Poultry Pasture Walk & Discussion

On Thursday, August 29, 2013 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. there will be a pasture walk and discussion about pastured poultry at OARDC's  East Badger Organic Farm.  The farm is located on 7250 Ely Road just north of Apple Creek Ohio.

Topics being discussed that evening include: alternative organic poultry diets, organic drop rotation and soil fertility and the daily management of chicks in mobile units.  Resourcing the discussions are Dr. Mike Lilburn, Dr. Larry Phelan and John Anderson, all from OARDC.

For more information contact either Dr. Lilburn at 330.263.3992 or John Anderson at 330.263.3753.

Ohio Forage and Grassland Council Fence Building Workshop

Jorgensen Farms 5851 East Walnut Street

Westerville, OH 43081, Phone 614-855-2697

www.jorgensen-farms.com

Thursday July 18, and Friday July 19, 2013

9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The workshop is for both the beginning and advance fence builder; sheep, cattle and horse owners; and grazing enthusiasts.  Thursday is designed for agency and commercial personal and Friday for the producer.  We will be installing Bekaert high tensile woven wire fence for Val Jorgensen’s sheep and cattle pastures. The workshop will show proper fence building techniques.  Bekaert employees will be providing the training and showing fence building procedures for high tensile woven wire fence construction.

Bob Hendershot, Green Pasture Services and T. J. Oliver, USDA NRCS Resource Conservationist will also be providing information on pasture management; (plant identification, forage measurement, pasture soil fertility, and making subdivisions for rotational grazing) and pasture conservation practices (Heavy Use Area Protection, access road, pipeline, livestock watering facilities, forage planting and fence).

McArthur Lumber and Post (www.totalfarmandfence.com) will be the source of the materials for the fence building workshop.  They have been providing fencing materials for over 50 years and are members of the Ohio Forage and Grassland Council.  They have all your fencing needs; posts , boards, nails, screws, staples, gripples, gates, wire, pneumatic staplers, post pounders, energizers and fencing tools.  Their new line of cedar posts are certifiable for organic farm use

Lunch is provided please give Jorgensen Farms a call 614-855-2697 to help in meal planning. Please bring a water bottle, work gloves and shoes along with sun protection.  This will be hands on learning workshop.  

A 4-R PROGRAM FOR SUMMER GRAZING

Rory Lewandowski, Extension Educator Wayne County

            With the arrival of summer we can generally expect warm to hot temperatures and less frequent rainfall.   The vast majority of pastures managed for grazing in our area are composed of cool season grass species that grow best when temperatures are cool to warm and moisture is plentiful.  Thus, we have the summer slump in pasture productivity.  Although summer weather conditions are not conducive to high yields with cool season grasses there are some grazing management practices that can help to increase summertime productivity.  These practices can be summarized as the four “R’s”.

            The first “R” is remove seed heads.  Clipping off seed heads in late June will return grass plants to vegetative growth and improve the quality of the forage that is grazed.  The second “R” is right starting height.  Do not let livestock into a pasture paddock where grass height is too short because this is almost certain to lead to overgrazing.  What is the right height?  It depends upon the predominant grass in the pasture mix.  Perennial ryegrass should be grazed when it reaches the 6 to 8 inch height.  Orchardgrass and endophyte free or novel endophyte tall fescue grass should be grazed starting at an 8 to 10 inch height.   Endophyte infected tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass should be grazed when the height reaches 5 to 6 inches.

            The third “R” is residual leaf area.  Do not overgraze pasture paddocks.    Pull livestock out of pasture paddocks while there is still sufficient leaf area for the plant to continue to photosynthesize.   The general principle that is taught in grazing schools is to take half the plant and leave half the plant.  Leaving sufficient leaf residual has several benefits.  When more than half the plant is grazed or clipped off root growth is drastically affected and the plant takes longer to recover from defoliation.  Leaving half the plant allows root growth and function to continue with very minimal reduction and the plant recovers rapidly from the grazing defoliation.  Leaving more residual leaf area helps to shade the soil.  In the summer heat this can mean cooler soil temperatures and less moisture loss from the soil, important considerations to keep grass growing.  In general, do not graze below 3 inches in height for perennial ryegrass, below 4 inches in height for orchardgrass, endophyte free or novel endophyte tall fescue and do not graze below 2 inches in height for Kentucky bluegrass and endophyte infected tall fescue.

The fourth “R” is rest period.  After a grazing pass allow enough time for that plant to regrow back to the right grazing height.  The length of this rest period is affected by how much leaf residual has been left, the air and soil temperature, and soil moisture.  Summer pasture rotations need to slow down because the grass is growing slower.  For example, during the favorable temperatures and moisture conditions of spring and early summer grass is growing fast and it may have been possible to get back to a pasture paddock within an 18 to 25 day period for another grazing pass.  In the summer the rest period required for that same plant to regrow to the right grazing height may be anywhere from 30 to 50 or more days.  During last summer’s drought when plants just quit growing in many pastures, the only way to avoid overgrazing was to stop rotating between paddocks and keep livestock in a sacrifice area.  The only way to maintain the longer rest periods needed during summer weather is to have enough pasture paddocks or divisions.   Most of the experienced graziers that I know have at least 10 pasture paddocks or run multiple pasture divisions as they strip graze across a pasture.  I have yet to hear an experienced grazier say that they regret putting in another pasture division or paddock.

Summer weather can negatively affect cool season pastures, but following good grazing management practices can minimize those negative effects.  For more information about pasture and grazing management, contact a member of the OSU Integrated Forage Team.

Ohio Pasture Growth by June 9, 2013

The following table shows the growth from pastures participating in the project. For information about the project see the introductory post for 2013 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 2013

Week Starting	Fields sampled	Minimum	Maximum	Average	Past 8 yr Average
	(no.)	(pounds of DM per day)
Mar 31	6	0	34.6	12.5	27
April 7	11	0	172.3	43	68
April 14	19	2.2	138.2	49.7	53
April 21	27	0	151.7	41.1	69
April 28	20	22.8	225.8	87.4	76
May 5	30	1.2	257.9	85.8	83
May 12	28	0.4	167	76.7	89
May 19	22	9.1	213.9	72.4	75
May 26	21	9.4	102.8	64.4	60
June 2	18	7	125.4	50.2	52

Summer annual forage options

SUMMER ANNUALS CAN PROVIDE PASTURE OR STORED FEED OPTIONS
            Rory Lewandowski, Extension Educator, Wayne County
            Livestock owners that are looking for supplemental forage options should consider summer annuals.  June is the ideal time frame for planting a warm season summer annual crop.  These forages thrive in summer heat, are drought tolerant, and can be used for either grazing or as a stored feed.  Summer annuals include sorghum, sudangrass, sorghum x sudangrass hybrids, millet, teff, and corn.  With adequate soil fertility and a minimum of moisture, these species are capable of producing three to five tons of dry matter over the summer months.  Most of these species can provide two to three grazing passes or cuttings beginning 30 to 45 days after planting.
            Plant summer annuals when the soil temperature is 60 to 65 degrees F.  Plant forage sorghum at 12-15 pounds/ acre, millet, sudangrass and sorghum x sudangrass hybrids at 25 to 35 pounds/acre, teff grass at 4 to 5 pounds/acre and corn used as forage at about 80,000 kernels/acre and seeded with a grain drill.  Soil pH should be in the 6.0 to 6.5 range, soil phosphorus should be at least 15 ppm and soil potassium in the 100 to 125 ppm range.  All summer annuals respond to nitrogen and best yields will be obtained when 50 pounds of actual nitrogen/acre is applied before or at planting and then again following each cutting or grazing pass.  Livestock owners that need to summer apply manure can utilize summer annuals for this purpose.
          Summer annuals can be used as a double crop in situations where the previous crop is harvested by the end of June.  Some examples include planting a summer annual after 1or 2 cuttings of alfalfa that needs to be rotated out of production, or perhaps after the harvest of barley.
            In situations where the summer annual is going to be used for grazing, stagger plant the allotted acreage.  Summer annuals grow fast and mature quickly.  Forage quality is good at young vegetative growth stages but declines rapidly once the plant enters reproductive growth.  A good strategy is to separate plantings by 14 days from the end of May through early July.  Summer annuals best suited to grazing include millet, sudangrass and sorghum x sudangrass hybrids.  The brown mid-rib (BMR) varieties of sudangrass and sorghum x sudangrass are recommended because they have superior digestibility compared to non-BMR varieties.  Corn has also been used for grazing but only one grazing pass is possible since corn will not regrow.
          Graze sudangrass and sorghum x sudangrass hybrids when plants are 18 to 30 inches tall. At this growth stage forage quality will be 17 to 19% crude protein, with a neutral detergent fiber (NFD) content of 58 to 60% and a net energy of lactation around 0.69 Mcal or a total digestible nutrient (TDN) content of 66 to 68%.   Leave a 6 to 8 inch stubble to facilitate fast regrowth.  Millet should be grazed beginning at 12 to 18 inches in height.  Remove cattle to leave a 6 inch stubble.  Millet forage quality will be equal to or slightly higher than sudangrass and sorghum x sudangrass hybrids when it is grazed in this fashion.  Due to the rapid maturity of summer annuals, plan acreage based on what livestock can consume in about 10 days.  If grazing was uneven and old stems remain, clip the stubble to a uniform 6 to 8 inches after the grazing pass.
            All of the summer annual species can be mechanically harvested for stored feed.  This is really the best option if forage sorghum or teff grass is planted.  With the exception of teff grass, baleage and silage are the best harvest and storage options for summer annuals because they have a high moisture content and they are difficult to dry.  Typically, forage sorghum, sorghum x sudangrass hybrids and sudangrass are harvested at 36 to 48 inches in height while millet and teff grass are harvested at the boot stage or approximately 36 inches in height.
            One note of caution is that summer annual crops can accumulate nitrates in the lower portions of the stems under drought conditions.  Reduce nitrogen fertilization and manage grazing to make sure livestock do not graze lower than 8 inches to reduce the risk of nitrate toxicity.  In addition, sorghum, sorghum x sudangrass hybrids and sudangrass all have varying levels of potential for prussic acid poisoning if plants are consumed when they are under stress conditions.
            For more information about the use of summer annuals as a supplemental pasture or stored feed crop, contact a member of the Extension Integrated Forages Team.

Ohio Pasture Growth by June 2, 2013

The following table shows the growth from pastures participating in the project. For information about the project see the introductory post for 2013 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 2013

Week Starting	Fields sampled	Minimum	Maximum	Average	Past 8 yr Average
	(no.)	(pounds of DM per day)
Mar 31	6	0	34.6	12.5	27
April 7	11	0	172.3	43	68
April 14	19	2.2	138.2	49.7	53
April 21	27	0	151.7	41.1	69
April 28	20	22.8	225.8	87.4	76
May 5	30	1.2	257.9	85.8	83
May 12	27	0.4	167	75.8	89
May 19	22	9.1	213.9	72.4	75
May 26	19	9.4	97.5	58	60

2013 Pasture Measurement Project

The Ohio Pasture Measurement Project is in full swing for 2013. 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 27 volunteers measuring their pasture.

2013 Pasture Measurement Locations