Impact of Dry Matter at Ensiling on Final pH and Nutritive Value of Mixed Cool-Season Haylage

Harvesting hay as baleage can allow for more timely harvest, especially in spring months when curing conditions are not ideal. Forage conserved as baleage undergoes anaerobic fermentation in which the sugars are converted to lactic acid, lowering final pH. To successfully conserve forage as dry hay, moisture concentrations must be less than 18%. In contrast, the ideal moisture concentration for baleage is between 55 and 65%. There are a number of producers harvesting and wrapping hay that is not quite “dry enough” to bale but is too dry to ensile. This produces a product commonly referred to by producers as “sweet hay”. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of dry matter at ensiling on the final pH and nutritive value of cool-season grasses. This study was conducted at the UK Research and Education Center located near Princeton, KY. Two mixed cool-season grass hay fields were sampled every two hours during daylight starting at cutting and ending when the hay was dry enough to bale. Each sample was immediately chopped into 2 to 3-inch lengths and sealed in a vacuum bag (3/4 full). After 6 weeks of fermentation, the vacuum bags were sampled. Final pH increased as DM at ensiling increased. Dry matter at ensiling had little impact on nutritive value. Our data indicate that if oxygen is excluded from the forage, ensiling in the range of 18 to 55% moisture may be a viable range management tool

Selecting Summer Annual Varieties Using Yield and Digestibility

Although cool-season grasses can provide ample and high quality forage for grazing livestock in the spring and fall, forage growth during the summer months is often restricted by high temperatures (Figure 1). In contrast warm-season annual grasses are most productive during the summer months and do not reach peak growth until temperatures approach 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Summer annual grasses such as forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), sudangrass (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), sorghum-sudangrass hybrids, and pearl millet (Pennisetum americanum (L.) Leeke) can provide high quality summer grazing for ruminant livestock in many regions of the United States

Precision Ag Isn’t Just for the Row Crop Guys

Guidance utilizing the global positioning system (GPS) has long been used for various operations in row crop agriculture. However, the high price of these systems has limited use in low input forage‐livestock operations. Reduced prices and the availability of used guidance systems has the potential to increase the use of precision agriculture in ruminant operations. Currently, entry level guidance systems can be purchased for $1,000 to 2,500

Summer Stockpiling

The downloadable document includes these components: Stockpiling Novel Endophyte Tall Fescue for Summer Grazing The Yield and Nutritive Value of Tall Fescue Stockpiled for Summer Grazing Using a Summer Stockpiling System to Extend the Grazing Seaso

Building a Year Round Grazing System

There are three basic ways to increase net returns in ruminant livestock operations. The first is to increase the price we get for our product. Unfortunately in a commodity based system we have little or no control over the price that we receive. The second is to increase total production. By producing more units that have a slim profit margin we can increase net returns. However, at some point we become resource limited; we run out of land or time. The third is to control production costs. Of these three ways to increase net returns, this one has the greatest potential to increase the profitability on most ruminant livestock operations in Kentucky

Building Strong Nutrient Cycles in Kentucky\u27s Pastures

Well managed grassland ecosystems are one of the most sustainable forms of agricultural production. Few nutrients are removed from properly managed grazing systems. Instead these nutrients are cycled within the grazing system. In addition, proper grazing management maintains a healthy and vigorous sod that protects the soil from erosion and increases rainfall infiltration. This article will discuss how to build and maintain strong nutrient cycles in Kentucky\u27s pastures

Cool-Season Perennials and Stability in Year-Round Forage Production Systems

Changes in long-term climate normals have resulted in warmer and wetter summers and milder winters in the humid eastern United States. This will likely impact regional forage species adaptation in the long-term and varietal adaptation in the short term. Variety evaluation has been occurring at the University of Kentucky for almost 100 years. There are several considerations for selecting forage species and varieties including regional and local adaptation, productivity, distribution of growth, palatability, nutritive value, anti-quality factors, tolerance to stress, and persistence. Two of the most important criteria are long-term productivity and persistence under grazing, both of which are currently being evaluated in Kentucky. One potential way to use long-term data to aid in the selection of resilient cool-season perennial grass varieties for year-round grazing systems may be to graph yield (x-axis) against persistence (y-axis) where ‘100’ represents the average for the trials. This allows varieties to be ranked either above or below average for yield and persistence. Varieties in the upper right-hand quadrant are varieties that have above-average yield and persistence and would be good candidates to include in year-round grazing systems. In contrast, varieties in the lower left-hand quadrant are varieties that are below average in both yield and persistence and probably are not good candidates to include in a year-round grazing system. This approach may require adapting current variety testing strategies to better assess yield potential and persistence under grazing

Alfalfa Establishment: Getting Off to a Good Start!

Alfalfa is a highly productive forage legume that is well adapted to transition zone states like Kentucky. It can be grazed, hayed, or ensiled. Once established and under good management, expected yields range from 5-7 tons per acre per year. High yields can only be obtained from a dense and vigorous alfalfa stand. The first step in obtaining such stands is establishment. The establishment phase of alfalfa production is critical since realization of returns from all other input costs is dependent upon having a good stand and it is expensive. It is important to remember that alfalfa establishment begins long before the actual seeding. Successful establishment requires a great deal of planning and attention to detail. The objective of this proceedings article is to outline the necessary steps in logical order that will help you to get off to a good start with alfalfa production

Measuring Forage Quality: Sampling and Interpretation

Forage quality is often described with terms like crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, in vitro dry matter digestibility, neutral detergent fiber digestibility, and the list goes on! Perhaps the best definition of forage quality is the ability of a forage to produce a desired animal response. This concept is quite simple, but the process of getting from forage to actual animal performance is quite complex (Figure 1). It is important to realize that there is no perfect measure of forage quality. However, measures that are based on fiber digestibly provide better estimates of energy and dry matter intake