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College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

CFAES
July 16, 2024 - 9:25am -- klenovich.4@osu.edu

Local producers made significant strides getting the wheat crop off during the last week and a half.  By Wednesday, it appeared the majority of the wheat had been harvested and much of the straw had been baled or was in the process of being baled.  There are several possibilities of what to do with those acres now, although the success of the next crop will be dependent on adequate moisture.  Most long-term forecasts have indicated that the remainder of summer will be hotter and drier than normal.  While we did go through an extended dry patch, the nearby forecast indicated several possibilities for rain.

Even though there are countless options to help fill the summer forage production gap, they are just that, options.  You need to consider: what are my anticipated forage needs, what quality of forage do I need, how do I want to utilize the summer forage (grazing, dry hay, baleage), what crop will follow my summer forage?  As you begin to answer these questions, you can narrow down the options to find the best choice that fits your management style and needs.  Virtually all of the potential crops will also give you opportunities to make several manure applications as we finish summer and stretch into the fall.

Options for summer planting

While we are past the prime planting time for some species, many summer annuals can be planted until July 20th.  Sudangrass, sorghum x sudangrass hybrids, and pearl millet grow rapidly, and can produce about 3.0 tons of dry matter per acre in 60 days.  These crops have a high nitrogen demand, and you may consider an application of 100 lbs of nitrogen. Sudangrass, sorghum x sudangrass, and pearl millet are best utilized for grazing, greenchop, or wrapped baleage. Curing these grasses for hay is difficult.  You will want to be mindful of harvest timing for sudangrass and similar species.  Once these forages reach the boot stage, quality decline rapidly.  In fact, quality can become quite poor once it has headed out.   If it turns dry in August you will need to be concerned with prussic acid poisoning with everything except pearl millet.

Oats may be the most versatile option at this point.  When planted from mid-July to mid-August, they can be utilized for hay in October or grazed in November.  It is recommended to plant them at a rate of 70 to 90 lbs per acre.  If conditions in October are not favorable for hay, then bales could be wrapped for balage.  Nitrogen is also important for oats, and it is recommended to add 100 lbs of urea per acre.

The downlow on planting turnips and rape

Brassica crops such as turnips and rape can be planted in late July to early August for grazing in late autumn and into the winter. These crops are not acceptable for hay or silage. Seed turnips at 2.0 lbs/acre and rape at 3.5 to 4.0 lbs/acre. Apply 100 to 150 lbs of urea per acre (if not incorporating, try to time it before a rainfall of at least 0.5 inch). Turnips planted in late July and early August have yielded from 3 to 4.5 tons of dry matter per acre, including both tops and roots. Brassicas can be planted with oats, rye, or annual ryegrass as well. Mixing brassicas with grasses would have the benefit of adding more fiber, as brassicas are extremely low in fiber and are more like a concentrate than forage.  The brassica species are ideal for pasture fattening of lambs and goat kids.  They can also be great to help add some condition on your beef cows, ewes, or does.  It is ideal if you can strip graze brassicas, where the animals will also have access to an adjacent pasture or field of corn stover.

Still time to put a summer program on the schedule

There are several summer programs I would like to make you aware of.  First, the Richland County Soil and Water office will be hosting a grazing school on July 23 and 25th.  If you would like to find more information or register for any of their programs, you can reach them at 419-747-8684.

The Wayne-Ashland Dairy Service Unit has set the date and location for this year’s Dairy Producers’ Summit and Twilight Tour.  This year’s event will be held on July 16th at the Wayne County Fairgrounds.  The Dairy Producer Summit will be held from 3 pm to 5 pm.  The Twilight Tour will run from 6 pm to 9:00 pm and feature a farm to table program.  Attendees will get to experience how their food is grown and several local food vendors will be on hand to provide meals.  One change this year is that there will be $10 per person charge for dinner.  Attendees will get a voucher for free ice cream at registration. 

The 2024 OSU Manure Science Review will be held at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center in London, OH on August 6th.  This year’s program will feature presentations and demonstrations on: manure placement and subsurface drainage, 360 RAIN liquid manure application, best manure applications practices, H2Ohio updates, manure spill mitigation, spreader calibration, and autonomous tractor demos.  You can find the event flyer and registration materials at https://ocamm.osu.edu

Finally, I want to encourage you to bookmark September 4th for a livestock sustainability field night.  We will be discussing pasture management, remote sensing for estimating forage growth, and water/feed use efficiency.  I am still working out details and hope to have the program finalized by the first of August.  As always, if you have any livestock or forage management questions, please feel free to contact me at the OSU Extension office – Wayne County at 330-264-8722 or email me at yost.77@osu.edu

This article was previously published in The Daily Record