I hope you take more time evaluating what forage species and variety of that species should be purchased than the time taken to buy a vegetable at the grocery store.
Keith Johnson
A couple of weeks ago I had conversation with several State of Indiana Farm Service Agency (FSA) employees.
The weather forecast is desirable for rain the next several days. The following are considerations to heed to improve forage growth and inventory of stored feed for ruminant livestock and equine if the forecast holds true. Inventory current forage resources and routinely determine how much more forage, other than what you have at time of assessment, might be needed to get to spring grazing in 2024. If forage inventory continues to be low despite a return for more usual rainfall, strategize a plan to avoid the stress of an immediate crisis. Keep in mind that hay purchase can be expensive if delayed until late winter. The following link has many points of consideration. (Beef Management Practices: When Forages are in Short Supply Because of Drought). Scout pasture for weed species present and develop a control plan if they are competing with desired forages and/or are poisonous concerns. An excellent resource[Read More…]
This week, the calendar transitioned from spring to summer. Lack of rainfall in most of Indiana has unfortunately continued to be a concern to vegetation wellbeing, pastures included. You likely were told to clean up all the food on your plate when you were a child sitting at the kitchen or dining room table. That was a good recommendation to reduce food waste and to make sure the dollars earned by your parent or guardian were not “thrown in the trash”. Consider this – If the soil in the pasture is the plate and the forages growing in the soil is the food on the plate to be eaten, having livestock, analogous to the child at the table, grazing the soil bare of vegetation is a concern. The figure below found in “Forages Volume 1 – an introduction to grassland agriculture” is an excellent illustration of what happens to[Read More…]
National Forage Week (June 18 – 24) is concluding this week. The leadership team of the Indiana Forage Council, a not-for- profit organization (www.indianaforage.org), decided it was important to share on the council’s Facebook page the contributions forage crops provide the world. If you did not see the daily posts, they follow. Celebrate every day with an appreciation for all that forages do for the world. Have some ice cream and a hamburger. It is a great indirect way to eat forages!
It is that time of year when the yew (pronounced like the letter “U”) is likely in need of a trim to look best as a landscaping plant. Yews have been used as a common landscaping shrub or small tree for decades. They have closely spaced, glossy, rather tough, dark green, linear pointed-end leaves that are 1.5 – 2 inches long. Hard-to-see male and female flowers are found on separate plants and form fleshy red to yellow fruits that contain a single seed. Many plants have poisonous compounds that can cause all kinds of concerns, and even death, if consumed. The interactions that I have had with veterinarians, suggest that the yew is right at or near the top of plants that cause livestock death. A disheartening scenario is when yew trimmings are thrown over the fence by the livestock owner or neighbor thinking that the trimmings would make a[Read More…]
You don’t see birdsfoot trefoil in many Indiana pastures. This perennial legume is in full bloom now with obvious bright yellow-orange flowers.
Managing pasture properly requires much skill, just like any agronomic crop.
This past week warm late-spring temperature and lack of moisture was apparent in Indiana.
Want to learn how to improve grazing utilization? Attending a day and a half grazing school will be a great start to improving pasture utilization by your livestock.
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