Animal, Plant & Soil Science E9-2 Growing Forage Crops

1. Animal, Plant & Soil ScienceE9-2Growing Forage Crops

2. Interest Approach • Bring some dried fruit (e.g., apricots, cherries, and raisins) to class. Invite the students to eat some. Ask them if the fruit is as nutritious as fresh fruit. Ask why fruits are dried. Maneuver the discussion to animal feed, and then draw comparisons between dried fruit and forages.

3. Objectives • 1 Describe how forage crops are established and maintained. • 2 Identify pests that affect forages, and examine management practices that may be used to prevent or minimize damage. • 3 Determine the steps involved in the hay-making process, and identify equipment that is used in hay production. • 4 Describe the forage quality standards, and explain their importance. • 5 Identify equipment and structures used to handle, transport, and store forage products.

4. Terms • acid detergent fiber • balers • conditioners • crude protein • curing • dry matter content • hay making • hay rakes • in vitro dry matter disappearance • inverters • metabolizable energy • mowers • tedders • total digestible nutrients • windrow

5. How are forage crops established and maintained? • A plan for establishing forage crops and maintaining them is essential for achieving maximum yields.

6. How are forage crops established and maintained? • The forage grasses should be selected based on use and the climate in which the forage crops are to be grown. • Forage grasses can be established using a number of methods: seeding, sprigging, and specialized methods.

7. How are forage crops established and maintained? • Forage grasses can be planted into existing vegetation. • This method of establishment causes minimal soil disturbance. • Preparing a seedbed, which would include disking or plowing, is common for crops to be used as hay or silage. • Permanent pastures require yearly maintenance. • Nitrogen fertilizers are often needed for forage grasses. • Pesticide use, mowing, and irrigation may also be necessary.

8. How are forage crops established and maintained? • The first step in establishing forage legumes is the choice of legume. The legume chosen should be climate appropriate and should meet the consumer’s needs. Like forage grasses, forage legumes can be grown in prepared and existing seedbeds. However, it is important for the soil to contain rhizobia bacteria so nitrogen fixation can occur. Maintaining forage legumes is similar to maintaining forage grasses. Maintenance is determined by the needs of the specific field. Pesticide application, grazing, and mowing may all be used as maintenance activities.

9. What pests affect forages? What management practices are used to prevent or minimize damage? • Common forage legume pests include: • alfalfa weevils • clover leaf weevils • sweet clover weevils • variegated cutworms • grasshoppers • green cloverworms • potato leafhoppers • meadow spittlebugs • spotted alfalfa aphids • pea aphids

10. What pests affect forages? What management practices are used to prevent or minimize damage? • Common forage diseases include: • Bacterial wilt • Black stem • Yellow leaf blotch • Downy mildew • Target spot • Powdery mildew • Anthracanose • Rusts

11. What pests affect forages? What management practices are used to prevent or minimize damage? • Management of forage pests begins by selecting varieties with resistance to diseases and insects. • Selection is often the best control, but cultural practices can alleviate problems. • For instance, harvesting alfalfa early, when practical, is an effective way to minimize the risk of weevil damage. • Following a three-year rotation of alfalfa with row crops also reduces problems. • Herbicides and insecticides may be used to control some pests.

12. What are the steps involved in the hay-making process? What equipment is used in hay production? • Hay is an economical source of nutrients in livestock feed. • Hay making involves the cutting, curing, and storing of high-quality, nutritious feed. • Hay that is green, fine stemmed, free of weeds, and cut before it reaches full maturity makes the best quality hay.

13. What are the steps involved in the hay-making process? What equipment is used in hay production? • Most forage grasses and forage legumes can be used to make hay. • Soybeans and cereal grains are also used. • Hay can be a mixture of legumes and grasses or may be pure.

14. What are the steps involved in the hay-making process? What equipment is used in hay production? • Hay should be cut at the boot growth stage. • Cutting at this time will ensure the highest quality hay. • Some plants may produce several hay cuttings per growing season.

17. What are the steps involved in the hay-making process? What equipment is used in hay production? • Hay has to be cured before it is used. • Curing is the drying of hay to a moisture level that makes it safe for storage. • Hay should not be cut soon after rain or stored wet because it can mildew or may create a fire due to spontaneous combustion. • Hay should be baled or stored while it still has the sweet smell caused by the curing process.

18. What are the steps involved in the hay-making process? What equipment is used in hay production? • Cut hay can be conditioned to speed the curing process. • Conditioning is the crushing of the stems to allow moisture to evaporate more quickly. • Sunshine or artificial drying can be used to speed evaporation. After hay is cured, it is baled into small or large square bales or round bales. • The bales should be stored in dry areas, and hay that is stored outside should be covered.

19. What are the steps involved in the hay-making process? What equipment is used in hay production? • Machines of many designs are used for the different steps of the hay-making process. • Machines used include: • Mowers • Conditioners • Tedders • Inverters • hay rakes • balers

20. What are the steps involved in the hay-making process? What equipment is used in hay production? • Hay making begins with mowers that cut the forage. • Two types of mowers used to cut hay are sickle bar and disc or rotary. • The sickle bar mower provides a neat, clean cut of the forage and can be powered by smaller tractors. • The disc or rotary type mower is good to use when crops have lodged, but it requires greater power to operate.

21. What are the steps involved in the hay-making process? What equipment is used in hay production? • The conditioners roll and crimp the cut forage. • This step speeds drying. • Usually the conditioner is a part of the mowing machine. • By using rubber rolls or steel rolls, the conditioners break open the waxy covering over the hay stems and allow the moisture inside to evaporate more rapidly. • The flail, impeller, or tine conditioner machines cut the forage with a scuffing action, leaving a ragged cut.

24. What are the steps involved in the hay-making process? What equipment is used in hay production? • Teddersare machines that spread the hay on the field for better air circulation. • Inverters flip the swath over so the damp bottom is exposed to the sun and air for drying.

25. What are the steps involved in the hay-making process? What equipment is used in hay production? • Tedder

26. What are the steps involved in the hay-making process? What equipment is used in hay production? • Inverter

27. What are the steps involved in the hay-making process? What equipment is used in hay production? • Hay rakes gather and roll the partially dry hay into a windrow, which is a long row of cut hay. • Rolling the hay exposes the underside of the hay to the air and allows the baler to efficiently pick up the crop for harvest. • Three types of hay rakes are parallel bar, rotary, and wheel. • The parallel bar has the lowest amount of hay loss, particularly with legumes. • Rotary rakes can be used to rake or ted the hay • Wheel rakes operate at a higher speed than other rakes.

28. Hay Rakes Parallel Bar Rotary Wheel

29. What are the steps involved in the hay-making process? What equipment is used in hay production? • Balers gather the dried forage and compress it into bales that may be rectangular or round. • Bale sizes vary because of different machines. • Small rectangular bales weigh approximately 38 -40 pounds. • Round bales can vary from 500 to 2,000 pounds. • Some large rectangular balers make bales that weigh a ton or more.

30. Balers

31. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? • Variations in quality are common among feeds. However, forages vary more widely than grains and most other feedstuffs. • The U.S. Department of Agriculture has used the recognizable characteristics of quality in hay as a basis for determining the federal grades. • In 1985, hay quality designations were refined and established.

32. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? • The USDA formed the Hay Reporting Task Force to address the need to improve report uniformity and to enhance the effectiveness and quality of the Federal-State market news reports. • New guidelines were developed by the USDA to reflect changes in hay marketing nationwide. The changes in the classification help in comparing hay prices from one U.S. region to another.

33. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? • The updated USDA classification system reflects the best practices of the commercial hay industry. • However, since there is no official grading of hay, these classifications will become nonexistent for some portions of the hay market. • Widely accepted standards allow hay buyers and sellers to more efficiently negotiate sales. • Market news reporters from the USDA and the State Department of Agriculture are now using the revised guidelines in market reporting across the country.

34. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? • The test measurement most prominent in a grade area and visual characteristics are used to determine hay quality. • The guidelines will help in comparing hay processes from one U.S. region to another. • The same guidelines are given for alfalfa, alfalfa/mix hay, and grass hay.

35. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? • Hay quality designations are supreme, premium, good, fair, and low. • Supreme hay is of very early maturity and is pre-bloom, soft, fine-stemmed, and extra leafy. • The forage has very high nutritive and protein content. • The hay is excellent in color and is free of damage.

36. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? • Premium hay is of early maturity (e.g., pre-bloom in legumes and pre-head in grass hays), is extra leafy, and is fine-stemmed. • It has high nutritive and protein content. The hay is green and is free of damage. • Goodhay is of early to average maturity (e.g., early to mid-bloom in legumes and early head in grass hays). • It is leafy, fine to medium-stemmed, and free of damage other than slight discoloration.

37. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? • Fair hay is of late maturity (e.g., mid- to late-bloom in legumes, head-in grass hays, moderate or below leaf content, and generally coarse-stemmed). • Fair hay may show slight damage. • Low hay is of very late maturity (e.g., mature seed pods in legumes or mature head in grass hays) and is coarse stemmed. • This category could include hay that is discounted because of excessive damage, heavy weed content, or mold. • Defects are identified in market reports when using this category.

38. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? Methods of evaluating forages • 1. Physical inspection is the first step in evaluating forages. • 2. If at all possible, weigh the entire lot. Otherwise weigh several bales to obtain an average weight for the forage purchased. • 3. The color of the forage is important, but it is not a good indicator of digestibility.

39. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? • 4. A bright green color generally indicates that the forage was cut prior to maturity and was cured properly. Green is usually associated with good quality, while yellow, brown, and black suggest progressively lower quality forages. • 5. Nutritional content and digestibility of forages decline as they mature. Look for evidence of seeds; seed heads; and coarse wood stems, all of which indicate over-maturity. • 6. Quality variations between forage varieties are not usually as great as those among a single variety caused by management factors.

40. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? • 7. Forages should be inspected for impurities or foreign materials. • 8. Harmless impurities that seldom injure an animal include crop residue, sticks, dirt, rocks, and weeds. These lower quality and palatability. • 9. Harmful objects can physically injure an animal. Examples include nails, wire, and awned weeds, which can puncture the mouth, tongue, esophagus, or stomach.

41. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? • 10. Molds may produce toxins and odors. As a result, it is important to look for the presence of molds and to check or smell for musty or mildewy odors that indicate the presence of spores. • 11. Forage packaging influences difficulty in handling and storage. It also influences feeding losses and potential for spoilage.

42. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? Chemical analysis is the second step in evaluating forages. • Dry matter content (DMC) tells how much dry hay is in the sample. • moisture dilutes the concentration of nutrients so its important to always balance and evaluate rations on a dry-matter basis.

43. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? • Crude protein (CP) is the total protein (available and unavailable) in the forages as determined by the total nitrogen content. • Forages harvested at earlier growth stages will have higher crude protein than more mature forages • Shouldn’t be used as a sole indicator of quality

44. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? • Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF): Measures hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin which represents the fibrous bulk of the forage • NDF is negatively related to feed intake; a high percentage of NDF reduces feed intake. • A normal range is 30-60% on a dry matter basis.

45. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? • Acid detergent fiber (ADF) measures the highly indigestible and slowly digestible material in the forage • Measures the cellulose and lignin • Higher ADF values correlate to lower forage digestibility. • Normal range is 25-45% on a dry matter basis

46. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? • Relative Feed Value (RFV): A prediction of feeding value that combines estimated intake (NDF) and estimated digestibility (ADF) into a single index. • RFV is used to evaluate legume hay. • RFV is often used as a benchmark of quality when buying or selling alfalfa hay. • RFV is not used for ration formulation.

47. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? • Total digestible nutrients (TDN) refer to the sum of the energy values for the digestible protein, fats, and carbohydrates in the forage.

48. What are the forage quality standards? What is their importance? • Metabolizable energy (ME) is a measure of the amount of gross feed energy remaining after deducting for losses in animal wastes and gases.

49. What equipment and structures are used to handle, transport,and store forage products? • Handling forage starts when the crop has been packaged. • The process of transporting harvested forage from field to storage depends on the forage type. • There are a variety of ways baled hay is transported, depending on its size.

50. What equipment and structures are used to handle, transport,and store forage products? • 1. Small rectangular bales are handled in many ways. • Bales can be loaded on bale wagons or hayracks by hand. Bale ejectors, bale loaders, or accumulators can also be used. • At the storage site, small bales may be moved with bale elevators and conveyors. Bales can be dropped from the conveyor in a random stack or they can be stacked by hand.