Are you hoping to overcome drought by planting a summer annual grass? What type of summer annual will you plant? This can be confusing because there are five different types of summer annual forage grasses you can plant: sudangrass…
Interpreting RFV of Grass Hay
Farmers and ranchers often tell me their prairie hay or cane hay or other grass hay looks really good but when a lab tested it the relative feed value, also called RFV, was surprisingly low. Protein was good, TDN was …
How Early Can Alfalfa Be Cut?
First cutting often is the most important cutting of the year. It usually produces the most yield and its forage quality changes fastest from day to day.
Typically, many growers plan to cut soon after first blooms appear. But as …
Controlling the Breeding and Calving Season
The first step in reproductive management is controlling the breeding and calving seasons. Whichever calving season (winter, spring, or fall) is chosen, the following reasons illustrate why a controlled, seasonal calving schedule is desirable.
1. The culling of cows and …
Reproductive Tract Injuries That Can Occur in Bulls
In order to be a successful breeder, a bull must produce adequate amounts of fertile semen and must be able to deliver that semen to the reproductive tracts of cows. There are a number of injuries a bull can sustain …
Creeping Alfalfas-The Real Story
There have been several alfalfa varieties that have been developed that have claimed that they could spread, run, or creep to thicken stands. These alfalfa plants grew underground and used rhizomes to form like bluegrass sod instead or growing in …
Grazing of Oat Pastures
Oat pastures have increase in popularity in recent years as one way to reduce problems from drought. Oat pastures can be long lasting and productive, but also disappointing at times. While we don’t know all we need to know, here …
Ragweed in Pastures
For the past couple of years, ragweed growth has exploded in pastures. This has happened because of the timely spring rains that encouraged germination and seedling growth followed by sunny dry falls that helped seed development.
There are two types …
Last Minute Tips for Planting Alfalfa in August
Alfalfa planted in August establishes well when moisture is available. Be sure to plant early enough so alfalfa has 6 to 8 weeks between emergence and freeze back to develop good cold tolerance. That means that if you are in …
When to Harvest Prairie Hay
Different livestock have different nutritional requirements. Dry, mature cows need 7 to 8 percent protein and 50 to 54 percent TDN in their diet. In contrast, two-year-old heifers that are nursing calves need more than 10 percent protein and 62 …