2011 will go down in many farmers’ minds as one of the most frustrating years in their farming history from the standpoint of the beating that nature has thrown at them. Floods, extreme dry, hail, insects, and disease, we have had them all. As I visit farms, the one thing that has struck me is the farmers who are weathering the disasters the best have focused on, and continue to focus on, the basics. Yes, they had a down year, but they will survive.
Tom
September, 2011 / Late planted winter forage
What can I plant for this fall harvest?
Is it to late to plant winter triticale for forage quality better than BMR corn?
What can I plant to harvest this fall for emergency forage?
Nothing – it is to late for that other than grazing some of the winter grains and possi-bly ryegrass. What you can do is to apply 50 – 75 lbs/a of nitrogen (40-0-0-4S) on your grass and mostly grass hay fields. With the rain and cool conditions, it is perfect for growing quality grass and will give you the highest amount of forage in the shortest possible time.
Winter Triticale Forage
Winter triticale does double duty as a cover crop while producing high-quality forage (2 to 4 ton/acre dry matter harvested at flag leaf stage). Winter triticale for forage has several benefits: (1) early harvest allows for double cropping with short season corn, teff, soybeans, or sorghum x sudangrass; (2) the ground coverage in the fall and spring protects highly erodable land (HEL) and results in takeup of nutrients that otherwise might be lost to the environment; (3) when harvested at pollination will produce 25 to 30% more straw yield than rye; (4) red clover can be planted when triticale is seeded (if planted before September 5 in New York) or frost seeded; (5) establishment in August and harvest in May allows for manure spreading outside of the regular growing season and under conditions that are more favorable for manure spreading.
August, 2011 / Dealing with This Crazy Season
When you are up to your butt in alligators, remember you are there to drain the swamp. The crop season this year has been one of extremes. Some areas were very dry, others were very wet, and many were both – wet spring, dry summer and now swamped fall. The forecast for the fall is not good as the Northeast is slated to
move into a cool and wet phase (in addition to the hurricane dump).
July, 2011 / Fields Not Planted? Last Chance Cropping
It is now July, well past corn planting. What do we do with the fields that we still have not planted yet? Unless you are desperate for high energy forage, it is getting to late for even BMR Sorghum Sudan. You might get one cutting by the beginning of September. There are several, better options still open.
June, 2011 / Corn Silage after June 15?
As the graph at right shows, by June 15, there is little grain produced on corn silage. Grain that is produced will be wet and very high in sugars, setting marginal rations up for bouts of acidosis, feet problems, low production, and abuse of nutritionists. You are harvesting nearly all stover.
May, 2011 / Dealing with The Wet
The Northeast US and Canada are sitting under their own personal rain cloud. A number of farms are facing a corn crop half planted and hay crop ready to harvest and little or no sun in the forecast. The more successful farms are using one pass minimum tillage or one pass deep zone tillage that is set for shallow (6 inch) depth. That allowed them to slip in acreage on the few sunny days. Those who took advantage of fall killing their sods are successfully no till planting.
April, 2011 / Fertilize Grasses and Winter Triticale NOW!
Yes, the cost of nitrogen is up, but not as much as the cost of soybean meal. Dairy animals need protein, and you can either buy it or grow it. If you check back on the January 2011 newsletter on the web site, you will see that it is cheaper to grow protein in forage, especially with legumes. When we checked in 2001, it was cheaper to grow protein than buy soy. Our recalculation in 2011 shows the same. Keep in mind that the graph presented has all the cost being borne by the protein in the plant. Both legumes and grasses have 85 – 90% of the energy level of corn silage if harvested correctly.
February, 2011 / The Ugly Duckling Forage
Red clover has the reputation of an ugly duckling. “Isn’t that the wet slop we quit growing a number of years ago?” Unfortunately, because of this attitude, many farms are attempting to grow alfalfa on ground that will not support alfalfa. The stands only last 1 – 2 years before they thin to less than 50% legume and expensive nitrogen additions are needed to keep the field productive (note: I did not say profitable).
January, 2011 / Finding Profit In Dairy Farming
First low milk price, then as it started to increase, the cost of grains have shot through the roof. How do you get your income out of this cost price squeeze? To maximize production, dairy cows need a balanced nutrition meeting their protein and energy needs, in an effective fiber mix, at lowest cost, while the
animal is in a comfortable environment.