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A Forage Primer

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Title: A Forage Primer


1
A Forage Primer
  • Rene Mabon

2
Agenda
  • The main forage species
  • Blends
  • Blend Management
  • Establishment
  • Corn Production
  • Grazing, Silage, Grain
  • Questions
  • Forages very broad so interaction is always a key

3
Forage Species
  • Legumes
  • Grasses

4
Main Forage Species
  • Alfalfa
  • Brome Grasses
  • Fescues
  • Wheatgrasses
  • Timothy
  • Orchard Grass
  • Other Grasses and Legumes

5
Choosing Perennial Forages Species
  • Area of Adaptation
  • Special soil conditions
  • Growth Habit
  • Uses
  • Yield Potential
  • Forage Quality
  • Persistence

6
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?

7
Legumes
  • Alfalfa
  • Sweet Clover
  • Birds Foot Trefoil
  • Red Clover
  • Alsike Clover
  • Cicer Milk Vetch
  • Sainfoin
  • Other Clovers

8
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
9
Alfalfa Crown Structure Key
  • Crown Buds
  • Key for over-wintering
  • Re-growth
  • Impact of harvest Mgt
  • Variety Selection
  • Diseases

10
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11
Alfalfa Root Types
Tap Root
Branched Root
Sunken Crown
12
Alfalfa Varieties
  • Disease Resistance
  • Multifoliate
  • Traffic Tolerance
  • Sunken Crowns
  • Branched Roots
  • MsSunstra Hybrids

13
Sweet Clover
  • Biennial Crop
  • Drought Tolerant
  • High Nitrogen Fixation
  • Low Coumarin for Hay Production
  • Volunteers Dormant Seed

14
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
15
Red Clover
  • Tolerant of Acid Soils
  • Short Lived
  • Bloat
  • Hay Pasture
  • Easy Establishment

16
Alsike Clover
  • Tolerates Wet Low Areas
  • Acid Soils
  • Toxicity Potential in Horses

17
Cicer Milkvetch
  • Non-bloat
  • Pasture Mixes
  • Slow to establish (2-3 years)
  • Moderate to long persistence
  • Moderate tolerane to drought, salinity and
    alkalinity

18
Other Legumes
  • Sainfoin
  • Non Bloat, Limited Regrowth
  • White Clover
  • Lawn Mixtures
  • Pastures
  • Kura Clover
  • Slow to establish, Bloat

19
Grasses
  • Bunch
  • Sod
  • Short
  • Tall

20
Grasses
  • Overwintering
  • Regrowth
  • Grazing Management

21
Grasses
  • Bromes
  • Wheatgrasses
  • Fescues, Orchardgrass Timothy
  • Ryes
  • Others
  • Reed Canarygrass, Kentucky Bluegrass, Native
    Species

22
Smooth Brome
23
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

24
Smooth Bromegrass
  • Aggressive Sod
  • Persistent
  • Hay Pasture

25
Meadow Brome
26
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

27
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
28
Hybrid Brome
29
Hybrid Brome
  • Smooth/Meadow
  • Better Regrowth than smooth and Less than Meadow
  • More Elongation than Meadow
  • Less Competitive

30
Timothy
  • Bunch Grass
  • Very Palatable
  • Persistent
  • Wet Soils
  • Acid Soils

31
Timothy
  • Easy to Over graze
  • Moisture
  • Hay Pasture

1,100,000 seeds per lbs 1lbs per acre 26 seeds
per sq ft
32
Wheatgrasses
  • Crested
  • Intermediate, Pubescent
  • Slender
  • Tall
  • Western
  • Northern

33
Wheatgrass
  • Tame species
  • Intermediate
  • Pubescent
  • Crested
  • Tall
  • Native species
  • Western
  • Northern
  • Slender
  • Awned
  • Streambank

34
Crested Wheatgrass
  • Bunch Grass
  • Very Drought Tolerant
  • Early Spring Growth
  • Can become Wolfy
  • Not as Palatable as Matures

35
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

36
Intermediate and Pubscent Wheatgrass
  • Like Quackgrass
  • Not as strong rhizomes
  • Good with Alfalfa for Hay Blend

37
Wheatgrass
Intermediate Wheatgrass
Pubescent Wheatgrass
38
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

39
Tall and Slender Wheatgrass
  • Tall Wheatgrass
  • Saline Tolerance
  • Bunch
  • Coarse
  • Slender Wheatgrass
  • Short Rhizomes
  • Saline Tolerant
  • Shorter lived

40
Orchard grass
  • Bunchgrass
  • Pasture Hay
  • Very Palatable
  • Winter Survival
  • Susc. Drought
  • Moisture Nutrients
  • Use in Mixtures

41
Orchard Grass
  • Incredible forage producer
  • Very fast regrowth
  • Requires adequate moisture and fertility
  • Moderate to poor winter hardiness

42
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
43
Tall and Meadow Fescue
  • Bunch Grasses
  • Fair Winterhardiness
  • Very Leaf
  • Vigorous Seedlings
  • Use in Blends
  • Saline
  • Tough Conditions

44
Tall Fescue
  • Tall Fescue
  • Drought tolerant
  • Flood tolerant
  • Saline tolerant
  • Newer varieties
  • Very palatable
  • Endophyte free
  • Excellent late season feed quality
  • Moderate winter hardiness

45
Creeping Red Fescue
  • Turf Grass
  • Sod Forming
  • Acid Soils
  • Tolerates close grazing
  • Important Seed Crop

46
Fescues
  • Creeping red fescue
  • Sod forming
  • Good early season grazing
  • Required lots of moisture and fertility

47
Ryegrasses
  • Russian Wildrye
  • Shallow roots, bunch grass, Dry
  • Altai Wildrye
  • Dahurian Wildrye
  • Vigorous seedling, Short lived
  • Perennial Ryegrass
  • Annual Ryegrass

48
Other Grasses
  • Reed Canarygrass
  • Flood Tolerance, Low Alkaloid
  • Kentucky Bluegrass
  • Native Grasses
  • Specific Uses
  • Seedlings
  • Overgrazing

49
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?

50
Blends
  • Considerations
  • Long term goals
  • Soil capabilities
  • Moisture holding capacity
  • Fertility
  • Use
  • Pasture or hay
  • When do you want to graze it

51
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

52
Blends
  • Examples
  • Hay blend by weight
  • 30 smooth brome
  • 70 alfalfa
  • By seed count approximately
  • 20 smooth brome
  • 80 alfalfa

53
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

54
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

55
Blend Management
  • What is the expected usefulness of a
  • Alfalfa stand?
  • Forage stand?

56
Blend Management
  • Many determining factors affect success
  • Species selection
  • Fertility
  • Moisture
  • Grazing practices

57
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

58
Blend Management
  • Fertility
  • Marginal land
  • Low productivity to start with
  • Zero additional inputs
  • Compounded by over grazing
  • Good land
  • Maximize carrying capacity/yield

59
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

60
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

61
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

62
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

63
Competition at establishment
No Cover Crop
Cover Crop
First year of production after establishment
64
Stand Establishment Practices
  • Seed size and seeding rate
  • Seed bed preparation
  • Seed Inoculation and Seed Treatment
  • Seeding Depth
  • Cover Crops
  • Time of Seeding
  • Fertility

65
Managing the crop
  • Harvest management for hay yield and quality
  • Pasture management
  • Overgrazing
  • Rest periods
  • Fertility
  • Winter survival

66
Corn
  • Grazing (Extending Grazing Season)
  • Silage
  • Grain

67
Can we extend the grazing season?
  • Grazing Corn?

68
Corn for Grazing
  • Why?
  • High energy
  • High digestibility
  • High digestibility per acre
  • Increase carrying capacity
  • Lower feed costs

69
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.

70
Corn
  • All is essentially result of grain target
  • Grain
  • Silage
  • Grazing
  • (More Flexibility)
  • Agronomy is the same for growing the crop

71
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

72
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73
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74
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75
Grazing Tips
  • Limit access to paddocks
  • Manage the graze to use produced feed most
    efficiently

76
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

77
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

78
Corn for Silage?
79
50 Milk Line Stage
80
Optimum moisture
81
Silage Issues Here
  • Efficient cost effective high energy feed
    production
  • Choosing hybrids
  • Freezing
  • Overdry crop
  • Chop Shorter
  • Add Water

82
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

83
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

84
ELITE hybrid development focuseson the Northern
market Less than 3000 CHU
85
Whats behind the Elite seed brand ?
Seed corn production
Corn inbred line distributors
Brett Young Sales team
Biotech traits distributors
Farmers
86
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

88
Hybrid Selection for Grain
  • Yield
  • Standability
  • Dry down
  • Plant health

89
Elite corn
  • Designation for corn silage
  • Selected for
  • Wider harvest window
  • High energy level
  • High digestibility level

90
12 new corn hybrids for 2009
91
What is needed here?
  • Silage, Grazing, High Moisture Grain
  • Conventional, RR, BT
  • Lodging Resistance
  • Height
  • Right Maturity
  • Yield
  • Quality

92
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

93
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
94
30A27 RR 2150 CHU
Earliest Grain Corn Available
95
91B17 RR X2217 RR 2250 CHU
  • RR
  • Compared to 46T07 RR
  • Mature earlier
  • Tall plant
  • Semi flint
  • Faster drydown
  • Competitor
  • DKC26-78

96
91B17RR91B18 RR RRBt
97
91B18 RR X2218 RR 2300 CHU
  • Compared to 46T06
  • Mature earlier
  • Tall plant
  • Semi flint
  • Faster drydown
  • Competitor
  • DKC26-79

98
46T07 RR 2300 CHU
99
20T47 RR
100
20T47 RR X2047 RR 2350 CHU
  • RR
  • Competitive yield for his maturity
  • Dent corn
  • Strong stalk
  • Fast drydown
  • Tall Plant

101
FUSION RRTUNDRA RR
Grazing Silage
102
20T18 RR RRBT
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