Forage Focus: Using Stockpiled Fescue

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Agriculture and Natural Resources

One question that beef producers might be asking regarding stockpiled fescue is; when should stockpiled fescue be utilized? If fescue was last grazed, clipped, or harvested for hay in early August and has been stockpiling since that point, a considerable amount of plant material will have accumulated by the time by the time the growing season ends and plants go dormant. Work done in Ohio suggests that if stockpiling was started in early August with 50 units of nitrogen applied around mid-August, and assuming normal precipitation, it is not unreasonable to accumulate more than a ton and a half of dry matter, in fact, 3500 to3700 pounds/acre could be available. Even without nitrogen fertilization a ton or slightly more dry matter could have accumulated. Most cattlemen I have talked with regarding stockpiled fescue say they like to wait until after a couple of hard frosts before turning cattle in to the fescue because cattle will graze it better. This brings up a question of when to begin grazing stockpiled fescue.

Much of the tall fescue in our area is infected with an endophyte, a fungus that produces a toxic substance known as ergovaline. The endophyte and ergovaline are responsible for the reduced palatability of fescue during the summer months. The fescue toxicosis associated with ergovaline is responsible for elevated body temperatures, restricted blood flow to extremities and poor animal performance. It has been generally assumed that ergovaline doesn't pose a problem in stockpiled fescue, in part because the ergovaline seems to concentrate in seed heads and stockpiled fescue is vegetative. Yet, the fact that cattle don't really eat stockpiled fescue well until after a couple of hard frosts suggest there are still concentrations of ergovaline present in infected fescue that reduce palatability until after frost.

An article published in the Journal of Crop Science, volume 43 in 2003 examined ergovaline levels in stockpiled fescue over two winter seasons in Missouri. Previous research had suggested that ergovaline concentrations of 150 parts per billion (ppb) and higher were associated with symptoms of fescue toxicosis during winter months. This study found that there was a rapid loss of ergovaline after mid-December. In the two years of the study ergovaline levels fell below the 150 ppb level by early January in one of the years and by early February in the other year. Researchers suggested that the rate of ergovaline decrease may be related to temperature and rainfall levels. The year in which ergovaline levels declined the slowest was a warm, dry fall and winter as compared to the year when levels declined quicker. Colder temperatures may be associated with less growth allowing for earlier decomposition of ergovaline and it is thought that ergovaline also may be leached out of the plant with rainfall. The conclusion of the article was that since stockpiled fescue retains dry matter and quality throughout the winter, the best use of infected stockpiled fescue was during the late winter period.

A more recent study published in December of 2007 in the Forage and Grazinglands Plant Management Network examined, among other factors, the total ergot alkaloid (of which ergovaline is a part) concentration or endophyte infected fescue from December to March. This study was repeated over 5 years. The results showed an 81% decrease in the ergot alkaloid concentration from early December until early January. So once again, it appears that if the use endophyte infected stockpiled fescue can be delayed until into January, animal performance may be better.

Regardless of when the cattleman decides to allow cattle to graze stockpiled fescue, how the cattle are allowed to graze will determine how efficiently the grass is used. Cattle turned into a large area with unrestricted access to stockpiled fescue are likely to waste 60 to 70 percent of the forage due to trampling and manure deposition. In other words only 30 to 40% of the stockpiled forage is actually eaten. Grazing studies have shown that by restricting access to no more than a 3 day of forage, utilization can increase to levels in the 65 to 70% range. I've talked to some producers who manage even more intensely, restricting access to a one-day supply and they have bumped utilization up to around 80% or better. Research at the Missouri Forage Systems Research Center compared 14-, 7-, and three-day forage allocation strips on stockpiled tall fescue. Strip grazing on a three-day frequency yielded 40% more grazing days per acre than allocating a 14-day forage supply and produced the same level of animal gain.

A final point to keep in mind while managing the fence for stockpiled forage is that a back fence is not needed since the plant is dormant and not growing. This type of management will also help to reduce the amount of trampling and mud created.

Cutting Ash Content

SOURCE: Fae Holin, Hay & Forage Grower, February 2009

If you have clouds of dust trailing your rake, you’re probably adding unnecessary ash to your forage. That can lower its quality and, if it’s fed to dairy cows, the amount of milk produced, says Dan Undersander, extension forage specialist at the University of Wisconsin (UW).

A certain amount of ash is unavoidable. Grass plants contain about 6% ash, and alfalfa holds nearly 8%. But the harvesting and handling of hay or silage, on average, adds 4% more ash, for an average of 10-12% ash, according to UW-Marshfield lab results.
That’s about 2% too much, Undersander believes. Some results show even higher amounts of ash – one sample contained 18% ash, he says. “That guy was feeding 1 lb of dirt for every 4 lbs of hay. Do you think his cows produced a lot of milk? I suspect not,” he says. By limiting added ash to just 2%, “you’ve improved the quality of your product,” Undersander adds.

Here are his suggestions to meet that goal:

• Cut the crop at least 3-3½” high. “If you cut alfalfa shorter you get a little more tonnage, but as you go below 3”, especially when the soil is dry, you’re going to be picking up more dirt.”

• Change your disc mower knives from standard to flat. “The standard knife has a 14-degree angle and it creates a little vacuum. On first cutting when the ground is we, it doesn’t make any difference; on second and third, when the ground is dry, you can easily pick up 1-2% ash.”

• Switch from narrow to wide swaths if you haven’t already. “When you go to a wide swath, that swath stays on top of the stubble. If you make a narrow windrow it sinks down onto the ground, and when you pick up the windrow, you see a layer of dirt on the underside.”

• Keep rake tines from scraping the ground. “It’s worthwhile to have a level field,” he adds.

• Be careful when feeding out of bunker silos on bare ground during rainy weather.

“This is one of the reasons why we’ve always encouraged people to put their bunkers either on asphalt or concrete,” says Undersander.

Forage Analysis: Sampling and Interpretation of Results

Source: Ohio Beef Cattle Letter
Rory Lewandowski, Extension Educator, Athens County

This past summer's weather, while good for forage growth, was not conducive to making high quality hay. Farmers had to work around frequent rain showers and sometimes it was a question of delaying cutting while the forage continued to mature and lose quality, or cut and then watch as the crop was rained on. Either way, there is some poor quality hay that will get fed this winter.

The economics of feeding livestock are improved by matching the nutrient needs of the animal to forage quality. When forage quality comes up short of the animal's nutrient needs then the ration must be supplemented. The only way to really have a good handle on forage quality is through forage testing. Reliable results depend upon submitting a good sample. Here are some tips for collecting a hay sample:

* Use a hay probe to collect the sample. Reaching into a bale of hay with your hand and pulling out a sample is not accurate. A hay probe allows you to take a good cross section of the bale, getting a representative sample of both leaves and stems. Check with your county extension office about a hay probe. Many offices have one that can be signed out and used to collect a forage sample.

* Take cores from 15-20 bales within a lot of hay to get a more accurate average of hay quality. On large round bales, if the outer layer is weathered and not going to be eaten by livestock then pull away the weathered layer and sample from that point going in towards the core of the bale. It is important to try to mimic in your sampling what the animal is actually going to consume.

* A lot of hay can be determined by species, cutting date and location. For example, 1st cutting fescue hay vs. 1st cutting orchardgrass hay would be two different lots of hay, requiring two different samples submitted for testing. A first cutting orchardgrass hay baled on May 20th vs. a 1st cutting orchardgrass hay baled on June 20th are far enough apart in quality that separate samples should be submitted even though both are 1st cutting. A 1st cutting hay baled from a high fertility field vs. a 1st cutting hay purchased from a neighbor's rarely fertilized field should be considered as two different samples even if the hay was cut and baled about the same time and has similar species.

* As you sample, empty the forage cores into a plastic bag. Usually a 1 quart ziplock bag works well. Make sure the bag is clearly labeled. If you are sampling silage or baleage and there is going to be a time lag between sampling and delivery to whatever office may be sending off the sample for analysis, then refrigerate or freeze the sample.

What kind of forage analysis do you need? A basic forage analysis that I recommend for most livestock owners includes moisture content, crude protein (CP), Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF), Total Digestible Nutrient (TDN) content, and Net Energy (NE). For dairy producers who may want to pay more attention to Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) when balancing a ration, or for anyone who wants more forage quality information, then the next level of forage analysis provides all the information in the basic forage analysis plus Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF), Digestible Dry Matter (DDM), Dry Matter Intake (DMI) and Relative Feed Value (RFV).

Once the results of the forage analysis come back you need to be able to interpret the results and make some sense of the numbers. We'll start with a simple definition and explanation of some basic forage quality terminology.

* Moisture content: No forage is 100% dry matter, even though animal intake, nutrient requirements, forage nutrient contents and rations are based on 100% dry matter so that forages can be compared equally with one another. The moisture content can also tell you something about the quality of that forage. For example, if the moisture content of a large round bale is above 15%, or a small square bale above 18%, there is likely to be some storage and mold problems.

* Crude Protein (CP): This figure is the nitrogen content x 6.25. Protein is needed for amino acid production and growth. Livestock nutrient requirements are based on a percentage of the diet composed of CP, or a given weight of CP that needs to be consumed each day.

* Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN): TDN is used as a measure of energy. It is calculated from the ADF percentage. Often livestock energy requirements are stated in terms of percent of the diet that should be TDN or in pound of TDN that should be consumed per day.

* Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF): This is a measure of the amount of hemi cellulose, cellulose and lignin contained in the forage. NDF is inversely correlated with intake, that is, as NDF levels increase, intake decreases.

* Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF): This is a measure of the amount of cellulose and lignin contained in forage. ADF is used in digestibility calculations and is inversely correlated with digestibility.

* Relative Feed Value (RFV): This is a calculated value, using the percent digestible dry matter (DDM) and dry matter intakes (DMI), which themselves are calculated values that use ADF and NDF. RFV is generally used to compare forage quality between lots of hay. Full bloom alfalfa and grass hay at the seed head stage will have a RFV around 100.

While the ADF figures for quality are similar between legumes and grasses of equal maturity, the NDF content of grasses is significantly higher than the NDF content of legumes of a similar maturity. When I see grass hay NDF levels that are above 70 I know that intake of that forage will be limited and rate of passage through the rumen will be slow.

Of course, while a forage analysis may be interesting in and of itself, the real value is using the results to balance the livestock ration. Guessing about the need for supplementation can be expensive. For more information about forage sampling, testing and interpretation of results, contact your county extension office.

Moldy Hay

This year’s weather made harvesting hay difficult to say the least. In many instances, hay was damaged by rain between cutting and harvesting. This has lead to an influx of calls with the question “is moldy hay safe to feed to cattle?” Moldy hay has been fed to cattle as long as we have had machinery to harvest hay. So does that mean that it is safe? The short answer is not really.

Moldy hay can contain mycotoxins that will results in poor animal performance and sometimes death. Tests can be ran for mycotoxins, however, a standard (affordable) test only tests for a few of mycotoxins that exist. Furthermore, mycotoxins may be patchy. There may only be 1 out of 10 bales contain a deadly mycotoxins making it very difficult to detect when sampling. Even if a mycotoxins test results are negative, the only assumption that can be made is that the sample submitted did not contain mycotoxins that could be found from the test. As a standard rule of thumb, it is not advisable to feed moldy hay. So what should be done with moldy hay?

The safest option would be to land apply the hay as a fertilizer where there are no cattle grazing. A ton of fescue hay contains approximately 35 pounds of nitrogen, 18pounds of phosphorus and 50 pounds of potassium.

Many farmers have gotten by in the past by limiting the amount of moldy hay fed to cattle. Like all things, the dose makes the poison. Hay that contains small amounts of mycotoxins can be diluted with other non-moldy grain and hay and animals will perform at or near optimal performance if the ration is balanced accordingly.

Balancing Rations for Dairy Herds

Despite the previous two years of drought, plentiful rains this summer have allowed farmers to produce a bumper crop of corn for both silage and grain. Now with corn silage and other forages harvested, dairy producers are turning their attention to planning fall and winter feeding programs. To determine an economical and effective dairy feeding program, there are a few important steps you should follow.

The first element in creating a fall or winter feeding program is testing your available forages for nutrient content. When taking forage samples, be sure to collect a representative sample of the forage being fed. Hay samples should be collected using a hay probe from 20 different bales per field and cutting. Combine samples in a bucket and place a pint size sample in a resealable plastic bag to be sent to a forage testing lab. Corn silage samples should also be collected from multiple sites on the face of a bunker silo or throughout the length of the silage bag. Silage from upright silos should be collected after the silo has been opened unless samples were collected during harvest. It is best to keep your samples out of direct sunlight and avoid prolonged exposure to heat. If you would like to get your forages tested free of cost, give me a call at the Extension Office. Forage testing is being offered as a free service by the Adair County Ag Development Council.

Once you receive the analysis results, forages should be allocated to different cattle based on their quality. The best quality forages should be fed to the early lactation cows, if grouped together. If they are not grouped together, the best quality forages should be fed to the group with the greatest number of early lactation cows.

Forage testing results should also be used to balance rations. With corn prices down from last year, grain mixes designed to complement the quality and type of forages being fed should be more economical this fall. Contracting a year’s supply of grain mix is one way to lock in the price of grain mix over the upcoming months.

Rations should be balanced for the milking herd, as well as the heifers and dry cows. By balancing rations for heifers, feeding is more economical and still enables optimal growth to allow heifers to enter the milking herd around 24 months of age. Well designed and economical feeding programs can also give dry cows a good start to their next lactation and prevent health problems after calving. Ration balancing services are offered by the Adair County Cooperative Extension Service. Rations are balanced based on economics, availability of forages, and production levels.

For more information on forage testing and creating a fall feeding program, contact the Adair County Cooperative Extension Service at 384-2317.