AG CORNER: Stretching hay supplies

Winter/Spring months always make cattle producers nervous about feed availability required to meet beef cattle dry matter intake requirements. This year seems to have been difficult to even run equipment out to feeding areas because the ground has been so saturated in many parts of the state with mud being a constant challenge. Now is a good time to evaluate how your feeding plan worked.

Hay required to overwinter a cow should have been estimated relatively easily. The calculations are based on cow weight and the expected number of days you planned on feeding. In my scenario I’ve got March spring calving cows that weigh 1,200 pounds. Let’s assume the plan was to start feeding hay in December and finish by April 1. This is 120 days that we would plan on feeding hay or overwinter. The bales were purchased measuring 5’x5’ weighing 1,100 pounds with a nutrient analysis of 10 percent CP and 58 percent TDN which would meet most dry cow’s requirements.

Cow’s requirement will be approximately 3 percent of her body weight. Hay waste is always another factor to consider how much is required. Research conduct by Oklahoma State University and Dr. Lalman have evaluated different hay feeders to get an estimate of the amount of waste. This estimate only assumes the feeding loss and not storage losses which could increase the overall estimate. It was estimated that the most economically priced feeder showed losses of near 21 percent with other more efficient basket models hitting 5 percent.

Analysis #1

1,200 pound x 3 percent = 36 pounds of Dry Matter Intake per cow

36 pounds x 120 days = 4,320 pounds/cow of forage needed to over-winter

1,100 pound bales x 21 percent waste = 231 pounds of waste or 869 net consumption per bale.

4,320 pounds/cow ÷ 869 pounds of net consumption per bale = 4.97 bales/cow.

Did you have this plan for 2018-19? If the answer is no then we’ve got to figure ways to improve efficiencies or supplement with alternative feed sources.

Consider feed supplements with protein to improve digestibility of the low quality forage that is being consumed.

Consider limiting access to the amount of time cows have access to hay. Although not a good option for already-thin cows or heifers, limit-feeding can reduce intake by 20-25 percent. The reduction can be accomplished by limiting hay access to six hours/day or providing a reduced daily allotment of flakes or unrolled hay. This limited access minimizes weight or condition score changes.

Analysis #2

28 pounds x 120 days = 3,360 pounds/cow of forage needed to over-winter

3,360 pounds/cow ÷ 869 pounds of net consumption per bale = 3.8 bales/cow.

All feeding situations require a plan and hopefully this helps provide another tool to consider how efficient you can manage your beef cattle operation.

Managing Prairie Threeawn in Pastures

I have received numerous questions regarding Prairie Threeawn control for southern Oklahoma. I generally begin to answer the question by “you’re probably not going to like what I have to say.” Prairie Threeawn is a very common grass growing in many of our pastures and range sites. It is also known by other unaffectionate names such as “old-field threeawn” “ticklegrass” or “wiregrass.” In some fields it appears to be the dominate species present. This annual shortgrass is named for its habit of establishing in old hay fields, abandoned crop fields or deserted oil well locations. It can become easily established under adverse conditions. It is what we refer to as an indicator grass, pointing to deteriorated range sites that are either heavily eroded, routinely overgrazed, or lacking in nutrients. Prairie threeawn is practically useless as a forage grass. It is unpalatable, difficult to chew, very low in quality and the seeds can get into in the eyes of both cattle and sheep and cause eye problems.

Chemical Control – Unfortunately, there are no good herbicide options labeled for the control of threeawn. About the only chemical that can be legally applied is glyphosate, and it is nonspecific, killing most species of green grass or forbs it contacts. In the 80’s a product called atrazine was labeled on pastures that seemed to have some impact on threeawn, but it has been removed from the label. Glyphosate can be applied at 8oz/ac in a bermudagrass pastures but not in native pastures.

Prescribed fire – There is an older research article from Kansas State University that indicated producers could get reasonable effective control of threeawn by doing a prescribed fire in the fall of the year on native range. The best results were with a burn in November. The theory is to burn the seeds off the plant while they are attached to the stems. By waiting until December decreased the level of control because the seeds detached from the plant and fell to the soil surface.

Fertility – If the cause of the threeawn in the first place was low fertility, then it’s likely to come right back unless a correction to fertility takes place. In most instances, the critical lacking nutrient in threeawn areas is phosphorus (P). 18-46-0 (DAP) is a good source of phosphorus fertilizer in deficient soils. In bermudagrass pastures, we recommend that you fertilize according to soil test recommendations to encourage the bermudagrass stand to thicken and cover. A 100 lbs per acre or more of DAP will meet the P needs of this year’s crop and maybe start building back some residual (P) in the soil. Manures, chicken litter, stall cleanouts and similar products are another good source of phosphorus.

In native grass pastures, we don’t usually recommend fertilizing because there is rarely enough production to justify the cost. If you have threeawn in native areas do you have any options? First, it did not get in the shape it is overnight and it will take some time to recover. If threeawn is encroaching strongly consider grazing instead of haying. Use a light stocking rate and allow a rest period for recovery during the latter part of the growing season. Feed hay or put feed troughs during the winter in the worst threeawn areas. The extra manure and organic matter will help over time. There is not a quick fix for Prairie Threeawn control in pastures. It will take time to recover and an integrated management approach must be practiced in order to manage this annual grass.

Spring Management in Wheat

Overall the wheat coming out of winter looks to have a good potential for grain production. The region has had decent amounts of rainfall over the past 180 days, ranging from 10 to 18 inches. Planting date has proven to have played a critical role in wheat pasture this year. Early sown wheat has produced very well, while late sown wheat has remained small.

While some of the wheat has remained small, it has produced a viable root system and has continued to develop new tillers this spring. When assessing wheat fields for grain yield potential, it is best to start by evaluating the stand. Past research at OSU has shown that at least 60 heads per square foot is ideal to produce max grain yield. Using a little math, that would equate to 38 tillers per foot of row when on 7.5 inch row spacing.

Since many producers have adequate soil moisture and viable stands, there will be a good potential for wheat to respond favorably to additional inputs. For an example, if a pound a nitrogen costs about $0.50 and it increased yield by only one bushel the return on investment is there. Even at low grain prices, $3.93 is over 7 times more than the $0.50 spent on fertilizer.

In addition to topdressing nitrogen, disease management has shown to have good yield savings over the years. If applied timely, most commercially available fungicides have had good yield protection in OSU field trials. If only one application is budgeted, it is best to apply late and protect the flag leaf. Long-term data typically average about 10 to 20 percent yield increase compared to no fungicide.

The OSU variety trial near Lahoma has evaluated more than 50 wheat varieties with and without a fungicide applied around the boot to flagleaf growth stage. Some varieties had good rust resistance and had little to no benefit to a fungicide application, while others had yield reductions of 20 to 40 percent. Including all varieties, there has been a 16.5 percent average increase in grain yield over the past five years.

The disease has to be present to save yield with a fungicide application. Knowing whether or not your wheat variety has good tolerance or resistance to leaf diseases is another factor to be considered. At the current wheat prices, if the wheat has a yield potential of at least 30 bushels per acre, then more than likely it will be economical to apply a fungicide.

Timely field scouting is the only way to determine if a pest is present and if an application of an herbicide, insecticide, or fungicide is warranted. The only way for one of these pesticides to protect yield and have a positive return on investment would be knowing what pests are present and knowing how much yield potential can be saved if applied correctly.

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