Ohio Pasture Growth by May 27, 2012

The following table shows the growth from pastures participating in the project. For information about the project see the introductory post for this 2012 and the post describing the project. The information is reported in pounds of dry matter grown per acre per day. It contains the reported results as of the posting date. Some reports may be delayed for various reasons. Previous week’s information is updated when it is received. The current table will reflect the total information available.

Weekly Pasture Growth for 2012

Week Starting	Fields sampled	Minimum	Maximum	Average	Past 7 yr Average
	(no.)	(pounds of DM per day)
Mar 25	18	5.3	126.2	57.2	na
April 1	14	6.7	92.6	36.3	73
April 8	17	5.1	102.9	39.5	55
April 15	21	3.3	156.9	42.7	72
April 22	14	5.1	99.7	44.6	82
April 29	25	3.6	188.9	57.3	79
May 6	34	0.9	134.7	62.3	86
May 13	21	7.5	129.1	51.8	94
May 20	12	0	94.9	44.6	78

Ohio Pasture Growth by May 20, 2012

The following table shows the growth from pastures participating in the project. For information about the project see the introductory post for this 2012 and the post describing the project. The information is reported in pounds of dry matter grown per acre per day. It contains the reported results as of the posting date. Some reports may be delayed for various reasons. Previous week’s information is updated when it is received. The current table will reflect the total information available.

Weekly Pasture Growth for 2012

Week Starting	Fields sampled	Minimum	Maximum	Average	Past 7 yr Average
	(no.)	(pounds of DM per day)
Mar 25	18	5.3	126.2	57.2	na
April 1	14	6.7	92.6	36.3	73
April 8	17	5.1	102.9	39.5	55
April 15	21	3.3	156.9	42.7	72
April 22	14	5.1	99.7	44.6	82
April 29	25	3.6	188.9	57.3	79
May 6	34	0.9	134.7	62.3	86
May 13	21	7.5	129.1	51.8	94

Grazing School Presentations

Pastures for Profit is a comprehensive management intensive grazing school offered annually throughout Ohio by the Ohio State University Extension Forage Team. The Team consists of members from OSU Extension, the OSU Department of Horticulture and Crop Sciences, and the Natural Resource Conservation Service.

At a recent school presenters recorded their presentations. Recordings can be found at http://go.osu.edu/pastureforprofit . Even on a high speed connection they may each take 3 to 4 minutes to load, but then should play flawlessly on your desktop, laptop, iPad and most phones.

Pasture Measurement Project 2012

The Ohio Pasture Measurement Project is in full swing for 2012. For more details about this project check out the post "What Is the Ohio Pasture Measurement Project?". Basically, this project involves graziers measuring the same pasture field every week using a commercially available rising plate meter and reporting the measurement. We then calculate how much the pasture is growing during that week. (The specific plate meter we are using is made by Jenquip and available through Eagle Dairy Direct.) Results will be posted on this blog.

This year we have over 32 volunteers measuring their pasture.

2012 Pasture Measurement Locations

What Is the Ohio Pasture Measurement Project?

There are many good reasons why graziers should estimate the amount of forage in their pastures. Evaluating, measuring and observing pasture growth can give valuable information during a grazing season to help producers make management decisions. Using pasture growth measurements can help graziers decide to slow or speed up the grazing system, change stocking density, consider planting alternative forages or fertilize before they need the forage and when there is adequate soil moisture to still grow more forage. Measurement is the first step to improvement.  

The Ohio Pasture Measurement Project was started in 2005 an attempt to help producers understand the value of timely measurement of their forages.

Objectives

1. Provide a source of current, objective information on the relative performance of forages growing in Ohio accessible to producers across the state.
2. Demonstrate the use of pasture measurement/monitoring to aid in the management of grazing.

Methods

• Graziers from across Ohio measure at least one pasture field each week during the grazing season.
• Measurements are taken before and after grazing or clipping of that field.
• Measurements are taken with a commercially available rising plate meter.

Other information:

Measuring forage as part of rotational grazing planning by Alisa Raty, in the April 2012 issue of Progressive Forage Grower Magazine. 


"Project Treats Pastures as Feed" by Gail Keck, in the October 2010 edition of the Ohio Farmer

Using Pasture Measurement to Improve Your Management an OSU Factsheet about how pasture measurements could be used to make management decisions.

 OSU Agronomic Crops Team On-Farm Research Reports: yearly summary of the project for  2010 or  2011

EVALUATE ALFALFA STANDS

 Rory Lewandowski, Extension Educator Wayne County and Crossroads EERA
          Should I keep this alfalfa stand or plow it under? This question comes up at this time of the year because often the farmer plans to harvest a first cutting and then if the stand is questionable there is still time to plant corn for silage. There are two basic methods that can be used to evaluate stand productivity. Evaluate the stand density in terms of plants per square foot or evaluate by counting the number of stems per square foot.
           Older stands naturally have fewer plants per square foot, but older plants, if they are healthy, produce more stems as compared to a younger plant. Determine the number of plants per square foot immediately after a harvest or any time before a harvest. To evaluate a stand based on stems per square foot, the recommendation is to wait until there is at least 6 inches of growth. Regardless of the method used, sample at least 4-6 random areas within the field to arrive at a decision. Both of these methods assume that the objective is a pure or nearly pure stand of alfalfa.
           Alfalfa stands that are over 3 years old should have a minimum of 6 plants per square foot to remain in production. In addition, it is a good idea to actually dig up the plants in some of the sampled areas and split the roots lengthwise to evaluate the health of the plants. In healthy stands, fewer than 30% of plants will show significant discoloration and rot in the crown and taproot. Healthy plants will have vigorous crown shoots distributed evenly around the crown. If over 50% of the plants show signs of root and crown rot, the stand should be rotated to another crop.
          The guidelines for alfalfa stand evaluation based on counting the stems per square foot are: 1) greater than 54 stems: no yield reduction 2) 40 to 54 stems: keep the stand but expect some yield reduction and 3) less than 40 stems: consider replacing the stand because yield reduction is significant.