Beth Spaugh

CCE Clinton County, NY

In addition to worrying about cows, the ice sheeting has caused concern about alfalfa. An already short forage situation may become worse. Here are some potential solutions.

Grass cut at the right time makes just as much milk as alfalfa makes. Put down 150 lbs/acre N (450 lbs ammonium nitrate, NH₄NO₃) at early green-up. Then cut this in mid to late-May depending on species. Get it just as it boots. "If you see the head, quality is dead." Grass moves from not ready to way past ready very quickly. Stop planting corn and cut your grass when the grass is ready. Then finish planting corn.

You can double the yields and boost the protein content on fields that are less than 50% alfalfa by putting down this early N. Follow 1^st cut with another 70 lb of N (210 lbs NH₄NO₃). Do the same after 2^nd cut if your are going to take a third cut.

Cutting on time before the grass heads out allows time for three cuts. Getting the first cut on time usually allows a good start to 2^nd cut before dry weather sets in.

Don’t worry about applying P or K fertilizer. Gras is not a heavy feeder on these. A light application of manure can meet any P and K needs.

Plow up winterkilled sods and immediately plant 25 lbs/acre of Japanese millet with 100 lbs/acre nitrogen. This will produce a crop with the energy value close to corn silage, but with17% protein. Tom Kilcer reports that farms that have done this have gotten a high quality feed that can sustain high levels of milk production and grow top quality heifers. The animals love the stuff.

The key for high quality is to harvest it the third week of July, no matter which part of the area you live in. It’s maturity is day-length dependent, not dependent on temperature or time in the ground. After the third week of July it heads-out and quality quickly deteriorates. The yield is dependent on the time between planting and the third week of July.

A nice benefit of Japanese millet is that since you don’t need herbicides, the harvest is the third week of July, you can replant the seedling that you lost this winter. If you are still short on feed, you can follow the millet with oats as a double crop, to be harvested in September or October.

Plow up the winter-killed sods in mid to late-July and plant 4 – 5 bu/acre oats with at least 100 lbs of N (or a heavy dose of manure immediately incorporated after spreading). This will be ready to harvest anytime from the end of September til the snow flies. The later you wait, the harder it is to dry for proper fermentation. Protein levels of 18 – 22% and energy levels comparable to corn silage are common with this method. Yields tend in the 1.5 to 4 tons dry matter depending on nitrogen and rainfall.

Plow up the winter killed alfalfa and put in a 70 (not 75, not 80, not 85, but 70) day corn at 40,000 plants/acre. Harvest in early August (probably, depending on planting date). If you use a non-atrazine herbicide program you can plant a winter grain for harvest next May, or re-seed these fields next spring.

If your are still seating feed supply, you can follow early corn silage with winter rye, winter wheat, or winter triticale for high quality forage in May, 1999. Harvested in the boot stage, these produce several tons of dry matter that, with proper nitrogen, can range 15 – 18% crude protein and NEL equal or better than haylage.

For this yield and quality, drill into minimally tilled corn ground in late August or early September. Use a small amount of starter fertilizer to get a good running start (a good start is necessary for a good finish). Left over corn starters will do the job at 20 lbs each of N, P, and K. Topdress as soon as you can in the spring (1999) with 50 – 75 lbs of N/acre.

Harvest in the boot stage. Wheat is the latest, and gives the longest harvest window. Rye is the earliest with the shortest window. Triticale is in between. Stage of maturity at harvest is more important than variety choice. After heading out, these are low quality at best.

Remember, the first year corn is really inexpensive to grow. Second year corn isn’t bad. Although you’d rather have stuck to your plan, maybe you can take advantage of this problem to improve your rotations.

My thanks to Tom Kilcer, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Rennselear County who had written newsletters that I was able to pull the above information from quickly.