By Chris Penrose
There have been numerous articles over the years in the Ohio Beef Cattle Letter about how to extend the grazing season and now is the time to consider those options. Today, I thought I would approach it from the amount of time and effort that will be required to extend the grazing season. I think one of the easiest ways to extend grazing, if you have the option, is to graze corn stalks. Rory Lewandowski has an article in the 11/2/2016 Ohio Beef Cattle Letter that explains the many benefits and issues of Grazing Corn Residue. If you have cows in good condition, you can get 30-60 days of grazing with crude protein as high as 8%.
Another option that is commonly used is to stockpile grass. Fescue and orchardgrass are common grasses in Ohio and both are good options. Orchardgrass should be grazed first as its quality and yield diminishes faster than fescue. I recommend grazing orchardgrass before the end of the year depending on the weather and your location. Fescue can persist well into the winter. In terms of time and effort, simply make a final clipping or grazing of a field, and let it grow and graze later in the fall or winter. The longer and earlier you begin stockpile, the more the yield will be and lower the quality. The addition of 50# nitrogen per acre will improve yield and quality. Urea is the most common form of nitrogen and if adequate rainfall is in doubt when applying, consider adding a urease inhibitor such as Agrotain®. Ammonium sulfate is also an option and can withstand some dry weather after applying but it is more expensive than urea.
The other options are small grains and brassicas (turnips, rale, kale, etc.). These require time to plant but can be a very good option. For example, several studies indicate turnips can yield five tons per acre in as little as 90 days. If you are low on stored forages, especially if you have some land that can be readily planted such as harvested wheat fields, this can be an option. Small grains such as oats and cereal rye will work as well. I group these crops together because many have used these in combination such as oats and cereal rye; oats and turnips; and oats, cereal rye and turnips. If you use this option, I would consider grazing turnips before temperature gets too cold (i.e. 15-20o). Cereal rye will persist through the winter and will green up early in the spring for early spring grazing.
Now that we are into July, there are many options to extend the grazing season and several can be started in the next few weeks such as stockpiling. Brassicas can be planted from mid-August to mid-September. Cereal rye can be planted in late summer and oats can be planted towards the end of July. Are there corn fields you can identify for grazing after harvest? In all situations, strip grazing will greatly improve utilization. We have several ways to extend the grazing season, now is the time to consider the options, and several may require very little effort which will also result in less time and effort feeding hay this fall and winter.
Source: osu.edu