Wheatgrass
Intermediate Wheatgrass
Pubescent Wheatgrass
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Wheatgrasses

• Intermediate Wheatgrass
• Good forage production
• Better suited to black soil zone
• Moderate grazing tolerance
• Pubescent Wheatgrass
• Good forage production
• Well suited to the dark brown soil zone

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Tall and Slender Wheatgrass

• Tall Wheatgrass
• Saline Tolerance
• Bunch
• Coarse
• Slender Wheatgrass
• Short Rhizomes
• Saline Tolerant
• Shorter lived

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Orchard grass

• Bunchgrass
• Pasture Hay
• Very Palatable
• Winter Survival
• Susc. Drought
• Moisture Nutrients
• Use in Mixtures

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Orchard Grass

• Incredible forage producer
• Very fast regrowth
• Requires adequate moisture and fertility
• Moderate to poor winter hardiness

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Fescues

• Tall Fescue
• Meadow Fescue
• Creeping Red Fescue

450,000 seeds per lbs 1lbs per acre 10seeds per
sq ft for CRF about ½ for Tall and Meadow
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Tall and Meadow Fescue

• Bunch Grasses
• Fair Winterhardiness
• Very Leaf
• Vigorous Seedlings
• Use in Blends
• Saline
• Tough Conditions

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Tall Fescue

• Tall Fescue
• Drought tolerant
• Flood tolerant
• Saline tolerant
• Newer varieties
• Very palatable
• Endophyte free
• Excellent late season feed quality
• Moderate winter hardiness

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Creeping Red Fescue

• Turf Grass
• Sod Forming
• Acid Soils
• Tolerates close grazing
• Important Seed Crop

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Fescues

• Creeping red fescue
• Sod forming
• Good early season grazing
• Required lots of moisture and fertility

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Ryegrasses

• Russian Wildrye
• Shallow roots, bunch grass, Dry
• Altai Wildrye
• Dahurian Wildrye
• Vigorous seedling, Short lived
• Perennial Ryegrass
• Annual Ryegrass

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Other Grasses

• Reed Canarygrass
• Flood Tolerance, Low Alkaloid
• Kentucky Bluegrass
• Native Grasses
• Specific Uses
• Seedlings
• Overgrazing

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Choosing the right forage species ?

• What is it going to be used for?
• Pure Stand vs Blend
• Are theyre any special issues to consider?
• Soil conditions
• Disease Insect Considerations
• Management plan
• Is the species being selected suitable for use
  and conditions?

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Blends

• Considerations
• Long term goals
• Soil capabilities
• Moisture holding capacity
• Fertility
• Use
• Pasture or hay
• When do you want to graze it

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Blends

• Considerations
• Species
• Palatability
• Suitability
• Competitiveness crested wheat grass, smooth
  brome
• Seed size
• Meadow brome 80,000 seeds per lb
• Timothy 1,230,000 seeds per lb

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Blends

• Examples
• Hay blend by weight
• 30 smooth brome
• 70 alfalfa

• By seed count approximately
• 20 smooth brome
• 80 alfalfa

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Blends

• Pasture blend by weight
• 5 creeping rooted alfalfa
• 50 meadow brome
• 15 tall fescue
• 15 pubescent wheatgrass
• 15 intermediate wheatgrass

• By Seed Count
• 9 alfalfa
• 36 meadow brome
• 30 tall fescue
• 13 pubescent wg
• 12 intermediate wg

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Blends

• Would this be a good pasture blend in the dark
  brown soil zone?
• 10 creeping alfalfa
• 50 meadow brome
• 20 timothy
• 20 orchard grass

• By seed count
• 4 alfalfa
• 10 meadow brome
• 56 timothy
• 30 orchard grass

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Blend Management

• What is the expected usefulness of a
• Alfalfa stand?
• Forage stand?

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Blend Management

• Many determining factors affect success
• Species selection
• Fertility
• Moisture
• Grazing practices

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Blend Management

• Species selection
• Competitiveness - smooth brome
• Longevity short lived species - orchard grass
• Suitability grazing tap rooted alfalfa
• Adaptation climactic zones native species,
  tall fescue

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Blend Management

• Fertility
• Marginal land
• Low productivity to start with
• Zero additional inputs
• Compounded by over grazing
• Good land
• Maximize carrying capacity/yield

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Blend Management

• Moisture management
• Overgrazing
• Less snow trap
• Increased run off
• Alfalfa stands
• Extreme user of water
• Deep root system
• Uses up lots of sub soil moisture

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Blend Management

• Grazing practices
• Over grazing
• Selection of less desirable species
• Death of beneficial species orchard grass ,
  alfalfa
• Grazing rotation
• Always grazing the same pasture first or last
• Species shift

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Blend Management

• In short
• The more we beat up our forage stands
• Quicker we will loose beneficial species
• Sooner we will see a drop in production
• Weeds and other non beneficial species will enter
  the stand
• Sooner we will need to replant our stand

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After the choices are made

• Establishment failure is the most likely trouble
  spot.
• All forage seedlings are relatively weak and poor
  competitors
• Weeds and Cover crops can be deadly.
• Target 40 productive stems per square ft

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Competition at establishment
No Cover Crop
Cover Crop
First year of production after establishment
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Stand Establishment Practices

• Seed size and seeding rate
• Seed bed preparation
• Seed Inoculation and Seed Treatment
• Seeding Depth
• Cover Crops
• Time of Seeding
• Fertility

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Managing the crop

• Harvest management for hay yield and quality
• Pasture management
• Overgrazing
• Rest periods
• Fertility
• Winter survival

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Corn

• Grazing (Extending Grazing Season)
• Silage
• Grain

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Can we extend the grazing season?

• Grazing Corn?

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Corn for Grazing

• Why?
• High energy
• High digestibility
• High digestibility per acre
• Increase carrying capacity
• Lower feed costs

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How much land is needed?

• If you have 200 cows and want to graze for 30
  days, the formula is
• 30 days x 200 cows
• 6000 cow grazing days, if you assume 200
  cow-days per acre you would require, 6000/200 or
  30 acres.

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Corn

• All is essentially result of grain target
• Grain
• Silage
• Grazing
• (More Flexibility)
• Agronomy is the same for growing the crop

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Corn Agronomy

• Hybrid selection
• Seeding time (Early? Warm Soil)(use Planter)
• Row Spacing (20-30)
• Seeding Depth (1.5-2.5)
• Plant population (26,000-32,000 Even)
• Fertility
• Weed Control
• Proper Harvest timing

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Grazing Tips

• Limit access to paddocks
• Manage the graze to use produced feed most
  efficiently

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Corn Grazing Tips

• Turn herd in paddock after freeze up
• Feed test, supply supplements as needed
• Corn is lower in calcium 2 or 3 to 1 ratio
  calcium to phosphorus mineral
• Add alfalfa hay on last day of each corn paddock

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Grazing Tips

• Use electric fence with a high quality energizer
  to divide paddocks.
• Clear alley ways through corn
• Rebar makes good posts, place posts before freeze
  up or use cordless drill
• Provide shelter where possible, bush or portable
  shelter
• Provide water or use snow

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Corn for Silage?
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50 Milk Line Stage
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Optimum moisture
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Silage Issues Here

• Efficient cost effective high energy feed
  production
• Choosing hybrids
• Freezing
• Overdry crop
• Chop Shorter
• Add Water

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BrettYoung Partner ELITE

• Canadian organization
• Concentrate all our resources
• on early corn maturity
• ( less than 3000 CHU)
• ELITE is the only seed corn brand for which all
  decisions are made for the early Canadian markets
  

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Elite is owned by La Coop

• Crop inputs
• Seeds
• Fertilizers (Ag.Retail, Distrib., Indust.)
• Crop Protection
• Hardware
• Petroleum distribution
• Feed
• Pork and poultry production and processing
• Grain

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ELITE hybrid development focuseson the Northern
market Less than 3000 CHU
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Whats behind the Elite seed brand ?
Seed corn production
Corn inbred line distributors
Brett Young Sales team
Biotech traits distributors
Farmers
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Elite corn hybrid development

• 5000 small plots
• Evaluation of 1500 hybrids
• On 4 sites
• Experimental strip plots sites
• 42 sites
• Grain and Silage
  
  
  
• Demonstration plots
• 240 sites
• Commercial

87
Elite puts a big emphasis on Field Trials!

• Field Scale
• You need to look at corn hybrids in different
  environments

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Hybrid Selection for Grain

• Yield
• Standability
• Dry down
• Plant health

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Elite corn

• Designation for corn silage
• Selected for
• Wider harvest window
• High energy level
• High digestibility level

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12 new corn hybrids for 2009
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What is needed here?

• Silage, Grazing, High Moisture Grain
• Conventional, RR, BT
• Lodging Resistance
• Height
• Right Maturity
• Yield
• Quality

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CHU Ratings

• Silage vs Grain CHU rating
• Difference between 50 milk line and 100
• About 150 (100-200 safe)
• East vs West
• Elite doesnt make any adjustments
• Conservative ratings on known hybrids

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Corn Hybrids BrettYoung

• Grain
• 30A27 RR
• 91B17 RR Dual
• 91B18 RR -RR BT
• 46T07 RR Dual
• 20T47 RR Dual
• 20T18 RR -RR BT
• 25T99 RR -VT3
• Silage and Grazing
• FUSION RR
• TUNDRA RR
• MURANO RR

Seed Treated Apron, Maxim, Dynasty and Poncho
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30A27 RR 2150 CHU
Earliest Grain Corn Available
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91B17 RR X2217 RR 2250 CHU

• RR
• Compared to 46T07 RR
• Mature earlier
• Tall plant
• Semi flint
• Faster drydown
• Competitor
• DKC26-78

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91B17RR91B18 RR RRBt
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91B18 RR X2218 RR 2300 CHU

• Compared to 46T06
• Mature earlier
• Tall plant
• Semi flint
• Faster drydown
• Competitor
• DKC26-79

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46T07 RR 2300 CHU
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20T47 RR
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20T47 RR X2047 RR 2350 CHU

• RR
• Competitive yield for his maturity
• Dent corn
• Strong stalk
• Fast drydown
• Tall Plant

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FUSION RRTUNDRA RR
Grazing Silage
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20T18 RR RRBT