Winter forage triticale planting date is critical to fall nitrogen uptake and its yield benefit. Planted on time for your region, triticale has been shown to take up and store over 100 lbs. of nitrogen. Our New York research found nitrogen and sulfur as a starter at planting will give a tremendous yield boost at all nitrogen levels next spring. This is a case of either you have it or you don’t. If you are not planting on time (two weeks before the wheat date for your region), you will not get the nitrogen uptake. Even worse you will not get the yield boost the next spring because of the missed earlier planting date and the plant-ing nitrogen. This fall nitrogen has to be spread at planting so the winter forage plants can access it as soon as they emerge.
Tom
Sept 2024 New Rotation and Winter Forage
In many areas of the US we had extremely dry conditions. Northern areas and into Canada had the opposite weather. It would not stop raining. Not just small showers, but 2-3 inches at a dump. Even the ducks were carrying umbrellas! As we mentioned in the last newsletter, crops planted on winter forage stubble (see picture page 3) were clearly better than those without the winter crop. Even with winter forage some farms will struggle with forage supply through next year.
August 2024 Maximize Winter Forage & Immature Corn Silage
This has been the season of extremes. First, we had very little rain, then it has not stopped raining. In some areas, it has rained all summer, and the corn is 1 – 4 feet high and very uneven. Interestingly, in the wet areas, especially with heavy soils, driving down the road at 55 mph I could look at a field and know if it was planted into winter forage triticale stubble, or into typical bare soil over winter. The field planted with typical bare all winter and spring tilled was a mess. Rows started 1 foot tall and as we went down the row, they got taller and tasseling, then continued to drop to 1 foot tall and had nothing growing in the wet spots. Directly across the road, the corn no-till planted in triticale stubble was tall, uniformly growing, and tasseling. With winter forage, in addition to providing 3.5 – 4 tons of dry matter with more milk-producing ability than corn silage, the improved soil health and no-till planting into the massive root system of the stubble allowed the corn to survive and grow in marginal weather conditions. You can gain yield in crops if they follow winter triticale forage. Planted in sequence with corn silage the total yield from that acre is boosted 25-35% when you count the triticale.
July 2024 dig for better crops
No, we are not talking about root crops nor is this some 1960s hippie newsletter (a term from before most of you were born). It is something I have uncovered over 50 years of studying forage crops and why they grow or don’t grow. Going out in July (picking a hot, oppressive day makes it more interesting), digging in corn fields, and then continuing digs in alfalfa or grass fieldsClick here for full newsletter
May 2024 BMR Male Sterile Sorghum: Breakthrough Energy Forage
BMR Male Sterile Forage Sorghum:
a Breakthrough Energy Crop
On-going field research data is giving increasing proof to the advantages of BMR male sterile forage sorghum as a replacement for corn silage. Multiple replicated trials with proper nutrient-enhancing delayed harvest, were conducted in several states. The data found the crop has the ability to produce at less cost, nearly the same milk as corn silage but with better components. Conventional dairy farms are finding that it is 90% cheaper for the seed to grow sorghum than corn silage and that is before we factor in all the fungicide sprays we have to put on corn but not sorghum. Corn stops growing at 85F, while sorghum grows to 105F – you get more growth out of the season. Deer hide in it and come out to eat the neighbors’ corn. Its natural prussic acid wipes out corn rootworms so corn can be planted the next year after without damage. It is direct harvested with one cut and with no grain you don’t have to expend extra cost and fuel for processing.
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April 2024 Maximize Dairy Output with Maximized Forage
Maximize Dairy Profit and Output by
Maximizing Digestible Forage Fiber Input
Milk prices are down and putting a squeeze between the dairy and the concentrate purchased to maintain milk production. One advantage of being around for a long time (when we milked mammoths) is that we have seen this before. It doesn’t make it any more pleasant. The early 1980’s were very hard times with many farms not making it. We had a repeat scenario in 2014 when grain prices went through the roof. We are seeing a version of this again in 2024. Ironically the breakthrough we had in early 2000 is still viable today.
March 2024 Optimizing Winter Forage
Optimizing Winter Forage Quality and Quantity
The winter is coming to an end much faster than normal years. People in New York say they had less winter than we did in Tennessee (8-inch blizzard – we rarely get 1 inch; and 9 below 0 temp-never that cold). In any case, the winter forage and the grasses are greening up and starting to roll. This is one of those years where you can move early (now) to get a jump on the season. The enormous amount of spring growth on both crops demands sufficient nitrogen and sulfur to optimize the yield and especially the quality. There are many ifs, and’s, and buts leading to the best nitrogen rate to apply in the spring. Recommended rates can be from zero to 250 lbs. of N/a. You can’t change what happened last fall, but you can use it to determine the optimum N fertilization.
January 24 Price of Ash in Forage
How much milk does your dirt support?
The title is simply looking at the amount of ash in your forage. Forage has minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and others that compose a portion of the ash measurement. Unfortunately, it also has a sometimes-significant amount of plain dirt mixed in during harvest. It is original dirt on the plant (raindrop splash, flooding), but mostly dirt incorporated from mower knives cutting too close and digging in the soil; dirt incorporated by tilted knife updraft, and dirt incorporated by tedders, rakes, and improperly run mergers.
August 2023 Why Winter Forage
Over the past 25 years, we have worked on focusing the management steps for high yield with triticale winter forage. These were summarized as recently as the July 2023 issue. While focusing on the trees, we missed talking about the whole forest – why winter forage? What initially started out as a cover crop, is now a premier forage in the normal part of crop rotation, for increasing number of dairy farms across the US and into Canada. Ironically, you still have all the cover crop benefits – but with the elevated management and high yields it is a cover crop with your benefits magnified. It is also one of the most profitable crops to grow.
July 2023 Getting High Yield Winter Forage
Winter forage is NOT harvested cover crop. A cover crop is a cheap seed that is tossed out and if it turns green is considered a success. Winter forage is selected for high yield and winterhardiness; deliberately planted on time with a drill and fall fertilized for maximum yield potential. The difference between the two in the spring is huge. The other difference is that with the higher level of management, the winter forage gives soil and environmental benefits equal to cover crops on steroids. The benefits are far above a simple “cover crop”.