You know early
grazing didn’t work in our favor this year; however, those of you who were
lucky enough to get your small grain fields planted before the rain may have a
chance to have an excellent beginning and should be able to graze those fields
much earlier than usual. Of course we
don’t need it washed out and we need it to stay warm a little while
longer. If these things fall into place
early grazed forage should contain 28-32% crude protein. It is important to
remember, each ton of forage harvested by livestock will remove 90-100 pounds
of nitrogen. Small grain forage that stands a foot tall will easily yield one
ton per acre. That means if you only applied 60 to 80 pounds of nitrogen per
acre at planting, most if not all of your nitrogen will be harvested with the
first grazing.
Don’t forget
Armyworms in your small grain fields.
There is a good chance that you will have them, it is only a question of
when. Scout your fields daily because it
can get away from you in a hurry. Those
of you that have wheat up, you should be in good shape with the recent and
upcoming rain events. It is worth your
while to scout and spray for worms immediately.
We can also
usually expect to see nitrogen deficiency symptoms before the first of the
year. If you are able to graze early and remove the forage before then,
nitrogen top dressing in December will surely help produce more winter forage.
If you delay that nitrogen application until January or February, expect a
forage growth loss.
In many cases,
hay quality is below average, so a few pounds of nitrogen may allow your winter
forage to economically supplement the hay.
According to
Noble Foundation research, limit grazing your small grains may be the best bet
to extend that small grains grazing and provide the necessary protein. Grazing
steers as little as 15 minutes on small grains equals about 2.5 pounds of 20%
breeders cube. Using forage
supplementation in place of feed can save money if managed correctly. Producers should look at all winter feeding
options to determine the cheapest source of protein and energy to sustain
suitable body condition scores throughout the winter.
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