Forage Management on Small Acreages

1
Forage Management on Small Acreages

• Agronomic aspects

2
Livestock Requirements

• Water
• Food
• Shelter
• Living area

3
Agronomic Questions

• Soils - What do you have?
• Species selection - What do you want?
• Establishment - How do you get it?
• Weed control - How do you get rid of the other?
• Vegetation management - How do you keep it where
  and when you want it and use it.
• Ecology - How it all fits together.

4
Soils

• First decision on species/variety selection
• Texture Clay, loam, silt, sand
• Chemical
• Physical
• Soil Test
• pH
• P K
• Nitrate (?)

5
Species Selection

• Annual vs. Perennial
• Cool vs. Warm season
• Bunch vs Sod (grasses)
• Legume vs. Nonlegume (Forb)
• Native vs Naturalized

6
Annual vs. Perennial

• Annual requires reseeding
• Greater seed production.. quick ground cover
• both cool and warm season available.
• Perennial- longer life, individual plants more
  likely to survive,
• Seed production varies, slower, but permanent
  ground cover.

7
Cool vs. Warm season

• Cool season forage growth in fall and early
  spring, seed production in late spring and early
  summer
• Warm season forage growth in spring through the
  summer, seed production from June to November
  (very species dependent)

8
Bunch vs Sod

• Sod grass prostrate, sod forming. higher ground
  cover, but poorer infiltration.
• Bunchgrass upright, tiller driven, lower ground
  cover, better infiltration.

9
Legume vs. Nonlegume

• Legumes Net nitrogen producers, generally very
  high quality. Native and naturalized species
  available
• Nonlegumes Net nitrogen users forage quality
  varies. Perennials are usually very deep rooted.
  More warm season species available for use (?)

10
Native vs Naturalized

• Native Acceptance by livestock not always known.
  Most are not resistant to excessive defoliation.
  Difficult to get quality seed
• Naturalized Acceptant by livestock, many are
  abuse tolerant. Seed sprig supply generally
  plentiful and of good quality.

11
Recommended Species

• Grasses
• Legumes

12
Recommended Native Bunchgrasses

• Switchgrass (Alamo/Caddo)
• Indiangrass
• Big Bluestem
• Eastern Gamagrass (Pete)
• Little bluestem
• Sideoats grama
• Mixtures of the above

13
Recommended Naturalized Bunchgrasses

• Johnsongrass
• Kleingrass
• Caucasion Bluestems
• Lovegrass
• Tall Fescue (?)
• Bluegrass (?)

14
Sod grasses

• Buffalo
• Bermuda
• Dallis
• Bahia (?)

15
Annual crops

• Haygrazer, Millet
• Wheat, oats, rye and ryegrass
• Soybeans, cowpeas for forage

16
Native Naturalize Legumes

• Bluebonnet
• Illinois Bundleflower
• Mimosa

17
Introduced Legumes

• Clovers
• White,
• Arrowleaf
• Crimson,
• Berseem,
• Other legumes
• Alfalfa,
• lespedezas Japanese, serecia, etc

18
Establishment

• Species selection What to plant
• Planting Date
• Seeding Rate How much
• Seeding Depth How deep to water
• Planting Method
• Erosion control
• Fertilization What is needed
• Weed Control Reduce Competition

19
Species Selection

• Plant what fits your soil
• Determine the livestock you want
• Select native species that are found no more than
  50 miles west and 100 miles north, south and east
  (lots of exceptions)
• What do you want? (qualitative)
• What can you afford (economic)

20
Planting Date

• Cool season grasses and most forbs are planted in
  the fall (Sept. - Nov.) some opportunity exists
  for early spring (Feb 15 to March 15) plantings
• Warm season grasses and some forbs are planted in
  the spring (late March to late May). Plantings
  after June 1 are risky without irrigation.

21
Seeding Rate

• Species dependent Generally 20 to 80 K plants
  desired per acre (1/2 to 4 plants/ft2)
• Increase seeding rate as demands or hazards
  increase
• Decrease species seeding rate with mixture (total
  seeding rate increases)
• Seed quality dependent base seeding rate on pure
  live seed calculations
• PLS(germ hard seed)purity

22
Seeding depth

• Best is planted to moisture (field cap.)
• Considerable species variation (switchgrass)
• The bigger the deeper
• (4 to 8) seed diameter
• 1/4 to 1/2 . Not more than 3/4
• many small seeded plants (lt 1/8 ) can be surface
  planted, if soil moisture is or will be adequate.

23
Planting Method

• Seedbed preparation
• Prepared Seedbed
• Sod or minimum till
• defoliation
• desiccation
• Seeding method
• drill
• drop
• broadcast

24
Effect of planting and and light disking on
forage production by April 1 of ryegrass
overseeded on Bermudagrass, Winnsboro, LA
25
Chemical Desiccation of Dallisgrass Sod
26
Erosion Control

• gt60 ground cover required for erosion control
• Erosion is a storm event not a season event
• Prevention the steeper the slope closer to
  water, the more important the effort
• Use of a companion crop often advisable
• greensprangle top with bunchgrass
• Wheat or oats with white clover or alfalfa

27
Liebergs Law of Limits
28
Fertilization

• Grasses need nitrogen soon after germination
• Legumes need phosphorus
• Avoid nitrogen with legumes
• Species variation huge
• Both need K and other nutrients
• Soil test

29
Weed Control

• Chemical
• and
• Non Chemical

30
Life Cycle

• Annual Seed germinates, plant grows, flowers and
  seeds out in one growing season (crabgrass)
• Biennial Seed germinates, plant grows, then
  reproduces in following year (onion)
• Perennial Seed germinates, and plant lives and
  reproduces for several years (bermudagrass)

31
Keys to weed persistence

• Seed crop size
• Seed hardness
• Nutrient Reserve in the tap root
• Defenses (resistance to grazing)

32
Weed Control Methods

• Chemical
• Mechanical
• Biological
• Crop Competition
• Crop Rotation
• Fire

33
Chemical Weed Control
34
Chemical Weed Control
35
Mechanical Weed Control

• Burial
• Cultivation
• Mowing

36
Burial

• Placing soil or mulch or other material over the
  reproductive organ
• Effective with seed
• Ineffective with plant parts (bulbs , rhizomes,
  etc.)
• Destroys perennial crop

37
Cultivation

• Works in row planted crops, ineffective in
  broadcasts
• Destroys root system of weed
• Deep cultivation may hurt crop
• Deep cultivation may bring up buried weed seeds
• Expense (?)

38
Mowing

• Effective on tall growing annual weeds (redroot
  pigweed)
• Ineffective on short growing perennial weeds
  (dallisgrass)
• Little benefit for current years forage program
• Timing is critical

39
Biological

• Defoliation, desiccation of disease
• Insect No known control
• Mammals Possible

40
Biological
41
Biological

• Effectiveness determined by the preferred diet of
  the vector (grazer) and susceptibility of target
  weeds to predation (animal acceptability) and
  defoliation
• Economics varies with vector acquisition costs
  and market value of vector

42
Effect of N Rate, herbicide and covercrop on weed
production
43
Crop Competition

• Long term solution
• Often the most economical
• Requires compatible and useable crops
• Maintenance of proper soil fertility levels is
  required

44
Crop Rotation

• Replacement of one crop with another
• Works best with annual crops
• Usually not economical in perennial forage crops
  (bermudagrass) but may be feasible with alfalfa
  or johnsongrass

45
Fire

• Earliest recorded form of forage management
• Multiple benefits (residue removal, control of
  spring weeds, increased infiltration)
• Effective on young annual weeds
• Ineffective on many perennial weeds
• Timing is critical and target species dependent

46
Fire

• Fuel load is critical
• 1500 lbs./ac minimum
• 3000 lbs./ac optimum
• Optimum weather conditions, winter headfire
• RH 25 - 40
• Air temp 70-80oF
• Wind speed 8 - 15 mph

47
Fire

• Optimum weather conditions, winter backfires
• RH 40-60
• Air temp 40-60oF
• Wind speed 5 - 8 mph
• Minimum mineral fireline width
• 8 1/mph

48
TACB Regulations for Prescribed Burns

• Wind speed 6-23 mph
• Burn period 9a - 5p
• Location outside city limits
• Border 300 ft from residential, commercial,
  recreational or industrial properties
• Burns cannot be conducted when air temperature
  inversions are predicted

49
Fire

• Red flag for winter burns
• Wind speedgt20 mph
• RHlt20
• air tempgt 80oF
• May damage crop plant
• VERY RISKY, HIGH LIABILITY
• Not recommended to most producers

50
Prevention

• Minimize soil disturbance
• Keep fence lines, feed areas, etc. mowed
• Feed purchased hay and feed in weedy areas
• Keep wildlife crop (system) vigorous and
  competitive

51
Vegetation Management

• How to keep what you want, where you want it and
  when you want it

52
Why

• Livestock Diet Quantity and Quality
• Rejuvenation of the sward
• Germination of seeds
• Weed control
• Reduction of liability (fire, pest, etc.)
• Looks bad

53
Forage

• Leaves age reducing quality and photosynthetic
  efficiency
• Bottom leaves are the oldest
• Nutrients transferred to seed and carbohydrate
  reserve
• best to maintain an LAI of 4-6

54
Sward Rejuvenation

• Grasses and legumes require some defoliation for
  sward health maintance.
• Old plant die and litter prevents new plants from
  establishing
• Non defoliation leads to shrub and trees
  dominating the system

55
Seed Germination

• Seeds require infrared light to germinate
• Litter blocks infrared light
• Establish plants compete very effectively with
  new seedling for light, water and other nutrients

56
Weed Control

• Removal of undesirable plants
• Chemical and nonchemical methods to be used

57
Liability

• Fire
• Vermin
• Disease
• Insect
• Weeds

58
When to defoliate

• When conditions are favorable
• When target plants can afford to loss the
  protection
• When target seeds need to germinate
• Before livestock needs the forage

59
Bermudagrass and Ryegrass Growth Curve
60
Defoliation Methods

• Grazing/feeding requires adequate numbers
  controllable vectors
• Mowing leaves a residue
• Disking disturbs the soil
• improved seed germination
• erosion
• Fire complete residue removal

61
Carbohydrate Management

• Carbohydrates (TNCs) are the products of
  photosynthesis
• Plant part removal and regrowth requires
  utilization of TNCs.
• Depletion of TNCsPlant death
• Reproductive organs are sites of TNCs
• Consumption and defoliation deplete Plant TNC

62
Carbohydrate Management

• Consequently vegetation management is
  Carbohydrate Management
• Minimize TNC depletion of target plants
• Maximize TNC depletion of weeds
• Utilize growth curve knowledge for timing
• Keep forage vegetative for browsers/grazers
• Keep plant reproductive for seed

63
Vegetation Management

• Goals
• Wildlife food and shelter
• Sward rejuvenation and restoration
• Results cross purposed goals
• Dont do all microsites within a wildlife unit
  during the same time or at the same time each
  year.

64
Prairie Ecology

• Plant production
• Species
• Fertility
• Growth Curve
• Weather
• Reproduction
• Sward Compostion

• Animal production
• Requirement
• food
• water
• shelter
• living area
• Behavior
• Stocking rate
• Species
• Reproduction
• etc.

65
Animal Production
66
Ecology

• Balancing act
• What helps one hurts another
• Maximize niches
• Shelter areas
• Water areas
• Food areas

67
Examples

• Long strips of Shelter belts surrounded by
  foraging strips
• Checkerboard alternating squares of forage and
  shrub/ trees
• Islands of shrubs/trees circled by forage
• Mixtures of tall and short grass
• Mixtures of adjacent mown and unmown plots

68
Summary

• Maximize plant numbers and diversity over time
  and space by carbohydrate management
• Maximize animal numbers and diversity over time
  and space by vegetation management
• Start with a small number of target plants and
  animal, increase over time