hayandforage.com
November 2021
A staggering alfalfa challenge pg 10 NAFA Alfalfa Variety Ratings center insert
Double-stock tall fescue pg 32 Published by W.D. Hoard & Sons Co.
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Count the stems
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November 2021 · VOL. 36 · No. 6 MANAGING EDITOR Michael C. Rankin ART DIRECTOR Todd Garrett EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Jennifer L. Yurs ONLINE MANAGER Patti J. Hurtgen DIRECTOR OF MARKETING John R. Mansavage ADVERTISING SALES Kim E. Zilverberg kzilverberg@hayandforage.com Jenna Zilverberg jzilverberg@hayandforage.com ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Patti J. Kressin pkressin@hayandforage.com
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W.D. HOARD & SONS PRESIDENT Brian V. Knox
A family that hays together stays together On this Ohio farm, family and employees are one in the same as they grow, harvest, store, and deliver forage to area dairy farms.
EDITORIAL OFFICE 28 Milwaukee Ave. West, Fort Atkinson, WI, 53538 WEBSITE www.hayandforage.com EMAIL info@hayandforage.com PHONE 920-563-5551
DEPARTMENTS 4 First Cut 16 The Pasture Walk 20 Dairy Feedbunk 22 Feed Analysis 24 Forage Gearhead
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Alfalfa establishment that breaks the mold
28 Alfalfa Checkoff 36 Beef Feedbunk
Nevada hay growers run a fair game
These two Wisconsin dairymen don’t necessarily follow the book on alfalfa establishment.
The Nevada Hay Growers Association provides its members a hay-selling peace of mind.
37 Machine Shed 46 Forage IQ 46 Hay Market Update ON THE COVER
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A STAGGERING ALFALFA CHALLENGE
HAY MOISTURE AT WRAPPING AFFECTS QUALITY
LEADER-FOLLOWER GRAZING TARGETS NEED
RULES ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN
A CHALLENGING YEAR FOR FORAGE SEED PRODUCTION
DOUBLE-STOCKING FESCUE IS “LOWHANGING FRUIT”
MAKE SORGHUM SILAGE THE BEST IT CAN BE
STEMS PROVIDE KEY TO REPLACING ALFALFA STANDS
SORTING OUT SNAPLAGE
USE RESIDUAL FEED INTAKE TO IMPROVE EFFICIENCY
In this issue of Hay & Forage Grower, you’ll find a lot of emphasis on alfalfa. Included is the National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance’s 2022 Alfalfa Variety Ratings booklet. There are many factors that go into profitable alfalfa production, and choosing site-appropriate, top-notch genetics ranks high on that list. Take advantage of this information before greasing the drill. Photo by Mike Rankin
HAY & FORAGE GROWER (ISSN 0891-5946) copyright © 2021 W. D. Hoard & Sons Company. All rights reserved. Published six times annually in January, February, March, April/May, August/September and November by W. D. Hoard & Sons Co., 28 Milwaukee Ave., W., Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin 53538 USA. Tel: 920-563-5551. Fax: 920-563-7298. Email: info@hayandforage.com. Website: www.hayandforage.com. Periodicals Postage paid at Fort Atkinson, Wis., and additional mail offices. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Free and controlled circulation to qualified subscribers. Non-qualified subscribers may subscribe at: USA: 1 year $20 U.S.; Outside USA: Canada & Mexico, 1 year $80 U.S.; All other countries, 1 year $120 U.S. For Subscriber Services contact: Hay & Forage Grower, PO Box 801, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 USA; call: 920-563-5551, email: info@hayandforage.com or visit: www.hayandforage.com. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to HAY & FORAGE GROWER, 28 Milwaukee Ave., W., Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin 53538 USA. Subscribers who have provided a valid email address may receive the Hay & Forage Grower email newsletter eHay Weekly.
November 2021 | hayandforage.com | 3
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FIRST CUT
A sweet growing season
W Mike Rankin Managing Editor
HILE in high school, I got a job on a dairy farm near our home in northeast Ohio. It was common for farms in that area to have large woodlots, which provided supplemental income in the form of maple syrup. On this particular farm, the goal was to make about 400 gallons of syrup each spring. For those uneducated in the art of syrup making, it takes about 50 gallons of sap from a sugar maple tree to produce 1 gallon of pure maple syrup. By my calculations, it took about 20,000 gallons of tree sap to make those 400 gallons of syrup. By the way, that stuff you buy in the grocery store is not really maple syrup but something more along the lines of tinted sugar water. To collect the sap, we didn’t use tractors because they rutted up the woodlot roads that meandered through the trees. Rather, we used a team of two horses to pull a wooden sled that was equipped with a galvanized tank for sap containment. Make no mistake, this was hard work — hard work for the people and hard work for the horses, as it often took the entire day and then some to collect sap during a “good run.” Unlike hay baling, sap collecting is done in rain, sleet, snow, and hail. Even when it wasn’t raining, a person routinely got a sap bath from mishandled buckets. In those days, the official uniform of a sap collector mirrored that of a Maine lobster fisherman — rubberized from head to toe. By late afternoon, the horse team would be dragging . . . barely putting one hoof in front of the other. I felt sorry for the brutes as I took the reins one more time and moved on to the next array of brimming sap buckets. After the last load of sap was delivered to the evaporator, I’d take the team and head them up a considerable slope toward the barn. The two horses, which just minutes before were moving slower than the loser of a nursing home potato sack race, would see the barn at the top of the hill and amazingly be transformed into Kentucky Derby thoroughbreds coming down the home stretch. All I could do was hold on to the reins and hope the giant equines decided to stop somewhere close to the barn doors rather than in the adjoining rural subdivision. During this short stint of sulky racing madness, animal
control was no longer top of mind, nor was it possible. Taking its place was preservation of life (mine, not the horses’). Once in the barn, unbridled, and provided with adequate feedstuffs, the horses offered a sigh of relief from the front and a sigh of something else from the rear. I obliged with the same and went on to start the milking chores. For some days and weeks, survival becomes the end game. That’s also true for just about any growing season. From the time plants start greening in the spring until the time cows are turned out on cornstalks, physical, mental, and financial fitness are hopefully as good or better at the end as they were at the beginning. It’s never easy because in between there are a lot of sap bucket baths, uncontrollable horses, and countless hours of hard work. Some of you reading this suffered through horrific drought conditions this past year. Yes, there are those times when the sap doesn’t run at all. Others have dealt with buckets of relentless sap — sans the sucrose. Such is life in the food production woodlot. I have a friend with a hay farm in Arizona, and he has done nothing but complain about too much rain this year even though he farms on the desert. In his case, he simply prefers to control the sap flow. In the sugar bush, the spring air temperature eventually warms, the syrup turns dark, and the sap quits running. At that point, you can only look back, be thankful for what you got, chuckle about the sap baths, feel relieved the horses are going out to pasture, and know that you survived another syrup marathon with new lessons learned. Another growing season is in the books — hope yours was sweet. Have a blessed Thanksgiving. •
Write Managing Editor Mike Rankin, 28 Milwaukee Ave., P.O. Box 801, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 call: 920-563-5551 or email: mrankin@hayandforage.com
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Front row (L to R): Larissa, Colton, and Angela Friedel Middle row (L to R): Taylor Travis, Ashley and Jon Comment, and Jamie Friedel Back row (L to R): Dewey Herne, Austin Huffman, Matt Mulligan, and Jamie Nofziger
All photos: Mike Rankin
A FAMILY THAT HAYS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER 6 | Hay & Forage Grower | November 2021
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by Amber Friedrichsen
I
F YOU find yourself stuck in a pack of vehicles cruising down State Route 15 near Bryan, Ohio, odds are you’ve just entered Friedel Family Farms territory. On that road and others, you can expect to see crew members behind the wheel of a mower, chopper, or merger. Each of the Friedels were assigned to one of these pieces of equipment on the day of my visit, scattered in alfalfa fields and working in perfect harmony with one another. Literally and figuratively speaking, the Friedel’s hay production is family-driven. Jamie Friedel, his wife, Angela, and their three adult children, Ashley, Larissa, and Colton, farm approximately 2,300 acres of alfalfa with the help of several additional employees, including Ashley’s husband, Jon Comment. Five other full-time workers and eight additional seasonal helpers aren’t related by blood, but the Friedels treat them as if they were. The group demonstrates an easygoing nature, yet work together as efficiently as one of their well-maintained haymaking machines.
Seed-to-feed The Friedels were grain farmers for many generations but transitioned to producing hay in 1988 when Jamie was a young man. Initially, Jamie found himself making small square bales for horse owners. However, as more and more dairies established in the area, he began producing, storing, and delivering hay to local dairy producers. “Quite a few dairies were being built around here 20 years ago,” Jamie said. “They started asking for big square bales, so we started doing that, but eventually we began chopping it because it’s a lot easier and more reliable than doing dry hay.” Jamie’s youngest daughter, Larissa, works long days alongside her father and is fully engaged in the farming operation. After graduating high school in 2017, Larissa began farming full-time and knows the family business like the back of her hand. She explained the daily routine of delivering hay to the surrounding dairies, which the Friedels consistently supply. “We will have two to three loads per
Friedel Family Farms harvests about 2,300 acres of alfalfa each year. The feed is stored in bags and then delivered to area dairy farms on a 36- to 48-hour rotation.
day to deliver, hauling to different places,” Larissa said. “We don’t ever let a dairy run out, so we keep them on a 36- to 48-hour schedule. Their nutritionists are always redoing the ration, so sometimes they need more and sometimes they need less.” On the Friedels’ farm — beyond their house, backyard, and machine shed — are rows of white silage bags chocked full of haylage and corn silage lined up on an extensive 400 feet by 520 feet gravel-based pad. The pad has room for 26 of the 14-foot silage bags. Every few feet, the outside of the bags are spray painted with the date and field location. Jamie uses this filing system to pull forage samples so he knows the quality of the hay and can sell it accordingly. The Friedels predominately grow alfalfa, but they also have nearly 500 acres of row crops. Jamie has recently been trying to incorporate other grass species, such as meadow fescue, perennial ryegrass, and Italian ryegrass, into the alfalfa. He hopes this will improve fiber digestibility. None of the Friedels’ crops contain transgenic traits because one of their dairy customers ships to a non-GMO (genetically modified organism) processor. Jamie prefers to direct seed in the spring, seeding a robust 25 pounds of alfalfa per acre. First cut usually takes place in mid- to late May, and subsequent cuts take place every 28 days.
The Friedels operate a Claas triple mower, two Claas 980 choppers, and an Oxbo 40-foot merger. If Mother Nature cooperates, they can cut hay five times before the end of their season. To combat the consequences of dry conditions, approximately 800 acres of the Friedels’ land is irrigated. The center pivots can be controlled with the click of a button or by using a cellphone touchscreen. The latter function comes in handy when chopping is underway, and pivots need to be moved to accommodate field activities.
Hay day A typical day for the Friedels during hay season starts early in the morning, but they must wait for their fields to rid themselves of morning dew. Although patience is a virtue, you won’t catch anybody standing around. The Friedels take advantage of this time to keep up with machinery maintenance and make morning haylage deliveries to dairies. “The mornings usually start a little slow because we have to check everything out,” Larissa said. “It’s easier to get up early and go haul a load. Then usually we get in the field, and we are ready to roll.” One afternoon in late May, all hands were on deck to complete the first cut of the year. Larissa and her loyal canine continued on following page >>> November 2021 | hayandforage.com | 7
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Angela Friedel operates the bagger. The farm’s storage pad is large enough to locate 26 14-foot silage bags.
companion, Rosie, breezed through acres of alfalfa in the triple mower. Her older sister, Ashley, showed up eager to help despite already clocking in a full shift as a mail carrier that morning. Just across the highway, another one of the Friedel’s fields was striped with swaths of hay cut the day before. Other members of the crew revved their engines to engage in the next steps of production. Jamie’s 20-year-old son, Colton, manned the merger, combining three swaths of cut hay into one. Behind Colton was Matt Mulligan, one of the Friedel’s full-time employees, who sat in the chopper’s seat. He has been working for Jamie for many years — so long that Ashley and Larissa say they don’t have a memory without him being around. “Matt has been a good friend and neighbor since he was little,” Jamie said. “We have always thought of him as family and our kids used to think he was their uncle for the longest time. He’s a really good mechanic and chopper operator, and we would have never grown to where we are today without him.” Alongside the chopper, trucks took turns being filled with chopped hay. Jamie’s wife, Angela, was at home waiting for the trucks to arrive. She sat atop the Versa 1014 silage bagger ready to add more haylage to the farm’s inventory.
A side of tater tots The Friedel’s alfalfa doesn’t go exclusively to their dairy customers. At the peak of their property sits a newly built freestall barn, and another lies just downhill. The two barns house roughly 900 dairy heifers that the family custom
Larissa Friedel began farming full time after high school. Here, she’s shown cutting alfalfa. Larissa is also responsible for the farm’s custom heifer raising enterprise.
raises for one of their dairy customers. At about 700 pounds, the cattle are shipped from the dairy to the Friedels’ farm. The family is responsible for feeding and breeding the heifers and returning them to their original location after they are seven months pregnant. Jamie said they are bred using Angus bulls. The cattle stay comfortable in the clean, well-ventilated barns. When it’s time to eat, they stick their heads into the aisle to feast, but there is more on the menu than just hay, corn silage, and feed refusals from one of the dairy farms: dinner is served with a side of potatoes. Peelings, chips, and whole spuds are delivered to the Friedels from a potato chip factory and used as a part of the heifer ration. “At first I didn’t want to do it because they looked rough and smelled kind of tough,” Jamie said. “But the cattle love it, and they will fight over the potatoes. I am really impressed with it — and it adds starch to the ration, which saves on corn silage.”
Like father, like daughter Larissa can be found in the field from sunup to sundown, and her work ethic shines through the windows of the tractor cab. Most of the responsibilities of heifer raising fall on her as well, and she is knowledgeable about and attentive to the customer’s cattle. She enjoys both aspects of farming and hopes to remain a leader of the Friedels’ opera-
tion for the foreseeable future. In addition to her help on the farm, Larissa recently began selling seed. Through this enterprise, she is making connections and developing new ideas. Similar to her father, Larissa is interested in testing different crop mixtures for feed rations. Making sales and venturing to other farms inspires her to consider new possibilities for her own family’s operation. “There are a lot of people I sell seed to who are rotationally grazing and use different species, so it’s neat to see the ideas they come up with and watch if their cattle like it or not,” Larissa said. “I kind of let them be the guinea pigs, and then if I like their idea, I want to try it, too.” The Friedel’s reliable reputation for feed production, storage, and heifer raising can be attributed to their dedication to work, but equally important has been their dedication to each other. Both attributes help paint a bright future picture for the operation, even if traffic occasionally gets slowed on State Route 15. • AMBER FRIEDRICHSEN The author served as the 2021 Hay and Forage Grower summer editorial intern. She currently attends Iowa State University where she is majoring in agricultural communications and agronomy.
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A staggering alfalfa challenge Figure 1. Yield-quality trade-off over the first two harvests. The scatter is due to cutting and seasonal effects (data: Yolo Co., Calif.). 2.5
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HOULD I go for maximum yield or maximum quality? For generations, alfalfa growers have wrestled with this quandary. Although weather is a major factor, harvest schedule is often the most important determinant of both forage yield and quality. It is well known that high-quality alfalfa hay results in improved milk production. On the economic side, while price per ton is dependent upon quality, return per acre is largely affected by yield. Both are affected by maturity of the crop at harvest. Maybe some growers don’t care what their yields are and only want high quality, but I haven’t met one yet. Unfortunately, with alfalfa, rarely can yield and quality be maximized at the same time. High yields with delayed cuttings typically result in reduced quality, while harvesting early for high quality almost always results in lower yields. The yield-quality tradeoff is a big challenge and an age-old problem for forage growers. A dataset where we harvested every few days over about 40 days in a farmer’s field illustrates this tradeoff in cuttings one and two in the Sacramento Valley of California (Figure 1). Yields within a growth period ranged from about 1/2 ton per acre to over 2 tons per acre while neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content ranged from less than 19% to over 43%. These fiber levels encompassed the full range between quality classes of Supreme hay of about 33% NDF, to Fair or even lower at over 42% NDF. Protein and digestibility similarly declined over that period. When estimated over a single year or multiple years, we can still see this yield-quality tradeoff (Figure 2). A 35-day cutting schedule resulted in over a 2 ton per acre advantage versus a 24-day schedule over three years and averaged across 18 varieties. However, much of the hay harvested over this three-year period was considered medium or low quality, while the early harvesting strategy resulted in much higher quality hay. In this area, cuttings typically ranged between five and eight cuts per year.
NDF (%)
by Dan Putnam
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Days Many growers resolve this issue by splitting the difference and choosing an intermediate yield and quality, hoping for adequate returns per acre while producing good quality for dairy production. Usually this results in harvest at late bud or early bloom periods, or by scheduling harvests at about 28-day intervals. This has the advantage of predictable schedules for planning purposes. However, is this the best strategy? A 28-day harvest often results in disappointing forage quality during high-temperature spring and summer periods while also compromising yields. In our study, the 28-day schedules also resulted in a significant number of harvests classified as non-dairy (Fair and Good) hay over the three-year period (Figure 2). The 24-day schedule improved quality significantly, but yields were quite a bit lower than either the 28-day or 35-day schedules.
A third factor If that were not complicated enough, harvest schedules also have a profound effect on long-term stand persistence. Early harvests almost always result in stand losses, something that has been confirmed over years of field studies in many parts of the U.S. In the study cited previously (Figure 2), the 24-day harvest schedule resulted in the plant population of alfalfa vari-
eties almost completely disappearing after only three years. For the 35-day schedule, all varieties still had excellent stands in year three and were capable of several more years of production. That makes a large difference economically, since a six-year stand carries lower costs than a three-year stand. So, how do we resolve this yield-quality-persistence trade-off issue?
Go long It has been recommended for years by forage agronomists to “go long” at least once or twice per year to replenish root reserves, allow recovery from frequent cuttings and wheel traffic stress, and allow for subsequent healthy regrowth. Additionally, in irrigated regions, growers could make sure the crop is well-watered during that longer growth period to make up for water deficits that may have accumulated. Such a strategy means that growers would need to accept the lower quality that results
DAN PUTNAM The author is an extension forage specialist with the University of California-Davis.
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Does this concept hold water? Recently, we completed two years of a harvest schedule study at the Kearney Research and Extension Center in Parlier, Calif. In this trial, we examined three schedules: normal (28 days), late (35 days), and staggered (35 days followed by 21 days). This resulted in about five cuts per year for the late schedule versus about seven to eight cuts per year for the normal and staggered plots. All crops were irrigated once per week to meet the full evapotranspiration (ET) requirement of the crop. We had eight varieties, including reduced-lignin types. If this concept works, it should work for both conventional and reduced-lignin varieties. The staggered schedule virtually guarantees some cuts to be high quality and some to be lower quality over the season. The average quality of the harvests was superior in the normal and staggered schedules compared to the late schedule. Fiber content was lower and protein concentrations were higher in the early and staggered schedules. Interestingly, the staggered schedule resulted in an average NDF digestibil-
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33.0% 21.9%
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ity that was somewhat higher than the normal schedule, and certainly higher than in the late schedule (Figure 3). Yields in the first two years were superior in the late schedule versus the early and intermediate for the staggered strategy. Stand persistence will be evaluated in 2021.
22.8% 19.8% 23.3%
Late 35 d (5 cuts)
Figure 3. Effect of cutting schedule on alfalfa NDFD averaged across varieties and two years (data: Parlier, Calif.). 42
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Three- to four-cut systems We have found similar results in studies conducted by our late and dearly missed colleague Steve Orloff in the Intermountain Region of California. Delaying the second cutting in this shorter season environment nearly always resulted in superior returns. In an analysis of economic returns over a 10-year period, comparisons of three- versus four-cut systems (threeyear dataset) indicated that yields nearly always were more important economically than quality. Strategies such as delaying second cutting in a three-cut system improved yields and economic returns. In the delayed second cutting treatment in the three-cut system, both forage quality and yields were improved. We have seen that 28-day schedules in hot summer periods often fail to produce dairy-quality hay sufficient to satisfy nutritionists, and also reduce yields. So, why not “go long” to improve yields during those cuts and replenish root reserves? Economic returns are a major consideration since both yield and quality impact gross returns. In our studies, yields were still the most important economic factor. Balancing this yield-quality-persistence challenge as related to harvest
High Quality
16.1%
NDFD (%)
Put to the test
Figure 2. Yield-quality trade-off. Average of all cuttings and 18 varieties over three years (data: Davis, Calif.).
Yield (t/a)
from the extended days to harvest. This could be called the “staggered” harvest schedule, where an individual field would be alternatively harvested short and long over the season. This could be easily accomplished on farms that have many fields by alternating the sequence of fields. For example, on a farm with eight fields, instead of using a harvest order of A-B-C-DE-F-G-H on first cut and second cut, a farm might harvest A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H followed by E-F-G-H-A-B-C-D on cut two, then back to A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H on the third cut. This is likely to naturally extend the harvest schedule on some fields while shortening it on others. The on-the-ground reality is that growers have a hard time keeping everything on schedule anyway since it takes some time to get across multiple fields. This staggered approach has the goal to produce a stream of high-quality and moderate-quality hay throughout the growing season. It’s been our observation that growers are unable to attain high quality on every cutting, even if that’s their intention. So, using this strategy, a grower could reliably produce some high-quality alfalfa along with some of medium quality.
40 39
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Columns followed by the same letter are considered statistically similar at P <0.05.
schedules is not easily resolved, and most growers choose a middle path, which often compromises yield and quality as well as persistence. However, this may not be the best solution, since sometimes longer or shorter schedules may be superior to a regular harvest schedule. A “staggered” approach, which allows some individual cuts to “go long” for improved yields and replenished root reserves for stand longevity, is suggested. This may require a little higher management level but provides a steady stream of both high- and medium-quality hay products over the season. • Acknowledgements: Many thanks to Brenda Perez and Steve Orloff for their contributions to these datasets. November 2021 | hayandforage.com | 11
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Triumph over weeds.
When you unleash the full profit potential of your hayfields, that’s a win. Rezilon® herbicide provides hay producers a new mode of action to control unwanted grasses and broadleaf weeds for high-quality hay each and every cutting. Combined with its wider, more flexible application window that includes fall timing, Rezilon is an unbeatable preemergence herbicide. Take the first step toward victory, visit Rezilon.com. © 2021 Bayer Group. Always read and follow label instructions. Bayer, the Bayer Cross, and Rezilon are registered trademarks of Bayer. Not all products are registered in all states. For additional product information, call toll-free 1-800-331-2867. www.environmentalscience.bayer.us. Bayer Environmental Science, a Division of Bayer CropScience LP, 5000 CentreGreen Way, Suite 400, Cary, NC 27513.
ON THE CUTTING EDGE
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uality matters to eastern Alabama hay grower Mahlon Richburg. If his hay gets hit with even a sprinkle of rain, he refuses to sell it.
utilization in hay and forage production. In fact, when applied according to label directions, producers could see a higherquality forage produced during their first harvest.
The retired ag teacher raises Angus cattle and sells hay to horse customers from his farm in Lee County.
“I’m just excited to see an option that I have personally been able to watch over three or four years,” Richburg says. He treated all of his fields for ryegrass in the fall and plans to treat again this winter to control crabgrass next season.
“The horse customer is looking for hay that has a bright color to it or a green color to it. They’re looking for hay that doesn’t have dust in it. They’re looking for hay that doesn’t have weeds in it. They’re looking for hay that hasn’t been rained on,” Richburg says. “If it gets a sprinkle of rain or a shower of rain on it, then we keep it and feed it to the cows.”
“
Over four years ago, a new herbicide caught his eye during a test plot tour. The bright-green grass stood out from the others. When Rezilon® herbicide, the product from the test plots, became available, he used a demonstration sample to control crabgrass on his farm.
“The most troublesome weed that we have right now is crabgrass,” Richburg says. “We have been spraying for a number of years with a product that offers some control, but it’s primarily early season control and it didn’t last throughout the year. But we’ve been trying to control crabgrass for excited a number of years.”
I’m about this product, and part of it is because I’ve watched it all these years.
The new herbicide provides better hay quality by controlling summer and winter annual broadleaf weeds and grasses. Richburg left a strip in the middle of a field untreated when he applied the product last February. The results, he says, are very obvious. “I took a picture on my phone, and it’s just like you drew a line right there,” he says. “I’ve had some people ask me about Rezilon herbicide, and I show them that picture. It’s on my phone. And it’s pretty vivid. It’s just night and day.” Indaziflam is an innovative active ingredient that primarily targets broadleaf and annual grass weeds in established bermudagrass. With indaziflam, Rezilon herbicide provides hay producers with a new mode of action for effective weed control. By eliminating weeds, Rezilon herbicide also helps to increase fertilizer and water
ALWAYS READ AND FOLLOW PESTICIDE LABEL DIRECTIONS. Bayer EnvironmentalScience, a Division of Bayer CropScience LP, 5000 CentreGreen Way, Suite 400, Cary, NC 27513. For additional product information, call toll-free 1-800-331-2867. www.environmentalscience.bayer.us. Not all products are registered in all states. Bayer, the Bayer Cross and Rezilon® are registered trademarks of Bayer. ©2021 Bayer CropScience LP. VM-1021-REZ-0108-A-1
”
Rezilon herbicide has long-lasting residual activity for extended control of weeds throughout the season. For best results, it should be applied well before weed emergence. A late winter (January-February) application can control weeds and improve quality later this spring.
Once applied, Rezilon herbicide can sit on the soil surface for some time with no degradation from sunlight while waiting on rainfall for activation.
Overall, the herbicide controls more than 60 broadleaf and annual grass weeds, including species that have developed herbicide resistance, such as ryegrass. Using Rezilon herbicide as directed also reduces the time and money hay growers would otherwise need to spend on additional herbicide applications. Ready to raise the quality of your hay production? Get ahead of spring and summer annual weeds. Scan the QR code for more information and find us online at Rezilon.com.
ALFALFA ESTABLISHMENT THAT BREAKS THE MOLD S
EEDING alfalfa in the spring, with or without a small grain companion crop, remains the popular approach for stand establishment in much of the northern United States. Throw in those farmers who prefer a late summer seeding strategy, and that catches just about everyone. Recently, there has been some extensive research evaluating the possibility of successfully seeding alfalfa under a corn crop that will be harvested for silage. Some growers have been experimenting with this system on a limited basis and are having reasonable success (see “They think out of the box” in the February 2019 issue of Hay & Forage Grower). In the rolling hills of western Wis-
consin, several dairy producers have sought ways to establish alfalfa while still maintaining ground cover to protect their highly erodible soils. One of those farmers is Corey Leis, who farms with his father, Wayne, near Cashton, Wis. For more than a dozen years, Leis has successfully established alfalfa by spring seeding into a developing stand of cereal rye. Following a corn silage harvest, he no-tills winter rye seed using a 15-foot Great Plains drill. Leis cuts his planting rate to 80 to 85 pounds, which helps reduce future plant competition with the alfalfa. “In the spring, there’s about a week to a week and a half window to get the alfalfa seeded,” Leis noted. “If the rye is too short, the no-till drill beats it up too much; if it’s over 12 inches, then there’s too much material to deal with.
We like to drill when the rye is about 3 to 4 inches tall, but it will work up to 8 inches,” he added. Seeding alfalfa into an existing rye crop was an idea brought to Leis by one of his neighbors. “Now,” Leis said, “there are several dairy farmers in the neighborhood that are routinely using the practice. Compared to using spring oats as a companion, you have cover for erosion control so much faster with the rye. Also, the rye comes off earlier than a spring-seeded cereal.”
Cut before heading Although Leis cuts back on his rye seeding rate, he doesn’t seed the alfalfa any differently than when he seeds with a spring oat companion crop. “We seed about 17 pounds of alfalfa to the acre, and that includes the 34% seed
Corey Leis has been establishing alfalfa in the spring by no-tilling into existing stands of winter cereal rye.
Mike Rankin
by Mike Rankin
14 | Hay & Forage Grower | November 2021
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A different approach Like Leis, Joe Bragger seeded his alfalfa into cereal rye during the spring for about four years. “We quit doing it not because it didn’t work . . . it did . . . but because I saw an opportunity to grow more summer annuals,” said the second-generation dairy farmer from Independence, Wis. Bragger farms 1,400 acres along with his wife, Noel, and brother, Dan. The son of Swiss immigrants, Bragger is an experimenter. “I’m willing to give just about anything a try,” he chuckled. The Bragger farm is a series of valleys and hillsides. Forage cover is important, if not critical, for profitability. “I decided several years ago that I really wanted to maximize the energy I got out of grasses and rely on alfalfa for protein,” Bragger explained. “I could only do that if I managed my cereal rye
Mike Rankin
An old row of cut cereal rye can be seen between alfalfa plants on the Leis’ farm. The rye should ideally be 3 to 4 inches tall when the alfalfa is seeded.
and summer annuals for maximum yield and quality.” On fields where alfalfa is to be established, Bragger seeds cereal rye immediately after a corn silage harvest, cuts and chops the boot-stage rye the next spring, and then plants brown midrib pearl millet. He takes a cutting of millet 45 days after planting, and then another 30 days after the first cutting. It’s at this point in mid-August that the millet is sprayed out with glyphosate, and alfalfa is established for the next year. “It just stays so cool up here early in the season that it takes alfalfa forever to really get going with a spring seeding,” Bragger said. “Also, I like to seed some endophyte-free tall fescue with the alfalfa, so I don’t use Roundup Ready varieties,” he explained as a reason why a late-summer seeding is a better fit for their system. “We hold to a pretty tight crop rotation,” Bragger noted. “One hundred acres of new alfalfa seeding goes in every year. We keep fields for two production years and then in the third production year will only take the first cutting. At that point, corn is immediately no-tilled into the alfalfa sod. At any one time, we have 100 acres in transition with rye, millet, and new seeding and 200 acres of established alfalfa,” he added. Bragger also grows about 180 acres of Unified and Enogen corn for silage to help feed his 400-cow dairy herd that is housed at three different locations in the area. His remaining acres are cash cropped with corn and soybeans.
With space at a premium on a farmstead that is surrounded by hills, Bragger layers his bunkers with chopped alfalfa, rye, and millet. “It would be nice to have separate piles, but we just don’t have the space. The layering works well, especially if you can time out the rye and millet harvests with the alfalfa,” he explained.
Mike Rankin
coating,” the third-generation dairy farmer explained. Leis tries to ensure that the rye gets taken off before it heads out. This benefits both the alfalfa underneath and his ryelage forage quality. He likes to harvest when the rye is between 65% and 70% moisture. “If it gets too dry, it packs like a sponge,” Leis said with a smile. After the rye is off, the fields are allowed to regrow for a short time and then sprayed with glyphosate to terminate any residual rye regrowth. “We get two cuttings of alfalfa during the seeding year and then keep stands for another three to four production years,” he said. “For the past two years, we’ve been seeding HarvXtra alfalfa varieties and want to see if we can get by with a three-cut per year system,” Leis noted. “I’m hoping that will extend stand life even longer and reduce some harvesting costs.” He hopes to have all of his alfalfa acres seeded to HarvXtra varieties within the next two years. The Leises farm 1,800 acres of tillable land, which includes 650 acres of alfalfa and 300 acres of corn silage. They feed their 400 milking Holsteins a ration that consists of 45% alfalfa haylage and 55% corn silage. The ryelage is used to feed heifers. “Our successes and failures with seeding alfalfa into cereal rye are no more or less common than on the acres where we use an oat companion crop,” Leis said. “On our rolling ground, we just like having cover at all times, and this system helps us do that.”
Joe Bragger likes to keep a tight rotation of corn, winter rye, summer annuals, and alfalfa.
The keys to successful alfalfa establishment have remained steadfast for decades: good seed-to-soil contact, proper planting depth, and a heaping portion of help from Mother Nature. In recent years, however, some of the traditional methods of how and when these get accomplished are being challenged by both farmer and researcher. Especially in these times of extreme weather events, having establishment options can’t help but be a good thing. • November 2021 | hayandforage.com | 15
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THE PASTURE WALK
LEADER-FOLLOWER GRAZING TARGETS NEED
M
ANY livestock farms and ranches have different classes of livestock on pasture at the same time of year. Separating stock classes on the basis of their nutrient requirements makes sense. For example, a conception-to-consumer beef operation may have cow-calf pairs, replacement heifers, growing stockers, and finishing animals. These different herds all have unique nutrient requirements for optimal performance. We generally think in terms of finishing animals or dairy stock as having very high energy requirements. Growing yearlings and early lactation females have high energy requirements. Late lactation and replacement females have moderate energy requirements. Adult dry, pregnant animals at maintenance have low energy requirements to slower rate of gain. This differing nutrient demand often results in running multiple herds and/ or flocks in separate pastures. There are two basic ways we can approach managing pastures to accommodate these various nutrient requirements. The most common strategy is to identify a pasture as a cow-calf pasture, another pasture as a stocker pasture, and that other pasture as the finishing pasture. This approach results in a pasture being grazed by the same class of livestock at the same time of year. The most common problem I see with this approach is on pastures being managed for high-quality finishing feed during every grazing cycle. The need for high-quality feed very often comes down to returning to a pasture with inadequate recovery and, subsequently,
degrading a stand with the need to reseed every few years. This can be hard on the land and your bank account. An alternative strategy is to look at every pasture as a flexible opportunity. If we think about individual plants within a pasture and how nutritive value is distributed through the plant, we generally find there is a bite of finishing quality feed, a bite of growing quality feed, and some maintenance feed. Newer growth is generally higher in energy, protein, and bioavailable minerals. More mature forage is lower in both energy and protein. Minerals that become bound in lignin or indigestible fiber are less available.
A better approach If within our pasture we have a diversity of plant species with varying stages of maturity, on any given day, we have some species that are more suited for finishing feed, while other species may be better suited for growing stockers or cow-calf pairs. When we put together our understanding of nutrient distribution within individual plants and across the mixed sward, it is easy to see that every pasture contains a variety of grazing opportunities. This is where sequential grazing of different classes of livestock across a single pasture comes into play. These sequential strategies have been described as leader-follower or top and bottom grazing methods. The key component is that one class of animals with higher nutrient requirements grazes the upper part of the pasture canopy, while the lower plant parts are grazed by a different class of animals. I have personally done this over
Mike Rankin
by Jim Gerrish
many years with several different sequences of both cattle and sheep. During the active growing season, finishing animals might be asked to only graze 10% to 20% of the available forage, while growing stock or cows may take another 30% to 40% of the forage. When we were on our farm in Missouri and had both cattle and sheep, we would graze our stockpiled pastures with weaned calves first, followed by dry cows, and finally ewes that were being bred. While it may seem like breeding ewes would have a higher nutrient requirement than dry cows, we found the ewes would pick high-quality forage left around cattle manure as well as forb leaves cured on the stalk that cattle could not nip off the way a sheep could.
Think water and fence The key to making sequential grazing work is to have multiple stock water points and fences that will effectively keep the different stock classes in their appropriate pasture. The more frequently you move stock to fresh pasture, the better the system works. We have been doing daily rotations as our normal management since 1988. Daily moves dictate we need to have water available in every pasture. This easily accommodates having multiple herds grazing right next door to one another. The next piece is effective electric fence to keep the herds or flocks separate. With cattle trained to electric fence, this is no problem at all. We have often kept stockers next to cows with only a single polywire for separation. Most of our permanent fence is twostrand, electrified high-tensile, as we currently have a cattle-only operation. When we ran both cattle and sheep, we used three-strand high-tensile fences. Leader-follower is a powerful management tool for optimizing grazing when you have mixed pastures and more than one livestock enterprise. Proper fence and water infrastructure is key to being successful. • JIM GERRISH The author is a rancher, author, speaker, and consultant with over 40 years of experience in grazing management research, outreach, and practice. He has lived and grazed livestock in hot, humid Missouri and cold, dry Idaho.
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T:8.375" S:7.875"
S:10.375"
QUALITY OR QUANTITY? YES. Pioneer® brand alfalfa offers high-quality forage and high-tonnage yield potential. That includes varieties equipped with HarvXtra® technology for harvest flexibility. Ask your Pioneer sales representative about using our premium alfalfa inoculants to protect your silage. Pioneer.com/alfalfa
HarvXtra® is a registered trademark of Forage Genetics International, LLC. HarvXtra® alfalfa with Roundup Ready® technology is enabled with Technology from Noble Research Foundation Institute, LLC. Roundup Ready® is a registered trademark of the Bayer Group, used under license. Do not export alfalfa seed or crops containing Roundup Ready® technology including hay or hay products, to China pending import approval. In addition, due to the unique cropping practices, do not plant this product in Imperial County, California. Purchase and use of HarvXtra® alfalfa with Roundup Ready® technology is subject to a Seed and Feed Use Agreement. Always read and follow pesticide label directions. Alfalfa with Roundup Ready® technology provides crop safety for over-the-top applications of labeled glyphosate herbicides when applied according to label directions. Glyphosate agricultural herbicides will kill crops that are not tolerant to glyphosate. ACCIDENTAL APPLICATION OF INCOMPATIBLE HERBICIDES TO THIS VARIETY COULD RESULT IN TOTAL CROP LOSS. ™ ® Trademarks of Corteva Agriscience and its affiliated companies. © 2021 Corteva.
A challenging year for forage seed production by Dan Foor
F
ORAGE seed production in 2021 has experienced unprecedented challenges with virtually no popular species spared. In addition to heightened competition for seed production acres because of high commodity prices, key areas for grass and legume seed production in the Pacific Northwest and Canada experienced significant heat and drought events that have
resulted in extremely short supplies and rapidly rising prices. Many forage species have best case scenarios of a 15% to 20% reduction in expected supply, while some may have only 25% to 30% of total supply expectations. In short, the forage seed industry will be in uncharted territory for the foreseeable future. The best advice for producers planning on spring seedings of forage crops would be to work with your suppliers
Average supply
Tight supply
Extremely tight supply
Annual ryegrass
Alfalfa (C)
Bromegrass, Meadow
Forage sorghum
Alfalfa (I)
Bromegrass, Smooth
Orchardgrass, early (C)
Bermudagrass
Clover, Berseem
Sorghum-sudangrass
Clover, Alsike (C)
Clover, Ladino (I)
Sudangrass
Clover, Ladino (C)
Clover, Red (I)
Teffgrass
Clover, Red (C)
Clover, White
Festulolium
Meadow fescue
Millets
Orchardgrass, mid
Perennial ryegrass, diploid
Orchardgrass, late
Perennial ryegrass, tetraploid
Peas, forage
Ryegrass, Italian
Reed canarygrass
Tall fescue
Tall fescue, novel endophyte Timothy (C) Timothy (I)
Challenging growing conditions in seed production areas have cut seed inventories by up to 70% depending on the species.
as early as possible to have your seed needs known and planned for. Also, due to the rapidly fluctuating prices occurring in the seed industry, it’s important to confirm your costs when orders are placed. The table below outlines the supply picture for most popular forage species. Common (“C”) and Improved (“I”) supplies are noted in parenthesis, and maturities are separated if there are differences in the outlook for the species. If there is no designation, the supply rating applies to both common and improved options as well as maturities for the species. The “extremely tight” designation indicates that the species will likely sell out at some point in the season. With all of the challenges outlined above, early planning and communication will be more important than ever. The forage seed industry is committed to working through these challenges to ensure adequate supplies are available to the market. •
DAN FOOR The author is the chief executive officer of La Crosse Seed in La Crosse, Wis.
Trefoil
18 | Hay & Forage Grower | November 2021
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DAIRY FEEDBUNK
by Luiz Ferraretto
Make sorghum silage the best it can be
S
ORGHUM is a key forage source for dairy herds in many areas across the United States with dry climates. But it has also been successfully grown under more humid conditions. Key benefits such as water use efficiency, flexibility for delayed planting, and greater tolerance to drought conditions, diseases, and pathogens compared to corn offer multiple opportunities for forage growers and dairy producers. Besides, the lower cost of production makes sorghum silage very appealing across a wide variety of conditions, especially for dairy heifers. A potential drawback of sorghum silage for diet formulation is the greater neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), and lignin concentrations combined with reduced starch concentration compared to corn silage. Many important decisions affecting the nutritive value and yield of sorghum silage can be made to diminish these issues.
Table 1. Season effects on yield and nutritive value of conventional and BMR sorghum forage1,2 Item
Yield of DM, ton/acre CP, % of DM
Spring
Summer
BMR
Non-BMR
BMR
Non-BMR
6.9
8.3
4.6
6.3
7.3
6.7
8.4
7.5
NDF, % of DM
54.7
57.0
56.7
57.5
NDFD30, % of NDF
50.5
44.0
49.0
45.0
Starch, % of DM
15.3
13.7
10.9
10.3
TDN, % of DM
59.3
55.9
58.9
57.6
Adapted from Pupo et al. (2021); Journal of Dairy Science 104(Suppl. 1):247-248 (abstract). 2 NIRS-predicted ruminal in vitro NDF digestibility at 30 h of incubation. 1
Table 2. Harvesting maturity effects on yield and nutritive value of BMR sorghum forage1,2 Boot
Flower
Milk
Soft dough
4.9
6.1
6.4
7.0
DM, % of as fed
21.3
24.8
26.1
28.1
CP, % of DM
10.4
9.4
8.2
8.1
NDF, % of DM
54.7
51.0
48.8
45.8
NDFD30, % of NDF
70.0
68.1
63.0
60.7
Yield of DM, ton/acre
Pick the right hybrids
Starch, % of DM
6.6
8.3
13.0
17.3
Carefully selecting for hybrids with genetic advances ensures good nutritive value at the time of harvest. As with other crops, sorghum hybrids expressing the brown midrib (BMR) trait are possibly the best example of how nutritive value can be improved through genetic advancement. We conducted a retrospective study using data from sorghum forage grown in Florida from 2008 to 2019 to study these potential benefits. Our main findings are summarized in Table 1. Sorghum plants with the BMR trait have reduced lignin concentration and greater fiber digestibility compared to non-BMR plants. But this benefit is more evident for spring (+6.5 percentage units) compared to summer (+4 percentage units) planting. Yield drags are more challenging when planting BMR sorghum under stressful environmental conditions. Tonnage of BMR sorghum hybrids was 83% of the yield of conventional hybrids in the spring but only 73% in the summer. Lower yields may be offset by the improved animal performance from BMR hybrids, but the magni-
TDN, % of DM
68.2
68.7
68.8
69.3
Adapted from Lyons et al. (2019); Journal of Dairy Science 102:7134-7149. Ruminal in vitro NDF digestibility at 30 h of incubation.
1 2
tude of these responses may vary from farm-to-farm. Feeding BMR sorghum silage-based diets improved intake (+1.8 pounds per day), milk production (+3.6 pounds per day), and milkfat concentration (+0.09 percentage units) of dairy cows compared to feeding conventional sorghum, according to a recent meta-analysis review of the literature. No differences in intake and milk yield were observed when BMR sorghum silage was compared to conventional corn hybrids. Having reduced yield but greater daily feeding rates when planting BMR hybrids requires planning and watching forage inventories closely. Lodging was a perceived problem for some BMR sorghum hybrids, particularly when sown at high seeding rates, but our preliminary analysis of data from this retrospective study suggest newer hybrids are less susceptible to lodging with similar lodging scores to conventional hybrids.
Time it right Defining the targeted maturity for forage harvesting requires finding the optimum combination between yield and nutritive value. The “sweet spot” will be unique and dependent upon goals and conditions of each farm. Sorghum grains mature from milk stage to soft dough to hard dough to physiological maturity over a 25- to 45-day period after flowering, depending upon the hybrid and climate. The timing of harvest within this window is critical to capture the desired nutrient value.
LUIZ FERRARETTO The author is an assistant professor and ruminant nutrition extension specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
20 | Hay & Forage Grower | November 2021
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Timing the BMR sorghum silage harvest to maximize yield and nutritional value was the focus of a recent study. Seven field trials across two locations in New York were performed. Harvests at each location targeted boot, flower, milk, and soft dough stages. A summary of this study’s main findings is in Table 2. Later harvest stages maximized yield and starch concentration at the expense of crude protein (CP) concentration and fiber digestibility. A modeling exercise was conducted by replacing gradual levels of corn silage of a basal diet with each of these sorghum silages. Authors concluded sorghum silage would require some energy supplementation adjustments to maintain the same energy density. The latest sorghum harvest had the greatest potential to replace corn silage, which was likely driven by its greater starch concentration. In eras of high corn prices, harvesting sorghum silage later to optimize yield and starch con-
centration becomes appealing. Delaying harvest requires proper chop length settings and packing management to ensure adequate fermentation.
Challenges remain Formulating diets, keeping in mind the reduced starch concentration of sorghum silage compared to corn silage, is key. Like the corn kernel, sorghum grain must be broken down for starch to be accessible for digestion or grain will bypass the digestive tract virtually intact. As with other small-seeded silages, losing grain in the feces is a common issue for dairies harvesting sorghum. Aggressive mechanical processing is a widespread practice for obliterating corn kernels. The same must be true for sorghum as well, but research addressing this issue with sorghum silage is very limited. We processed sorghum plants grown in Florida with a forage harvester to achieve combinations of two roll gap (1
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or 3 millimeter [mm)]) and two chop length (15 or 22 mm) settings. Processor settings used were representative of industry standards in the production of corn silage. It is reasonable to assume similar on-board processor and knife settings are used for sorghum silage harvesting. Aggressive processor settings increased the proportion of sorghum grain passing through a 2.36 mm sieve. This sieve represents sorghum grain broken in two or more pieces. However, very few samples reached 50% of starch passing through this sieve, and in situ starch digestibility values were very low even after 90 days of fermentation. These results are alarming and suggest more aggressive processors and/or settings are required. But further reductions of roll gap in a forage harvester would slow harvest, reduce throughput, boost fuel costs, and wear on grain processing rollers. Future developments targeting this issue are needed. •
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November 2021 | hayandforage.com | 21
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FEED ANALYSIS
by John Goeser
in the grain as it matures. Figure 1 details how starch content in snaplage plateaus around 55% to 60% dry matter. At this point, the grain has likely reached black layer, and no more starch is deposited. So, there is no point to letting this feed dry further, recognizing we depend upon fermentation for feeding value.
Sorting out snaplage
T
HERE are certain practices or technologies that seem to be heavily debated or discussed over the course of time. Kernel processing score and corn hybrid selection are two different topics that come to mind lately and have elicited questions and strong opinions. Snaplage is another, as it gains popularity among farmers but creates wide-ranging opinions among nutritionists. The beauty in snaplage lies in the farmer’s ability to run their self-propelled forage harvester, fitted with a grain head, after corn silage harvest. Other benefits include harvesting more yield than shelled corn, improving the fermentation potential relative to shelled corn, and bringing some additional fiber in the diet with lower forage diets. The drawbacks to snaplage are reduced energy density relative to shelled corn, the need to adequately ferment and process the grain for optimal performance, and correctly timing harvest to optimize starch yield and snaplage digestibility. This last drawback is often debated and is the focal point of this article because there is still uncertainty that exists within the industry.
Focus on starch Timing harvest for corn silage, snaplage, or high-moisture corn is a balance between kernel maturity and crop moisture. For each of these feeds, the harvest timing and processing are extremely influential factors for starch content, digestibility, and feeding value.
To be clear, good-feeding silage, snaplage, or high-moisture corn are driven by their starch component. Fiber digestibility is important with silage, but new corn silage feeds worse than well-fermented silage because starch digestibility improves with time in storage. As the corn plant approaches the R5 stage and the kernel is roughly half milkline, the starch content and wholeplant moisture are generally ideal for silage. However, with healthier plants, we’ve recognized advancing kernel maturity while the stover and wholeplant moisture may not be ideal yet. This situation appears to have played out in many cornfields during this past year, as Rock River Laboratory’s database is suggesting harder grain in silage and lower rumen starch digestibility for green-chopped corn. This observation relates to kernel maturity and grain hardness. On the other end of the spectrum, as corn grain passes black layer and dries to 20% moisture or less, the starch digestibility drops off dramatically due to limited or nonexistent fermentation potential. Homing in on snaplage, we aim to balance starch content, digestibility, and fermentation potential as the corn plant advances through R5 and closer to black layer. Leaning again on the Rock River Laboratory database, we can visualize the changes in snaplage quality as dry matter content increases in the feed and moisture drops. As the corn crop progresses past R5 and silage maturity, the ear continues to deposit starch
Mike Rankin
A suitable proxy Understanding feeding value and its ties to rumen digestibility, we can transition to visualizing soluble crude protein (CP) and rumen starch digestibility. Prior to direct rumen starch digestibility measures, we recognized that soluble crude protein is an effective indicator for fermentation extent in the silo. The more effective the fermentation, the greater the soluble protein content. Figure 2 highlights how reductions in soluble protein begins around 55% dry matter, or 45% moisture. This image suggests that fermentation is likely limited when harvesting at 40% moisture or less. Figure 3 focuses on rumen starch digestibility. Rumen starch digestibility mirrors soluble CP and clearly depicts that below 35% to 40% moisture will correspond to less digestible starch. The optimal starch digestibility appears in the 40% to 50% moisture window. Weaving the three figures and observations together, the optimal dry matter content for snaplage appears to be around 55% to 60%. At this point, the corn crop has achieved a high starch level along with near optimal fermentation potential and starch digestibility. Bear in mind that kernel processing and ensuring effective fermentation are also critical aspects with snaplage. Do not cut corners, especially during high grain price times. The corn crop may present the potential, but if kernel processing or fermentation are limited, then the feeding potential will not be fully realized. Think of this like having a flat tire on your 1,000 horsepower forage harvester. •
JOHN GOESER The author is the director of nutrition research and innovation with Rock River Lab Inc, and adjunct assistant professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Dairy Science Department.
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2022
Figure 1. Percent starch (dry matter) as a function of sample dry matter
Starch %
60 51.8
40
55.8
58.4
59.4
55-60
60-65
59.5
44.3
AFGC Annual Conference
20
< 45
45-50
50-55
> 65
Sample dry matter boundaries *Over 3,500 samples labeled “snap” and analyzed by Rock River Laboratory
Figure 2. Soluble CP% as a function of sample dry matter
Soluble CP %
80 60
55.1
52.6
53
51.2
48.1 40.6
40 20 < 45
45-50
50-55
55-60
60-65
> 65
Sample dry matter boundaries *Over 3,500 samples labeled “snap” and analyzed by Rock River Laboratory
January 9–12 2022
Rumen starch digestibility %
Figure 3. Rumen starch digestibility as a function of sample dry matter 100 90 82.1
82.5
85.6
84.2
Wichita, Kansas
81.1
80
73.5
Keeper of the Plains
www.afgc.org
50 50 < 45
45-50
50-55
55-60
60-65
> 65
Sample dry matter boundaries *Over 3,500 samples labeled “snap” and analyzed by Rock River Laboratory
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FORAGE GEARHEAD
by Adam Verner
It’s a sluggish new equipment pipeline S HARVEST starts to wrap up, it’s time to get equipment cleaned and put away for winter. It’s also a time to make those dreaded phone calls to your certified public accountant (CPA) to gauge how the tax situation is shaping up for this year. Like most years, bottom lines will be all over the place depending on geographic location. For many grain producers, 2021 will wind up being a year of selling some much-needed higher dollar crop. Milk price has been its typical roller coaster but seems to have trended up this year more than in the recent past. One thing that remains different in 2021 and will continue into 2022 is equipment availability. In past years, after the year-end meeting with the accountant, we could call up our local dealership, cooperative, or seed dealer and purchase some items to put on the year-end books. Equipment was one of those items that technically needed to be sitting at your farm by December 31st to claim it as a current-year expense; however, this will be difficult to make happen in 2021.
Can’t keep up Equipment manufacturers are trying to make a dent in the orders placed by dealers this year but seem to be falling farther behind with each passing day. There are some storage lots for new
tractors and combines where hundreds of units sit waiting on a few components to complete the build. Once these components are available, they still won’t magically pop up at a local dealership. There simply aren’t enough trucks to go around with qualified drivers to get them delivered. A lot of farmers who normally trade in equipment each year are likely going to find themselves running their current units for a couple more years. If you have a normal equipment rotation plan, it’s probably been blown out of the water by now. Those who typically like to purchase their units could find themselves toward the back end of a long list of customers, unless there was some proactive preplanning. If there is equipment you would like to upgrade to a new unit, then you will probably be asked to sign a purchase order far in advance.
A challenge for all The bad news is that your salesperson will probably not be able to give you an exact build date. Well . . . he or she can give you a date, but there is a 100% chance that the first estimate offered will only be one in a long line of future predictions. I know that this makes it challenging to plan for planting and/or harvest, but this is a problem for manufactur-
ers of all brands and colors. It will be a slow process for each manufacturer to get caught up. Each one will have a different issue sourcing different components. I do not see this issue being resolved in 2022; rather, it may be into the first quarter of 2023 before the industry can see light at the end of a long manufacturing tunnel. The best advice I can offer — and it’s not earthshaking — is to exhibit patience and foresight. Plan ahead and get the equipment you need ordered with your dealer, as some manufacturers will move these orders up in the line. There will inevitably be some farmers who don’t get their equipment on time as originally promised, but know that dealerships and manufacturers are doing all that they can to meet their customers’ needs. As with the weather, there are just some things we can’t control. This will hopefully be a once in a lifetime problem. Be safe out there. •
ADAM VERNER The author is a managing partner in Elite Ag LLC, Leesburg, Ga. He also is active in the family farm in Rutledge.
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John Kaseroff receives phone calls from members when they have hay for sale. He travels to their farm to take inventory and collect hay samples before he markets it to buyers.
by Amber Friedrichsen
H
ay producers in Nevada are professional gamblers, but they aren’t sitting at a Blackjack table. Instead, they sit in large and small square balers early in the morning, buying in to the little moisture dawn offers the dry climate. They place bets on how much water they have for irrigation, calculating what the mountains’ snowpack can provide. They can’t control what weather conditions they are dealt, but they can rely on skill and luck to see them through the growing season. Making hay can be full of risks, but the Nevada Hay Growers Association (NHGA) was created so buying and selling hay doesn’t have to be. The association was established in 1970 in Yerington, Nev., when local farmers developed a marketing system that was more secure than selling hay direct-to-consumers. Producers protect themselves by relying on each other, guaranteeing they will be paid for their product. Today, NHGA has nearly 65 members as well as a board of directors: Dale Borsini, president; Marianne Leinassar, vice president; Troy Coutts, secre-
tary; and Robert Cooper and Norman Frey, board members. Two other key individuals involved in the association are Michelle Evasovic, manager, and John Kaseroff, sales representative.
Getting in the game To become a member, hay producers can apply for membership in the months of May and June. They must complete an application and pay a one-time membership fee. Members are responsible for all harvest procedures. Once their hay is baled and stacked, they notify Kaseroff that it is ready to be sold. Kaseroff takes inventory and samples of each stack and records the information in a spreadsheet to keep track of the hay’s quality and quantity. NHGA has a wide customer base, and hay buyers also contact Kaseroff directly to make a purchase. The buyers lay their criteria on the table and Kaseroff connects them with the stack of hay that meets their needs. “I answer phone calls from buyers who want milk cow hay, dry cow hay, horse hay, or just feedlot hay,” Kaseroff said. “They tell me how many tons they want, and I come up with the product for them.”
All photos: Amber Friedrichsen
NEVADA HAY GROWERS RUN A FAIR GAME Dairy producers are quick to buy hay from first and fourth cutting. This hay tends to have higher total digestible nutrients (TDN) and crude protein levels. Second and third cutting is higher in fiber because of growing in warmer temperatures, so Kaseroff tends to sell this hay to owners of other livestock that don’t require as high of quality as lactating dairy cows. Alfalfa is the primary type of hay being marketed through NHGA. Even so, Evasovic noted that the association sells different kinds of products: grass, grass/alfalfa mix, grain, and organic hay. Different products become available as producers rotate their fields to other crops. “We sell alfalfa-grass mixes, straight grass, and cereals,” she said. No matter what type of hay is for sale, Kaseroff must establish a price before a purchase can be made. He monitors markets and estimates the best deal for members and buyers alike. When an offer has been extended and agreed upon – not often without negotiation – buyers are responsible for their own trucking and hauling. They weigh-in on the associations’ scale, pick up their purchase from the member’s
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farm, and return to the scale to complete the billing process. NHGA doesn’t buy their members’ hay – they only sell it. However, they do purchase a small number of bales to stock their on-site, self-serve hay barn. It is designed for individuals who do not want or have the capacity to haul an entire truckload. “We purchase hay as an association for local people who want to buy one or two bales,” Evasovic said. “They come to the scale, weigh-in, and load up however many bales they want. Then they pay us, and we pay the grower.” In contrast to these local sales, the association also exports large quantities of hay overseas. Kaseroff noted their biggest international customers are China and Japan.
feed stores, have secured their hay in advance during 2021 because droughtlike conditions have shortened supplies.
Stakes are high Hay producers in Yerington and surrounding areas are used to low rainfall, only receiving 4.5 to 5 inches annually. They rely on water from the snowpack of the Sierra Nevada Mountains for flood and sprinkler irrigation, but in 2021, reservoirs were low. Hay producers can obtain water rights, which give them access to a certain amount of acre feet of this snowpack water to irrigate their fields throughout the growing season. Under the circumstances, though, water is being rationed because not enough is
fraction of what they asked for. Although compromises are sometimes made, it is important to the association that they have a wide customer base. NHGA accepts new buyers every year, which gives individual members the opportunity to sell more hay to more people. “When you have multiple customers, you’re not relying on one person who might hit their credit limit and can’t take any more hay,” Evasovic pointed out. “You’re able to spread out your sales and get more hay moved.” With that said, more people equal more phone calls, and Kaseroff is the one on the answering line. “I am probably dealing with 100 different personalities, trying to mix and match hay from
Playing it safe Like members, buyers must also be approved by the board of directors. After a credit application is reviewed, they are assigned a certain amount of credit that limits how much hay they can buy. If buyers exceed this limit on a purchase or cannot pay for another reason, members will still be paid in full. The association utilizes a revolving fund to protect its members financially. Every time a member sells hay, they contribute 3% of their gross sales toward the fund. Each month, Evasovic sends growers payment for hay that was moved in the month prior, and if there are any unpaid expenses from a buyer, they will be covered with money from the revolving fund. “It’s guaranteed money,” Borsini said. “Even if the person who has purchased the hay hasn’t paid for it, the grower will still receive his check on time. It’s kind of like an insurance policy.” According to the association’s repayment schedule, members will be reimbursed a percentage of what they have invested into the fund every three years after all association expenses and/or losses have been accounted for. Members are also protected when they sell hay in advance. Buyers who claim hay early in the season are sometimes required to contract their stacks and pay a deposit. For example, buyers can purchase first cut hay in May or June that they will not need until November or December. “If buyers are going to take that long to move the hay, they have to pay deposits upfront, so the grower is not sitting on a stack that is not moving,” Evasovic explained. Many buyers, especially dairies and
(From back left) John Kaseroff and Michelle Evasovic, joined by board of directors Robert Cooper, Troy Coutts, (front left) Dale Borsini, Marianne Leinassar, and Norman Frey.
available to meet everyone’s needs. Over the past three years, 2018 to 2020, NHGA has marketed an average of 85,201 tons of hay annually. Evasovic expects tonnage to be reduced in 2021 because of the lack of precipitation. This will affect how much hay is sold, as well as how many people are selling it. “Tons fluctuate over the years depending on the water members have, and this year we are going to be down quite a bit,” Evasovic shared. “We’ve got some growers who are going to have half a crop, and some who unfortunately won’t have any.”
Always a win In times like these, Evasovic and Kaseroff must get creative when it comes to meeting customers’ demands. Sometimes stacks must be split among buyers, and they will only receive a
the growers to the buyers, and keeping everyone happy is a tough job,” Kaseroff chuckled. “But it can be a benefit to the members because where else can you have that many people calling in, wanting to buy hay?” Despite some shuffling and the occasional bad hand, NHGA is a reputable organization. They are dedicated to providing their members a fair game. For these producers, making hay can be a gamble, but selling it surely is not. •
AMBER FRIEDRICHSEN The author served as the 2021 Hay and Forage Grower summer editorial intern. She currently attends Iowa State University where she is majoring in agricultural communications and agronomy.
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YOUR CHECKOFF DOLLARS AT WORK
Hay moisture at wrapping affects quality Hay & Forage Grower is featuring results of research projects funded through the Alfalfa Checkoff, officially named the U.S. Alfalfa Farmer Research Initiative, administered by National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance (NAFA). The checkoff program facilitates farmer-funded research.
T
HE type, color, or number of layers of material used to wrap dry alfalfa round bales with an in-line tube bale wrapper didn’t influence the quality of those bales as they came out of storage, according to recent Alfalfa Checkoff-funded research. What did matter was the moisture content of the bales at wrapping. Wrapping dry alfalfa round bales at 16% to 18% moisture content — or thereabouts — helps reduce condensation and spoilage on bales, said Kevin Shinners, University of Wisconsin ag engineer. Shinners and colleagues wanted to compare whether wrapping dry hay bales with breathable film when using a tube wrapper would help maintain bale forage quality. Breathable film allows water vapors to escape from bales but sheds liquid water on bales. Its KEVIN SHINNERS technology is used Funding: $41,714 on specific commercial hay balers to wrap individual bales, but it has not been used after baling using a tube wrapper. The researchers hoped the tube wrapper-breathable film combination would lower wrapping costs and reduce the amount of spoilage currently seen with plastic wraps. Breathable film did reduce condensation on bales as compared to stretch plastic films, but changes to the breathable film and tube wrapper would be needed to make the system a workable option.
Moisture matters “What made the difference (in forage quality) was the moisture content of the bales that were wrapped,” Shinners explained. “If it wasn’t lower than 20%, we got a lot of condensation and
spoilage on the bale surface. When we had that 16%, 17%, or 18% moisture content, we didn’t see condensation and spoilage. The number of layers of wrap made no difference and the color of the wrap made no difference in terms of condensation and spoilage.” “Obviously, four layers are going to be less costly than eight, so producers might consider using only four layers,” he added. “And black films did tend to heat the outer layer of hay and caramelize it a bit, but it was such a thin layer that I’m not sure it’s important. Since the results did not show differences, producers can use any color wrap or number of layers with confidence that the hay will conserve as long as the bale moisture content is
less than about 18%.” Breathable film doesn’t have stretchable properties, so researchers modified the wrapper by adding elastic cords to hold the film to bales and tape dispensers to seal the film seams. The researchers, including UW ag engineers Matthew Digman and Joshua Friede and then-graduate student David Pintens, conducted two experiments on first- and second-cutting alfalfa. In both cuttings, samples were taken to determine moisture content and later analyze constituent composition. All bales were weighed and measured. Seven treatments were investigated. Shinners’ team compared bales wrapped in three layers of breathable film, in four and eight layers of white stretch
Kevin Shinners
DRY ALFALFA BALES WRAPPED in breathable film reduced bale condensation as compared to bales wrapped in stretch plastic film with an in-line tube bale wrapper. To make the use of breathable film on tube wrappers practical, changes in wrapper design and in the breathable film itself would be needed.
PROJECT RESULTS 1. A conventional in-line tube bale wrapper was modified so breathable film could be applied to dry alfalfa bales. 2. Neither plastic film color nor the number of layers made a significant difference in storage conservation. Breathable film had less surface spoilage than bales wrapped in plastic film. 3. An initial bale moisture of 16% to 18% going into storage promoted good conservation of wrapped dry bales without surface spoilage.
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film and black stretch film, as well as bales unwrapped and stored outdoors on a rock pad and unwrapped and stored inside an open-front hay shed. First-cutting bales were stored 148 days; second-cutting bales were stored 97 days. They were weighed, measured, and sampled, and final bale moisture and dry matter content were determined. First-cutting results
showed no statistical differences among treatments in dry matter (DM) loss during storage, although stretch plastic film-treated bales had significantly greater moisture content than did breathable film bales or those left unwrapped. Little spoilage was seen on any treatments of second-cutting bales coming out of storage. “If you think the weather won’t allow
you to get hay down into those mid- to low teens, why not bale it up into 35%, 40%, or 45% moisture content and make baleage? ” Shinners questioned. “If you wanted to sell hay and preserve it, and you could get it below that 17% moisture content range, then wrapping it in film will preserve it, and it’ll make it a better looking bale coming out for sale.” •
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Rules are made to be broken by Paige Smart
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ORAGE management rules are everywhere. They are intended to be quick, easy ways to help guide choices as you learn. These rules are great guiding principles, but rarely are they applicable to all situations, and they often don’t account for how resilient and forgiving nature can be. Don’t get me wrong, the following rules are a great starting point for everyday management decisions. The mistake is in calling any stray from these rules wrong. Instead, we must understand the purpose of these rules and evaluate if there is a short-term need to break them. Let’s examine some common forage rules, their intent, and when it’s reasonable to violate them. Take half, leave half (THLH): This rule has some great takeaways. Its intent is to help the forage manager understand that leaving behind residual grass is a positive thing. With the good soil coverage that comes with “Take half, leave half,” you’ll have faster regrowth periods, reduced water runoff, and a stronger root structure for drought resilience. This rule opens our eyes to the benefits of managing forages for longevity, and it also draws attention to the living fraction of the soil that can benefit from that residual. However, THLH is often an oversimplification. Each forage species has a range from when we can safely begin grazing and when we need to stop grazing. These recommendations were made by evaluating where the plant stores energy and then protecting those reserves. If a livestock producer has tall fescue that has reached 16 inches tall, they can certainly leave behind 8 inches. They could also leave behind 4 inches of residual, and if they pay attention to those start heights for the next grazing, they will not be punished for that. The THLH rule, while great in principle, doesn’t give producers enough flexibility or enough detail to understand the why. A clear violation of this rule that is frequently recommended involves frost seeding clover. For frost seeding to be successful, grazing down the existing grasses to about 2 inches
is important. It opens the canopy and allows the clover to fight for its place in the sward. If the long-term goal is to have a mixed grass and clover pasture, then the THLH rule needs violating in the short term. Rotate livestock every day: There are benefits to having a rotation this frequent. From the livestock side, eyeing them every day raises your chances for catching illness early and will positively impact their demeanor. As a forage manager, rotating daily will help you improve your ability to eye forage inventory and livestock needs. Rotational grazing, at some level, can be implemented by everyone. It is for the lazy farmer, the busy farmer, the part-time farmer, and the frugal farmer. There may be some added benefits to rotating livestock every day; however, there are monumentally
The mistake is in calling any stray from these rules wrong. larger benefits to rotating livestock at some interval as opposed to never. If all that a farmer’s schedule will allow is a weekly move, that is better than no move. There is no reason that rotational grazing must involve an extremely intense moving schedule. Many of the benefits of daily moves will still be recognized even with weekly moves. Rotate livestock on a schedule that is most realistic for you — any frequency of rotation is better than none. Return to the same paddock after XX days: In the Southeast, where I farm, most people recommend a 28-day pasture rotation. Much like THLH, this is a wild oversimplification. Rest is often overlooked but may be the most valuable rule to observe, especially in fields recovering from severe overgrazing. This rule takes the responsibility away from the forage manager to understand when plants are actually ready to be grazed from a growth or maturity standpoint. I have seen forages ready to graze again in 12 days, and I’ve seen forages that needed four months to recover. Time of year can
make a big difference. Estimating the number of days to return to a paddock is an excellent practice and does help us build a better understanding of our farm. This does not mean that we can turn livestock out with a blind eye. Look at the forage, evaluate its height, and know the safe start heights for the grasses on your farm. One cow for every two acres: This is a big one. In my region, we typically promote the rule of one cow for every two acres. This rule is probably the one that gets the most farmers in trouble. It is based on an average forage yield across the region, so it makes a great starting point. Unfortunately, there are differences in base forages, soil types, weather patterns, soil fertility, and management that all work to cause deviations from this recommendation.
Make your own rules Do not let a local rule keep you from evaluating what is right in front of you. Are you running out of grass? When and for how long? Are you able to keep your livestock in good condition? Could you improve your base forages or soil fertility to boost yield? Take a hard look at how much your farm is actually yielding. That number is what is needed to determine your actual carrying capacity. In my career, I’ve seen many farmers stall out in their short-term and longterm goals because they were unwilling to break the rules. I’ve also seen farmers who knew of these rules and never followed them because they knew that, for their farm, sticking to them would be impossible. Try to ditch the all-ornothing mentality surrounding these rules. Aim your choices at progress, not perfection. These rules don’t account for the complexity on a farm or the shortterm choices you’ll need to make for long-term success. •
PAIGE SMART The author is a partner in a custom stocker cattle operation in eastern North Carolina. She holds a master’s degree in animal science from North Carolina State University.
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Double-stocking fescue is “low-hanging fruit” by Eric Bailey
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ISSOURI produced 1.91 million calves in 2020, yet the University of Missouri estimates that only 500,000 calves are kept in the state after weaning. Tall fescue is the primary pasture forage for much of the state. It is a highly productive grass, producing from 2 to 5 tons of forage per acre, depending on soil type and fertilization regime. Because tall fescue is a cool-season grass, there are both spring and fall growth periods (see Figure 1). Often, farmers running cow-calf operations on tall fescue pasture systems remark that they have more grass than needed during the spring growth period. The excess growth produced in the spring is often harvested as a stored forage (hay or baleage) and fed back to the cattle during the winter. This system of forage management has real limitations and weaknesses. The equipment required to make stored forage is a barrier to entry for new producers. Quality and quantity are antagonistic in a stored forage system. Most producers seek to maximize tonnage, yet “late-cut” hay is often insufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of late-pregnancy or lactating cows. The forage utilization rate, or the pounds of feed consumed by a cow relative to the pounds of feed produced per acre, of a forage system that requires swathing, raking, baling, storing, and then feeding is much less than perceived.
idea of utilizing stocker cattle to graze the spring f lush in tall fescue pastures. We got our inspiration from the Flint Hills of Kansas and the “double stock” or “intensive early stocking” system. The Flint Hills has long been an area where stocker cattle graze high-quality warm-season tallgrass prairie forage. About 50 years ago, researchers from Kansas State began to evaluate stocker cattle systems, which until then had been 4 acres per steer for 180 days of grazing (May to October). Based on serial weight measurements, the researchers noted that twothirds of individual animal weight gain occurred in the first half (May to July) of the grazing season. This observation led to a “double stock” system where the stocking rate was boosted to 2 acres per head for 90 days, rather than 4 acres per head for 180 days. The Kansas State researchers compared traditional and “double stocking” systems for 10 years. They reported 300 pounds per head weight gain in the traditional, 180day stocker systems and 200 pounds per head weight gain in the “double stocking” systems. Yet, on a pound of gain per acre basis, “double stocking” systems gained 100 pounds of live weight per acre while the 180-day system only gained 75 pounds.
Tall fescue forage systems have historically not been held in high regard for stocker cattle. Fescue toxicosis is a syndrome found in beef cattle grazing fescue pastures with significant endophyte infection rates. The rule of thumb is a 0.1-pound reduction in daily gain for every 10% bump in endophyte infection. This is a real challenge because the endophyte, which is a fungus living in symbiosis with tall fescue, confers drought tolerance and insect resistance that greatly aids fescue in being a hardy and prolific plant. It is not difficult to find research or extension publications showing poor (0.75 to 1 pound per day) gains from stocker cattle grazing endophyte-infected tall fescue pastures. But the issue is the grazing system. We have long spoken about the “summer slump” in tall fescue pastures. Fescue goes reproductive in the late spring, with stems and seedheads emerging during this phase, followed by a period of near dormancy. Forage quality declines and the toxic compounds causing fescue toxicosis rise during this period. Most tall fescue stocker cattle work has kept cattle grazing during the summer slump.
A better way What if we “double stocked” fescue pastures in the spring, similar to the Flint Hills, and removed cattle before the worst of the summer slump occured? For the past three years, my lab group has integrated the “double stocking” concept into tall fescue (88% endophyte infection rate) pastures at the University of Missouri Southwest Research Center in Mount Vernon.
Yield distribution: growing season 1.5
Bring in stockers
ERIC BAILEY The author is an extension beef nutrition specialist with the University of MissouriColumbia.
Yield (tons/a)
An idea that my research lab has pursued in the last few years is the
Tall fescue Cow intake 1
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Spring
Summer
Fall
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Each year, 96 steers were distributed randomly across 16 pastures (4 acres per pasture). Our original intent was not to pursue double stocking. The goal of our research was actually to investigate the interaction between an herbicide that suppresses tall fescue seedheads and nitrogen fertilization. We custom-grazed stocker cattle for a local operation and did not want to deal with the summer slump, so we raised the stocking rate up to 1.5 steers per acre and only grazed from April 15 to June 15 each year. We could have turned the cattle out 21 to 30 days earlier, but the timing of herbicide application must be when tall fescue is in the boot stage for maximum seedhead suppression. It is important to note that pastures were continuously grazed throughout the experiment. Also, cattle were not provided supplemental feed at any point during the experiment. Many producers have opted to dilute out tall fescue in grazing cattle diets by providing supplemental feed, typically around 1% of body weight per day. One of the treatments in the experiment received no nitrogen and no herbicide. Over 56 days, cattle gained 87 pounds (1.55 pounds average daily gain, or ADG). While 87 pounds per head gain does not seem impressive in the context of stocker systems, our gain per acre was 130.5 pounds. We exceeded the gain per acre of the Flint Hills system by 30% in two-thirds the time. Most forage systems stock at acres per head. Tall fescue stocker systems, especially those that use the “double stock” concept, will stock at head per acre. Imagine the possibility when managed grazing is implemented on top of this system.
per pound of gain while the custom grazer paid for their annual lease, plus additional revenue. The beauty of the system is that fall grazing is still available. Also, there is no doctoring pinkeye and foot rot during the height of the summer slump. We sorely need innovative business models to bring the next generation of cattle producers back to the farm. Cus-
tom grazing stocker cattle on leased land is “low-hanging fruit,” in my opinion. Tall fescue pastures can work well for stocker cattle systems so long as the summer slump is avoided. A “double stocking” system that has cattle graze the spring flush, rather than stockpiling it for winter feeding, may be a way to improve forage utilization and profitability of beef cattle production in the Fescue Belt. •
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On-farm results A producer I work with implemented the “double stock” system in a custom grazing operation north of Columbia this spring. They grazed 232 steers on 170 acres of tall fescue that has not been fertilized in at least four years. Steers were turned out March 30 and shipped on June 16. Steers gained 145 pounds in 81 days (1.79 pounds ADG; 198 pounds gain per acre). This producer negotiated a 40-cent cost-ofgain agreement with the cattle owner, who also paid for the mineral. Including trucking, the cattle owner paid 52 cents
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Protect your alfalfa crop, increase longevity of the stand and improve the quality at harvest with the proven portfolio of NovaSource® weed control solutions. Proven weed and grass control on dormant established stands (Group 5). The one-two punch of Group 5 and Group 7 herbicides in two different ratios for tough-to-control weeds. For late season and residual grass control (Group 12) Apply for long residual control of more than 60 broadleaf weeds. Not registered in California and Canada Always read and follow label instructions. NovaSource®, Velpar®, Velpar® AlfaMax™, Velpar® AlfaMax™ Gold, Solicam® and Sinbar® are registered trademarks of Tessenderlo Kerley, Inc. ©2021 Tessenderlo Kerley, Inc. All rights reserved.
November 2021 | hayandforage.com | 33
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The number of stems per square foot is a better indicator of future yield than counting plants per square foot.
Stems provide key to replacing alfalfa stands LFALFA’s high yields and forage quality make it a premier forage worldwide. If anything about alfalfa could be improved, most growers would want to extend stand longevity. I was showing my forage class around the seed room at a local ag supply store while also talking about pricing. When we came to a bag of Roundup Ready alfalfa, it staggered me, the grandson of an Oklahoma dryland sharecropper, that a 50-pound bag of seed could cost $500. I am not saying that it is too expensive, just that the seed cost for new alfalfa seedings can be significant. Frankly, the price of seed is minor in the whole scheme of alfalfa establishment and production. For example, initial seed cost per acre for Roundup Ready alfalfa is about $200, but doing without a year of production may cost $400 per acre or more. Extending the productive life of a stand from four to six years drops the annual seed cost from $50 to $33.33 per acre. The bottom line is that most producers want to keep a stand of alfalfa as long as possible. But how long should an alfalfa stand be kept, and how do you know when to terminate a field and re-establish? Keeping alfalfa economically productive is a multi-faceted challenge. Stand life in alfalfa is maximized by: 1. Using an improved variety with high resistance to the major diseases, and one that is proven to be high yielding in relevant trials. 2. Growing on deep, well-drained soils
that have been limed to near neutral pH and have been fertilized annually according to soil tests. 3. Cutting on a prudent schedule, allowing alfalfa to reach bud to first flower before harvest and not harvesting in the four to six weeks prior to a killing freeze. 4. Controlling economically important weeds and insects.
Assess stand productivity Alfalfa yields naturally decline over time. Forage scientists in Wisconsin have documented that alfalfa yields peak in the year after establishment, and we have seen similar trends in Kentucky. In both instances, annual yields fell to about two-thirds of maximum yield by Year 5. While some might see this decline as justification for quickly turning over alfalfa stands, many do not because of seeding expense and the potential for establishment failures. Much work has been done to com-
Count the stems A logical next question pertains to the relationship of yield and plant or stem density in older stands. Some insights can be gained from a University of Missouri long-term study that examined the effect of phosphorus and potassium on alfalfa yield and stand life on a soil that tested low for both nutrients. In addition to yield, the Missouri researchers kept track of plant and
Figure 1: Alfalfa yield over time in south central Missouri 6 5 Tons DM/acre
by Jimmy Henning
pare stand parameters such as plants per square foot to annual yield. Plant density (plants per square foot) has long been used as a guide for stand replacement, but it varies by stand age and location. For example, the plants per square foot required to produce maximum yield in the year after establishment has been reported to be 13 in California and Michigan, 23 in Ohio, 26 in Illinois, and 17 in Indiana. As stands age, plant density declines and surviving crowns become larger. Yields are maintained by the more robust surviving plants, producing a greater number of stems per plant. A University of Wisconsin study published in 2007 reported on the relationship between plant and stem density on alfalfa yield in one-, two-, and three-yearold stands of alfalfa at two locations in the state. They noted that although plant density per square foot is often used as a guide for stand replacement, it had little correlation to yield in one- to three-yearold stands; however, stem density per square foot was a much stronger predictor of subsequent yield. In their study, having less than 40 stems per square foot reduced yield potential.
4 3 2 1 0
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3
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5
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8
Stand age, years
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Alfalfa stems/ft2
Figure 2: Alfalfa stem density over time in south central Missouri 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
3
4
5 6 Stand age, years
stem density over a period of 10 years. As in other studies, dry matter yields peaked in the year following establishment and declined afterward (Figure 1). Unlike other trials, rainfall-corrected dry matter yields were maintained at about 4 tons per acre through Year 8 if stands had three or four plants per square foot and were well fertilized.
7
8
Stem density per square foot declined from 84 in Year 3 to 22 in Year 7 (Figure 2). In this study, yields were sustained at around 4 tons per acre even when stems per square foot fell below the 40 threshold, as reported in the 2007 Wisconsin study. To further complicate the stem density situation, a subsequent report from the University of Wisconsin rec-
ommended that alfalfa stands needed 55 stems per square foot to maintain maximum yields and might need to be replaced at densities of 39 stems per square foot or lower. The take-home message from these studies is that stem density is the best indicator of yield potential, but the precise threshold varies. Practically speaking, stands may become economically unsustainable before stem density thresholds are reached because of plant diseases or weed encroachment. No matter if you place your replacement threshold at 30, 40, or 50 stems per square foot, stem density is the best parameter to assess future alfalfa productivity. •
JIMMY HENNING The author is a professor and extension forage specialist with the University of Kentucky-Lexington.
November 2021 | hayandforage.com | 35
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BEEF FEEDBUNK
by Ashley Wright
Use residual feed intake to improve efficiency
F
EED conversion ratio (FCR or G:F) is the traditional measure of feed efficiency and feedlot performance. This trait is defined as the ratio between the animal’s gain and feed inputs. It’s highly correlated with growth rate, which is ideal for cattle entering feedlots; however, studies have shown that selecting cattle based on FCR also tends to boost mature cow size over time. While FCR selection may work well for cattle in feedlots, it can create problems for cow-calf producers. Larger cows have higher maintenance energy requirements, which means greater feed costs and forage needs for those cows that may stay in the herd for many years.
Another approach Residual feed intake (RFI) is an alternative way to look at feed efficiency. It measures variations in feed intake beyond those needed for maintenance and production (for example, growth and lactation). Research has demonstrated that as much as 37% of feed efficiency differences between animals are due to variation in metabolism and protein turnover. As an example, if we have two identical dry, open cows and measure the average of their daily voluntary forage intake over a week’s time, most likely these two animals will not eat the same amount of forage. Their intake could vary by as much as 10 or more pounds per day. If all other production traits are equal (same size, same body condition, same diet, and so forth), which cow would you rather have in your herd — the one eating only what she needs or the one eating an extra 10 pounds per day? Residual feed intake is a way to measure these differences in intake inde-
pendently of other traits like growth, production, and mature size. In growing cattle such as steers, we can account for average daily gain (ADG) in the equation to compare the intakes of steers that may have different rates of growth.
A measure of efficiency When examining residual feed intake scores, it’s important to remember that cattle with a negative RFI are efficient animals; they consume less feed than expected based on their size and performance. Cattle with a positive RFI are inefficient animals because they consumed more feed than expected. If an animal has an RFI score of zero, it ate exactly the amount of feed expected based on its growth and other performance factors. The calculations used to determine RFI make this trait independent of growth and mature size, and using it to select cattle will not inadvertently select for larger animals as selecting only on FCR will. It does result in improvements in FCR, and RFI is also moderately heritable. It’s becoming more common to see young bulls RFItested prior to large bull sales, and many breeds now include an expected progeny difference (EPD) for RFI. Look for an animal with a negative RFI. For example, -3.36 means that this animal should produce offspring that consume, on average, 3.36 pounds less than the breed average. For the beef producer, using RFI as a selection criterion, particularly for sires of replacement heifers, has the potential to lower overall feed costs associated with the cow herd. In heifers selected for RFI, it has been demonstrated that a 2.2 pounds per day difference in intake pre-
dicted a 2.6 pounds per day difference in intake during their first lactation, and a 3.1 pounds per day advantage after weaning the first calf. Since RFI has been determined to be moderately heritable, offspring of heifers selected for low RFI (more efficient) will also likely have improved efficiency in the feedlot and require less feed to reach finished size and weight than similarly performing peers. For the cow-calf producer, a cow that stays in the herd for eight years, consuming 5 pounds less forage per day than her peers, saves approximately 14,600 pounds of forage over her lifetime.
Some downsides RFI does come with some caveats. A few studies have demonstrated that RFI may be negatively correlated with carcass marbling and leanness. More efficient animals may be leaner with less marbling than inefficient animals. This translates to lower carcass quality. Additionally, heifers that are more efficient (low RFI) may not begin cycling as early as heifers with high RFI scores, and pregnancy rates may be slightly lower in these animals. These negative factors can be mitigated through careful heifer management. Select heifers born earlier in the season and monitor their growth carefully. Also, cull heavily based on pregnancy and calving rates. Remember, too, that all selection tools have downsides, and selecting replacement animals based on a single trait is always inadvisable. Be aware of these potential pitfalls when selecting animals using RFI, but don’t be afraid to consider it along with other criteria such as genomic data and carcass EPDs. Carefully manage and cull replacement heifers to avoid cultivating negative traits in your herd. Used appropriately, RFI is another tool to for reduce feed costs for the cow herd while improving overall beef production efficiency. •
ASHLEY WRIGHT The author is an area assistant livestock agent with the University of Arizona based in Cochise County.
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MACHINE SHED
Deere introduces new windrowers
John Deere recently unveiled its W200 Series of self-propelled windrowers to help farmers harvest their crop quickly and efficiently, while promoting quick dry down for high-quality hay.
The W200M and W235M self-propelled windrowers offer a cost-effective option for farmers to consider with an all-new cab and a lower horsepower option. Beef and dairy producers will benefit from the W235R and W260R thanks to a new premium cab loaded with integrated technology and innovative features that allow for easy in-cab adjustments to improve windrow formation and dry down. The R windrowers offer 10% wider windrows than previous models. The new windrowers offer 24 mph transport speeds and easy in-cab adjustments of swath f lap and
forming shields. JDLink-enabled machines help to ensure peak operation performance and keep the owner connected to their machine at any time from anywhere. The W200M and W235M are available with optional Starfire receivers and a Generation 4 CommandCenter with AutoTrac. Optional TouchSet controls allow operators to quickly adjust windrow width and tilt from the cab while cutting. Using the TouchSet settings library presets and resume function, operators can move between settings with ease. For more information, visit deere.com.
Ag-Bag by RCI unveils the T7170 Storing feeds in silage bags is taking a performance leap forward through the new T-Series models built by Ag-Bag by RCI. Since acquiring the product line in late 2019, RCI Engineering has focused on transforming the product design with extensive input from its customer and dealer base. The result is a machine design with more capacity, higher forage density, easier serviceability, and more convenient transport. The machines are backed up with exceptional parts and service support. One of Ag-Bag’s long-standing key features has been its patented low rotor position that fills bags more uniformly with its upward flow of feedstuffs. Now, RCI has improved this function with a new Revolutionary Rotor, which has twice as many teeth and results in greater compaction and higher density in the bag. An all-new forage distributor spreads the forage evenly over the rotor for faster unloading and higher throughput capacity. Longer tunnel extensions also contribute to
greater compaction and forage density. Another high-capacity feature is a single conveyor that is 12 inches wider, handling more forage for faster unloading. Transporting the T7170 Ag-Bagger has also been upgraded with an integrated hydraulic lift system that saves time changing between transport and operation modes. A new hitch design changes towing direction, placing the tunnel on the side of the road and providing better visibility for safer travel. For more information, visit ag-bag.com.
Massey Ferguson debuts 8S tractor series AGCO Corporation has introduced a new Massey Ferguson 8S tractor series, encompassing models in the 205 to 265 horsepower (HP) range. The 8S features Massey Ferguson’s exclusive Protect-U design, creating a 9.4-inch gap between the engine and the cab. This unique feature protects the operator while giving tremendous front visibility and comfort. The distinctive 9.4-inch space between the engine and cab reduces noise and vibration, making it one of the quietest cabs on the market. The new MF vDisplay puts all the key information operators need in an easy-to-read digital dashboard that can be personalized. The Datatronic 5 terminal, standard on the 8S, allows operators to quickly and easily change
setups on the hydraulics, transmission, and engine. The 7.4-liter Tier 4 Final AGCO Power engine delivers performance and stability. Engine Power Management (EPM) provides a 5% boost to productivity and 10% fuel savings at lower engine RPMs, which also reduces noise. The 8S is available in two transmis-
sion options. The Dyna E-Power, the new Dual-Clutch transmission designed by Massey Ferguson for the 8S range, provides smooth shifting and speed changes with no torque interruption. The Dyna-VT transmission allows operators to select the exact speed and engine RPM needed. With a minimum weight of just 8.7 tons, the 8S comes with a wide range of ballast and tire choices. With a 10-foot wheelbase length, the 8S offers improved stability and maintains high levels of traction. The combination of the wheelbase and chassis design means less ballasting weight is needed, ensuring maximum soil preservation and reduced ground pressure. For more information, visit masseyferguson.us. November 2021 | hayandforage.com | 37
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MACHINE SHED
Case IH offers WD5 series windrowers Case IH is introducing the WD5 series windrowers to its lineup of self-propelled harvesting equipment. These new models offer more consistent dry down. With transport speeds up to 30 miles per hour (mph), operators can travel quickly from farm-to-field. The WD5 series windrowers are designed with a quiet, comfortable cab environment, while an independent air-assisted rear-axle suspension provides a smoother ride. A tuned cab suspension means better ride cushioning. Designed to excel through hilly areas, a robust drivetrain design produces over 11,000 foot-pounds of torque, while a four-link rear suspension provides greater stability and reduces the need for added ballast. The Case IH SurroundVision cab has larger, easy-entry steps, a leather ventilated seat, and additional window tinting.
For enhanced straight-line tracking, a redesigned precision ground drive system monitors wheel speed differences and self-compensates by adjusting wheel speeds. Every model is guidance-ready to provide cutting accuracy within 1.5 inches, along with the intuitive Advanced Farming Systems (AFS) Pro 700 display. Case IH guidance solutions virtually eliminate pass-to-pass overlap, even at field speeds up to 20 mph. An automated headland management feature controls ground speed, header lift, and merger lift to make every headland turn effortless and accurate. For more information, visit caseih.com.
Vermeer addresses labor challenges Vermeer Corporation recently introduced four concepts to help customers optimize their hay operations: a patent-pending autonomous bale mover, patent-pending onboard bearing temperature sensors, automated baling assistance technology, and Forage Commander — a field data management app. The bale mover concept, which is nicknamed “Bale Hawk,” travels around the field autonomously via onboard sensors to locate bales, pick them up, and move them to a predetermined location. The machine helps save labor time and associated costs by eliminating the manual bale movement. The autonomous bale mover senses where it is relative to a bale, allowing it to plan
a route to pick up that bale. Onboard bearing temperature sensors are battery-powered and wireless. They will help operators monitor baler bearing temperatures from the cab, helping to provide predictive maintenance notices to operators before the bearing reaches its end-of-life.
Vermeer’s automated baling assistance technology guidance system for the Vermeer ZR5-1200 self-propelled baler uses light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors to track the windrow and automatically steer the machine. It is a step towards taking the guesswork out of creating a consistent, uniform bale. The Forage Commander app connects the user’s smart device via Bluetooth to the data gateway unit located on the baler to provide the latest field stats for each customer, including bale weight, bale moisture, bales per hour, and more. From this data, it can generate an invoice to email directly to a custom operator’s client. For more information, visit vermeer.com/innovation.
Fendt 300 Vario Gen4 series now available AGCO Corporation is bringing the Fendt 300 Vario Gen4 series tractors to North America. The tractors are available in four models ranging from 100 to 142 ECE R120 rated engine horsepower. With an unladen weight of just 11,045 pounds, the 314 model boasts just over 83 pounds per horsepower. Added ballast can bring the weight up to 18,739 pounds if needed. The 300 Vario Gen4 Series includes four models: 311 (100 HP), 312 (113 HP), 313 (123 HP), and 314 (132 HP). The Fendt DynamicPerformance (DP) power boost intelligent sensor technology
automatically adds 10 HP when it detects excessive auxiliary consumer demand on the 314 model up to 142 HP. The Vario 300 Gen4 series includes the 4.4-liter AGCO Power engine that works in unison with the Fendt stepless Vario continuously variable transmission (CVT). They are offered in the choice of three trim packages — Power, Profi, and Profi+ — and with more than 210 options. The 300 Gen4 Series tractors are available with either mechanical or pneumatic cab suspension for a comfortable, quiet ride. A multifunction joystick and control buttons are integrated into
the armrest, and a 10-inch digital dashboard is built into the steering column. The Fendt Gold Star Customer Care package comes standard with each Fendt tractor. For more information, visit Fendt.com/us.
The Machine Shed column will provide an opportunity to share information with readers on new equipment to enhance hay and forage production. Contact Managing Editor Mike Rankin at mrankin@hayandforage.com.
38 | Hay & Forage Grower | November 2021
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Publication Title: Hay & Forage Grower Publication No.: 021-713 Filing Date: September 17, 2021 Issue Frequency: January, February, March, April/May, August/September and November No. of Issues Published Annually: 6 Annual Subscription Price: $0 Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: 28 Milwaukee Avenue West, PO Box 801, Fort Atkinson, Jefferson County, WI 53538-0801. Contact Person: Brian V. Knox, Telephone: 920-563-5551. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of Publisher: 28 Milwaukee Avenue West, PO Box 801, Fort Atkinson, Jefferson County, WI 53538-0801. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: Publisher: W. D. Hoard & Sons Company, Brian V. Knox, 28 Milwaukee Avenue West, PO Box 801, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538-0801. Editor: Managing Editor: Michael C. Rankin, 28 Milwaukee Avenue West, P.O. Box 801, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538-0801 Owner: Hay & Forage LLC, 28 Milwaukee Ave. W, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538; Paris M Knox 1990 Educational Trust, 28 Milwaukee Ave., W, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538; Gillian V. Knox 1990 Educational Trust, 28 Milwaukee Ave., W, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538; Brian V. Knox II 1992 Educational Trust, 28 Milwaukee Ave., W, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538; Gregory J. Mode, 28 Milwaukee Ave., W, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538; Gina L. Mode, 28 Milwaukee Ave., W, Fort Atkinson, WI 53538 Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages or Other Securities: None Tax Status (for completion by non-profit organizations authorized to mail at non-profit rates: N/A Publication Title: Hay & Forage Grower Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: August/September 2021 Extent and Nature of Circulation: Average No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months: a. Total Number of Copies (Net Press Run): 53,377 b. 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Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation (Sum of 15b (1), (2), (3) and (4)): 32,071 d. Non-requested Distribution (By mail and outside the mail) 1. Outside County Nonrequested Copies Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include sample copies, requests over 3 years old, requests induced by a premium, builk sales and requests including association requests, names obtained from business directories, lists, and other sources): 20,218 2. In-County Nonrequested Copies Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include sample copies, requests over 3 years old, requests induced by a premium, bulk sales and requests including association requests, names obtained from business directories, lists, and other sources): 0 3. Nonrequested Copies Distributed Through the USPS by Other Classes of Mail (e.g. First-Class Mail, nonrequestor copies mailed in excess of 10% limit mailed at Standard Mail® or Package Services rates): 0 4. Nonrequested Copies Distributed Outside the Mail (Include pickup stands, trade shows, showrooms, and other sources): 633 e. Total Nonrequested Distribution (Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3) and (4)): 20,851 f. Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and e): 52,922 g. Copies not Distributed (See Instructions to Publishers #4 (page #3): 456 h. Total (Sum of 15f and g): 53,378 i. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation (15c divided by 15f times 100): 60.60% Extent and Nature of Circulation: No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date: a. Total Number of Copies (Net Press Run): 53,822 b. Legitimate Paid and/or Requested Distribution (By mail and outside the mail): 1. Outside County Paid/Requested Mail Subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541. (Include direct written request from recipient, telemarketing, and Internet requests from recipient, paid subscriptions including nominal rate subscriptions, employer requests, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies.): 34,491 2. In-County Paid/Requested Mail Subscriptions stated on PS From 3541.(Include direct written request from recipient, telemarketing, and Internet requests from recipient, paid subscriptions including nominal rate subscriptions, employer requests, advertiser’s proof copies, and exchange copies.): 0 3. Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales and Other Paid or Requested Distribution Outside USPS®: 0 4. Requested Copies Distributed by Other Mail Classes Through the USPS (e.g. First-Class Mail®): 0 c.Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation (Sum of 15b (1), (2), (3) and (4)): 34,491 d. Non-requested Distribution (By mail and outside the mail) 1. Outside County Nonrequested Copies Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include sample copies, requests over 3 years old, requests induced by a premium, builk sales and requests including association requests, names obtained from business directories, lists, and other sources): 17,942 2. In-County Nonrequested Copies Stated on PS Form 3541 (Include sample copies, requests over 3 years old, requests induced by a premium, bulk sales and requests including association requests, names obtained from business directories, lists, and other sources): 0 3. Nonrequested Copies Distributed Through the USPS by Other Classes of Mail (e.g. First-Class Mail, nonrequestor copies mailed in excess of 10% limit mailed at Standard Mail® or Package Services rates): 0 4. Nonrequested Copies Distributed Outside the Mail (Include pickup stands, trade shows, showrooms, and other sources): 650 e. Total Nonrequested Distribution (Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3) and (4)): 18,592 f. Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and e): 53,083 g. Copies not Distributed (See Instructions to Publishers #4 (page #3): 739 h. Total (Sum of 15f and g): 53,822 i. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation (15c divided by 15f times 100): 64.98% Electronic Copy Circulation: Hay & Forage Grower. Average No. Copies Each Issue During Previous 12 Months: a. Requested and Paid Electronic Copies: 0 b. Total Requested and Paid Print Copies (Line 15C) + Requested/Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a): 32,071 c. Total Requested Copy Distribution (Line 15f) + Requested/Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a): 52,922 d. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation (Both Print & Electronic Copies) (16b divided by 16c X 100): 60.60%. Electronic Copy Circulation Hay & Forage Grower. No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date: a. Requested and Paid Electronic Copies: 0 b. Total Requested and Paid Print Copies (Line 15C) + Requested/Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a): 34,491 c. Total Requested Copy Distribution (Line 15f) + Requested/Paid Electronic Copies (Line 16a): 53,083 d. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation (Both Print & Electronic Copies) (16b divided by 16c X 100): 64.98%. I certify that 50% of all my distributed copies (electronic & print) are legitimate requests or paid copies. Publication of Statement of Ownership for a Requester Publication is required and will be printed in the November 2021 issue of this publication. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subject to criminal sanctions (including fines and imprisonment) and/or civil sanctions (including civil penalties). Brian V. Knox, Publisher September 17, 2021
44 | Hay & Forage Grower | November 2021
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FORAGE IQ Western Alfalfa & Forage Symposium November 16 to 18, Reno, Nev. Details: calhay.org/symposium Alabama Forage Conference December 2, Russellville, Ala. Details: bit.ly/HFG-ALforage Kansas Forage and Grassland Conference December 8, Newton, Kan. Details: ksfgc.org/upcoming-events American Forage & Grassland Council Annual Conference January 9 to 12, Wichita, Kan. Details: afgc.org Northwest Hay Expo January 19 and 20, Kennewick, Wash. Details: wa-hay.org Virginia Winter Forage Conferences January 18 to 21 (four locations) Details: vaforages.org/events GrassWorks Grazing Conference January 20 to 22, Wisconsin Dells, Wis. Details: grassworks.org Western Alfalfa Seed Growers Assn. Winter Seed Conference January 23 to 25, Las Vegas, Nev. Details: wasga.org U.S. Custom Harvesters Convention January 27 to 29, Amarillo, Texas Details: uschi.com Southwest Hay & Forage Conference January 27 and 28, Ruidoso, N.M. Details: nmhay.com Driftless Region Beef Conference January 27 and 28, Dubuque, Iowa Details: aep.iastate.edu/beef Cattle Industry Convention NCBA Trade Show February 1 to 3, Houston, Texas Details: convention.ncba.org
HAY MARKET UPDATE
We got what we got Haymaking has wrapped up in virtually all regions of the U.S. It’s likely that USDA’s December 1 hay stocks estimate will be down from a year ago, forcing hay prices to remain strong. Hay exports remain strong and at a nearly even pace with 2020. China continues to import large volumes of U.S. alfalfa hay.
In drought-impacted regions, heavy culling of beef herds has occurred, putting a dent in normal demand levels. The nation’s dairy herd is also shrinking as producers wrestle with higher feed costs. The prices below are primarily from USDA hay market reports as of mid-October. Prices are FOB barn/stack unless otherwise noted.•
For weekly updated hay prices, go to “USDA Hay Prices” at hayandforage.com Supreme-quality alfalfa California (central SJV) California (intermountain) California (northern SJV) Colorado (northeast) Colorado (San Luis Valley) Idaho (east) Idaho (south central) Iowa (Rock Valley) Kansas (north central) Kansas (southeast) Minnesota (Sauk Centre) Missouri Nebraska (western) New Mexico (eastern) Oregon (Lake County) South Dakota Texas (Panhandle) Texas (west)-ssb Premium-quality alfalfa California (intermountain) California (northern SJV) California (southeast)-ssb Colorado (San Luis Valley) Idaho (east) Iowa Iowa (Rock Valley) Kansas (northwest) Kansas (northeast) Minnesota (Sauk Centre) Minnesota (Pipestone)-lrb Missouri Montana Nebraska (western) New Mexico (southeast) Oklahoma (northwest) Oregon (Crook-Wasco)-ssb Oregon (eastern) Pennsylvania (southeast) South Dakota (Corsica)-lrb Texas (Panhandle) Washington-ssb Wisconsin (Lancaster) Wyoming (western)-ssb Good-quality alfalfa California (northern SJV) California (southeast) Iowa (Rock Valley)-lrb Kansas (northwest)-lrb Kansas (southeast) Kansas (southwest) Minnesota (Sauk Centre)-lrb Minnesota (Pipestone)-lrb Missouri
Price $/ton 320-330 (d) 245-250 280 280 (d) 340 (d,o) 250 265 260 210 200-250 200-300 200-250 250 200-280 250 250 280-300 (d) 300-315 Price $/ton 230 280 (d) 260-275 300 (d,o) 250 250-300 (d) 190-210 245 217 195-200 190 160-200 325 230-245 270-280 (d) 190 300-350 230 310 185-195 250-260 (d) 260-265 300 240-280 Price $/ton 260 185 170 175 160-200 180-190 175-210 165 120-160
Nebraska (central)-lrb Nebraska (western) New Mexico (southern) Oklahoma (western) Pennsylvania (southeast) Texas (west) Washington Wisconsin (Lancaster) Wisconsin (Lancaster)-lrb Wyoming Fair-quality alfalfa California (intermountain) Idaho (southeast) Kansas (north central) Kansas (northeast)-lrb Minnesota (Sauk Centre) Missouri Montana Nebraska (central)-lrb New Mexico (southern) Texas (Panhandle)-lrb Washington Bermudagrass hay Alabama-Premium lrb Alabama-Good lrb California (southeast)-Premium California (southeast)-Premium ssb Oklahoma (north central)-Good/Prem lrb Texas (central)-Premium ssb Texas (south)-Fair/Good lrb Bromegrass hay Kansas (northeast)-Good lrb Kansas (southeast)-Premium Orchardgrass hay California (intermountain)-Premium ssb Oregon (Crook-Wasco)-Premium ssb Pennsylvania (southeast)-Premium Pennsylvania (southeast)-Good Washington-Premium ssb Timothy hay Oregon (eastern)-Premium-ssb Oregon (eastern)-Good Pennsylvania (southeast)-Premium Pennsylvania (southeast)-Good-ssb Washington-Premium ssb Oat hay Kansas (south central)-Good Straw Iowa-lrb Iowa (Rock Valley) Kansas Minnesota (Sauk Centre) Pennsylvania (southeast) South Dakota
133-140 210 165 140-165 230-235 235-260 230 120-190 90-120 200 Price $/ton 210 230 120 150 140-190 100-125 250-300 125 135-165 175 200-225 Price $/ton 120-133 80-90 180 210 75 280-330 120-130 Price $/ton 85-105 110-120 Price $/ton 315 325-350 290 170-220 260-265 Price $/ton 330 220 300 210 260-265 Price $/ton 135 Price $/ton 110 105-133 60-100 50-95 110-130 125
(d) (d)
(d)
(d)
Abbreviations: d=delivered, lrb=large round bales, ssb=small square bales, o=organic
46 | Hay & Forage Grower | November 2021
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SERVING UP COCKTAILS AND CEREAL by Mike Rankin
D
OUBLE Dutch Dairy, near Cedar Grove, Wis., began experimenting with no-till cover crops and annual forages about five years ago. “We started with clovers following a winter wheat harvest, figuring that was a safe place to begin because there were still plenty of available heat units left in the growing season,” explained Brody Stapel. Stapel, who farms with his brother, Jory, and father, Rudy, milk 240 Holsteins in east central Wisconsin, about 6 miles from the Lake Michigan shoreline. Historically, they fed alfalfa and corn silage to fuel the dairy herd. The brothers became frustrated with frequent alfalfa winterkill events, so last year they began to replace most of their acres with year-round annual forages and mixtures, or “cocktails” as they are sometimes called. Stapel noted that they were also interested in improving soil health, diversifying their cropping system, and keeping a “live” root in the soil at all times. “We’re still learning the system,” Stapel explained at a field day held late last summer on their farm. “It’s not just a matter of planting something different. We need to have quality feed and a means of utilizing our manure, too.” The Stapels are currently implementing a cropping system that begins with cereal rye or triticale following corn silage harvest. Last fall, they planted in mid-September. They then topdressed about 6,000 gallons of liquid manure in late October over the 6-inch tall winter cereals. In March, they put down about 20 gallons of 28% liquid nitrogen. They followed that up 30 days later with another 20-gallon application of 32% nitrogen. The winter cereals were harvested on May 14. About 9,000 gallons per acre of manure was then injected into the harvested cereal fields. Part of the 90-acre field was planted to corn and the remainder was seeded to a mixture of brown midrib sorghum-sudangrass, red and berseem clover, hairy vetch, and Tetila Italian ryegrass on June 5. A first cutting was harvested on July 17. More liquid nitrogen was applied,
and it was cut again on August 16. The current plan is to harvest a third cutting in mid-September to align with their final alfalfa harvest. If growing conditions are good this fall, they might take another cutting, which is anticipated to be dominated by ryegrass and clover. The field will then receive another manure application. Next spring, they plan to get a cutting of ryegrass and clover in May, then they will no-till corn into the field.
are coming from the fiber. Essentially, we’re feeding more leafy greens and fewer potato chips.” When dealing with the plethora of forages being mixed and fed at Double Dutch Dairy, Sehr uses wet chemistry analysis to get an accurate read on what’s going into the dairy ration. “It’s more work on everybody’s part to get this right, but it is a pretty cheap way
Prefer triticale Recently, the Stapels committed to 100% no-till for all of their crops. They feel this will improve soil health and enhance the ability of the soil to support the weight of harvest equipment, even during a wet fall. The brothers plan to replace all of their winter rye acreage with triticale moving forward. This will help widen the harvest window for boot stage-harvested forage in the spring. The Stapels use a custom forage harvester so that the feed can be harvested and packed as quickly as possible. With limited storage space, the Stapels layer their winter annuals, summer annuals, and alfalfa on a silage pile. “From a feeding perspective, the biggest change we’ve seen is an improvement in milk components,” Stapel noted. “We are running about a 4.2% fat and 3.3% protein average. Previously, we’d drop under 4% fat and under 3% protein in the summer months, but that didn’t happen this year.” The Stapels’ nutritionist, Jake Sehr, cut his dairy feeding teeth in California where a variety of feedstuffs are used in dairy rations. Stapel feels he is well suited to help guide them through their experimental phase of feeding a variety of annual forages. “These annual forages are totally different feeds than alfalfa,” Sehr explained. “Good grasses are always going to be high in neutral detergent fiber, but they’re highly digestible. They also bring a lot of sugars, or water-soluble carbohydrates, into the diet.” The nutritionist continued, “In a corn silage and alfalfa diet, a lot of our energy comes from starch. With more annual grass-based diets, an increasing amount of the digestible carbohydrates
Brody Stapel explained that they want to replace alfalfa with winter and summer annual forages.
to achieve higher milk components and still maintain production,” he asserted. Sehr cautioned that winter cereals need to be harvested with a shorter length of cut so that they pack and feed better. “The harvest window is going to be shorter than alfalfa,” he noted.
Cocktail corn In the spirit of next-level experimentation, the Stapels seeded a cocktail mix along with their corn this past spring on one of their fields. Following a winter rye harvest in May, a mixture of kale, cowpeas, rape, sunn hemp, buckwheat, sunflower, sorghum-sudangrass, red clover, white clover, and Italian ryegrass was no-tilled into the stubble. Immediately following, corn was planted into the field at a population of about 25,000 plants per acre. Glyphosate and carfentrazone-ethyl (Aim) were used to burn down the volunteer rye immediately after planting. The Stapels’ hope is that there will be immediate cover once the corn is chopped off, but they plan to continue to experiment on a small scale with different forage species and corn hybrids to find the most beneficial combination. •
12 | Hay & Forage Grower | November 2021
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4 to 7 pounds,” he said. “Our dry cows have intakes of about 30 pounds per day right now.” The fines still contain a significant amount of shorter-chopped stover and, in one sample, contained 42% starch. The NDF concentration was about 30%. “Our nutritionist is pretty optimistic about this,” Friendshuh commented. “On our farm, we’re saving $150 per cow per year in feed costs. We’re confident that we can get around a two-year return on investment.” The cost savings come from no longer having to buy straw, reduced protein purchases for dry cows, and less corn (energy) supplement is needed for the milking cows.
Infant stages
THE FODD: a new corn silage separation system by Mike Rankin
T
HROUGH the years, many great inventions have been the residue of someone’s desire to solve a problem. There are countless examples of what we consider mainstream agricultural equipment that started as an obscure napkin drawing and came to life in the dark corners of someone’s undersized farm shop. Greg Friendshuh was faced with a problem in 2019. It was a short, wet growing season, and the straw they were buying to feed in their dry cow ration was both moldy and expensive. His “just enough” Goldilocks diet just wasn’t working. “Many dairymen, including me, don’t like feeding straw to their cows,” Friendshuh said while standing in his booth at World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis. “I kept thinking that there had to be a better alternative, and it occurred to me that corn silage, or at least the stover, might be the answer.” Friendshuh farms with his brother, Brian, near Clear Lake, Wis. The operation is home to about 1,200 high-producing Holstein cows. As with many dairy operations, corn silage is a foundational ration ingredient.
“It occurred to us that there was good fodder in corn silage if we could just get it separated out,” Friendshuh said. “Additionally, the longer length of cut is where we want it for dry cows, and it’s palatable.”
At present, the only operating machine that exists is on Friendshuh’s farm, but several more are being built to see if the initial positive results can be replicated on other farms. No price point has currently been set. “We also want to build smaller-sized Fodd systems that will be cost effective on smaller dairies,” Friendshuh said. Although The Fodd has its own power source, it is built with a power take-off (PTO) backup to ensure that an engine problem doesn’t create extended downtime.
Fodder and fines Working with a local machine shop, Friendshuh developed a system, tabbed “The Fodd,” whereby corn silage is loaded into a hopper and transferred to a rolling trommel. The shorter fiber particles and fines drop out of the screen while the longer “fodder” moves on through. About 85% of his corn silage drops through the 5/8-inch screen as “fines,” and these are incorporated into the lactating cows’ ration along with some unseparated corn silage and alfalfa haylage. Currently, Friendshuh feeds about a 50:50 ratio of his corn silage fines and unseparated corn silage. The longer dry cow or heifer fodder contains 20% starch or less and has a neutral detergent fiber (NDF) of about 47%. Friendshuh also pointed out that the potassium levels are lower and more consistent with the fodder than what he experienced with straw. “When we started feeding the separated fodder to the dry cows, their intakes went up
The Fodd separates corn silage into fodder(left) and fines (right).
The entrepreneur acknowledged that with a shift to feeding corn silage fodder to dry cows and/or heifers, a corresponding boost in corn silage acres will likely be needed, depending on the current level of silage feeding. With much more building and testing to be done, it’s difficult to know or even predict the future of the The Fodd system. What we do know is that there was a lot of interest generated at World Dairy Expo, and there is at least one dairy farmer who feels like he can put a checkmark in the “problem solved” box. Learn more about The Fodd system at www.thefodd.com. • November 2021 | hayandforage.com | 13
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Alfalfa Variety Ratings 2022
Winter Survival, Fall Dormancy & Pest Resistance Ratings for Alfalfa Varieties
This National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance publication is intended for use by Extension and agri-business personnel to satisfy a need for information on characteristics of certified-eligible alfalfa varieties. NAFA updates this publication annually.
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WINTER SURVIVAL, FALL DORMANCY & PEST RESISTANCE RATINGS FOR ALFALFA VARIETIES % Resistant Plants 0-5% 6-14% 15-30% 31-50% >50%
RESISTANCE RATINGS Resistance Class Susceptible Low Resistance Moderate Resistance Resistance High Resistance
FD Rating 1 2 3 4 5
FALL DORMANCY (FD) RATING DESCRIPTIONS Description FD Rating Description Very Dormant 6 7 Semi-Dormant Dormant 8 9 Non-Dormant Moderately Dormant 10 11 Very Non-Dormant
FD is the degree of fall alfalfa growth, as a response to temperature and day length. Lower dormancy ratings exhibit less fall growth, while higher dormancy ratings indicate greater fall growth. FD ratings are indices assigned by comparing the height of fall growth with standard check varieties, and tested across locations and years to accurately represent dormancy response across environments.
Class Abbreviations S LR MR R HR
WINTER SURVIVAL RATINGS Category Check Variety Extremely Winterhardy ZG 9830 Very Winterhardy 5262 Winterhardy WL325HQ Moderately Winterhardy G-2852 Slightly Winterhardy Archer Non-Winterhardy CUF 101
Score 1 2 3 4 5 6
FD 4
FD 3 - DORMANT
FD 2
Spredor 5
Nexgrow Alfalfa
54VQ52
Pioneer
6305Q
Nexgrow Alfalfa
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR
HR
Graze N Hay 3.10RR
Croplan
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR
R
Hi-Gest 360
Alforex Seeds
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R MR R
R
HVX Tundra II
Croplan
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
LegenDairy AA
Croplan
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R HR
Octane
BrettYoung
RR Presteez
Croplan
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
Rugged
Alforex Seeds
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR MR
SW3407
Alfalfa Partners
WL 319HQ
W-L Alfalfas
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR
R HR
MR
H
WL 336HQ.RR
W-L Alfalfas
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R HR
MR
H
54HVX41
Pioneer
HR HR HR HR HR HR
R
H
54HVX42
Pioneer
HR HR HR HR HR HR MR R
HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
M
G
R
HR HR R HR HR HR HR R
R-RRA; X-HarvXtra; H-75-95% Hybrid
BrettYoung
Salt Tolerance (G-Germination/F-Forage)
Foothold
Standability Expression (R-Resistance)
Variety
Contact for Marketing Information
Continuous Grazing Tolerance (Y-Yes)
Multifoliolate Expression (H-High/M-Mod/L-Low)
Northern Root Knot Nematode
Southern Root Knot Nematode
Stem Nematode
Potato Leafhopper
Blue Alfalfa Aphid
Pea Aphid
Spotted Alfalfa Aphid
Aphanomyces Race 2 Root Rot
Aphanomyces Race 1 Root Rot
Phytophthora Root Rot
Anthracnose Race 1
Fusarium Wilt
Verticillium Wilt
Bacterial Wilt
Winter Survival
Information is obtained from the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies (AOSCA) and the National Alfalfa Variety Review Board (NAVRB) report. Blank spaces indicate the variety has no approved rating through AOSCA.
G
R
HR R
H R M
G
R
H
G RX
R
H
G
HR
L
R HR
MR
H
HR
MR
R
R
R
HR HR HR HR HR HR HR
R
HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R
HR R R
R
R
G Y
R
G
G
R RX RX
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R-RRA; X-HarvXtra; H-75-95% Hybrid
Salt Tolerance (G-Germination/F-Forage)
54V13
Standability Expression (R-Resistance)
HR HR R HR HR HR R
Continuous Grazing Tolerance (Y-Yes)
Pioneer
HR
Multifoliolate Expression (H-High/M-Mod/L-Low)
54Q29
R
Northern Root Knot Nematode
HR HR HR HR HR HR HR
R
Southern Root Knot Nematode
Pioneer
R
Stem Nematode
54Q16
R
Potato Leafhopper
HR HR HR HR HR HR R
Blue Alfalfa Aphid
Pioneer
Pea Aphid
54Q14
Spotted Alfalfa Aphid
Aphanomyces Race 2 Root Rot
Aphanomyces Race 1 Root Rot
Phytophthora Root Rot
Anthracnose Race 1
Fusarium Wilt
Verticillium Wilt
Bacterial Wilt
Winter Survival
Variety
Contact for Marketing Information
R
R HR
HR
Pioneer
R HR R HR HR HR MR HR HR
HR
54VR10
Pioneer
HR HR R HR HR HR HR R HR
R
R
54VR70
Pioneer
HR
R
4010BR
BrettYoung
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
HR R HR
4030
BrettYoung
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R MR HR
4319.A2 RR
La Crosse Seed
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR MR R
6401N
Nexgrow Alfalfa
6422Q
Nexgrow Alfalfa
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR
R
R
H
6424R
Nexgrow Alfalfa
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR MR R
R
H
6427R
Nexgrow Alfalfa
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR R MR R
HR
H
G
6439HVXR
Nexgrow Alfalfa
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
R
H
G RX
6453Q
Nexgrow Alfalfa
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
R
H
6497R
Nexgrow Alfalfa
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR
R
R
H
Ace
BrettYoung
R MR R
HR
L
AFX 429
Alforex Seeds
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
R
R
R
AFX 457
Alforex Seeds
HR HR HR HR HR HR
R
R
R
R
AFX 460
Alforex Seeds
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
R
R
R
R
H
AFX 469
Alforex Seeds
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR MR R MR R
HR
R
L
G
R
R
R HR HR R
HR HR HR HR HR R
HR HR HR HR HR HR
HR HR HR HR HR HR
MR
H
R HR
HR
HR M
R
R G R
G
R
R
L L
G
R
R
HR
M
G
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
HR
H
G
HR R
HR
HR M
HR
M
G
R
HR H
G
R R
AmeriStand 428TQ
America's Alfalfa
AmeriStand 445NT
America's Alfalfa
HR R HR HR HR R
AmeriStand 446NT
America's Alfalfa
HR HR HR HR HR R
R HR R
R
AmeriStand 455TQ RR America's Alfalfa
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
AmeriStand 457TQ RR America's Alfalfa
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R HR
R
H
G
AmeriStand 480 HVXRR America's Alfalfa
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
R
R
H
G RX
AmeriStand 481 HVXRR America's Alfalfa
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
R
H
RX
Barricade II
BrettYoung
HR HR HR HR HR HR
R MR HR
HR
Barricade SLT
BrettYoung
HR HR HR HR HR HR
MR HR HR
R
Camas
LG Seeds
HR R HR HR HR HR
HR R
DG 417RR
Dyna-Gro
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
R
H
DG 4120
Dyna-Gro
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
R
H
DG 4210
Dyna-Gro
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR
HR R
R
H
HR
FD 4 - DORMANT
AmeriStand 416NT RR America's Alfalfa
R
HR
G M
G/F
HR M R
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FD 4 - DORMANT
R-RRA; X-HarvXtra; H-75-95% Hybrid
Salt Tolerance (G-Germination/F-Forage)
Standability Expression (R-Resistance)
Continuous Grazing Tolerance (Y-Yes)
Multifoliolate Expression (H-High/M-Mod/L-Low)
Northern Root Knot Nematode
Southern Root Knot Nematode
DKA40-21HVXRR
Dekalb
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
R
R
H
RX
DKA40-51RR
Dekalb
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
H
R
DKA44-16RR
Dekalb
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
H
Dynamo
BrettYoung
FF 42.A3
La Crosse Seed
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR
FF 4022.LH
La Crosse Seed
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR
FF 4215.HVX RR
La Crosse Seed
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
GA-409
Preferred
GrandStand II
Dyna-Gro
HG4001
LG Seeds
HVX Driver
Croplan
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR
HVX MegaTron
Croplan
HybriForce-3400
Dairyland Seed
R
HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R R
Stem Nematode
H
Potato Leafhopper
Pea Aphid
HR
Blue Alfalfa Aphid
Spotted Alfalfa Aphid
Aphanomyces Race 2 Root Rot
Aphanomyces Race 1 Root Rot
Phytophthora Root Rot
R
Anthracnose Race 1
R
Fusarium Wilt
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
Verticillium Wilt
Dekalb
Bacterial Wilt
DKA40-16
Winter Survival
Variety
Contact for Marketing Information
R
G
G
R
M R
H
R
H
HR
M
R MR R
R
M
R
R
R
H
RX
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR
R
R
H
RX
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR MR
R
R
HR RX
HR HR HR HR HR HR HR 2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R HR
HR R HR
HybriForce-3420/Wet Dairyland Seed
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR HR MR R
HybriForce-3430
Dairyland Seed
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R HR R
HybriForce-4400
Dairyland Seed
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
L-442RR
Legacy Seeds
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R
L-457HD+
Legacy Seeds
HR HR HR HR HR HR MR
LG 4C100
LG Seeds
HR HR HR HR HR HR R
LG 4HVXR100
LG Seeds
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
LG 4R300
LG Seeds
HR HR HR HR HR HR
LG 4R400
R
R
R HR R
H
R
R
L
H
HR
R
L
H
HR
MR
R
H H
R
MR R
R
R
R
M
R
H
RX
HR HR
HR
M
R
LG Seeds
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R MR
MR
H
R
Magnum 7
Dairyland Seed
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
HR R HR
Magnum 7-Wet
Dairyland Seed
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
HR HR HR
Magnum 8
Dairyland Seed
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R MR R
Magnum 8-Wet
Dairyland Seed
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R MR R
MR
Magnum Salt
Dairyland Seed
2 HR HR HR R HR R
R
HR R HR
Optimus
BrettYoung
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR
MR HR R
Rebound AA
Croplan
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R
Reload
BrettYoung
RR AphaTron 2XT
Croplan
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR
RR Stratica
Croplan
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR
HR R
RR VaMoose
Croplan
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR
MR R
SGS 47M
Innvictis Seed
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
R
HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R MR R HR
R
R
R
R
L L
R
G/F M
R
H
R
L
R
H
R
H
HR MR R
G R G
R
G
R
H
2022 VL - 4 2022 Variety Leaflet.indd 4
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Shockwave BR
BrettYoung
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
MR
HR R HR
Stockpile
BrettYoung
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
HR R HR
SW4107
Alfalfa Partners
SW4412Y
Alfalfa Partners
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R HR
HR
WL 341HVX.RR
W-L Alfalfas
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R HR R
R
H
WL 349HQ
W-L Alfalfas
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR
HR
R
H
WL 354HQ
W-L Alfalfas
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR HR HR
R
H
G
WL 356HQ.RR
W-L Alfalfas
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR MR R
HR
H
G
WL 358LH
W-L Alfalfas
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
WL 359LH.RR
W-L Alfalfas
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
WL 3441.RR
W-L Alfalfas
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR
R
HR
H
WL 3471.HVXRR
W-L Alfalfas
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR
R
R
H
55H96
Pioneer
HR R HR HR HR HR HR R
R
55Q28
Pioneer
HR HR R HR HR HR R
R
R
HR
HR
55V50
Pioneer
HR HR R HR HR HR HR R
R
R
HR
55VR08
Pioneer
6516R
Nexgrow Alfalfa
6585Q
Nexgrow Alfalfa
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR
AFX 579
Alforex Seeds
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
AmeriStand 518NT
America's Alfalfa
HR HR HR HR HR HR
HR
AmeriStand 545NT RR America's Alfalfa
R HR R HR HR HR HR HR HR HR HR HR
HR HR HR HR HR HR HR MR R
R
HR HR HR HR
Dyna-Gro
DKA50-17
Dekalb
GA-497HD
Preferred
HR HR HR HR HR HR
GA-535
Preferred
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR
GUNNER
Croplan
GUNNER AA
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
M
HR
R G
RX
R
R
HR
HR M
G
HR
H
G
L
G
HR
HR H
G
HR HR
HR
HR M
G
HR
HR
H
R R
R
HR
HR HR R
R
R
HR
R
R
R
R HR
R
HR
R
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
R
HR H
Croplan
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR
HR
R
H
L-450RR
Legacy Seeds
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR
MR HR
R
M
R
LG 5R300
LG Seeds
HR HR HR HR HR HR
HR HR
HR
M
R
MPIII Max Q
Innvictis Seed
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R HR
HR
H
G
Nimbus
Croplan
HR
HR
HR M
F
PGI 529
Alforex Seeds
1 HR R HR HR HR HR
MR R MR
R
L
RR Saltiva
Croplan
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR
R HR MR
HR
M
RR Tonnica
Croplan
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
R
R
H
Slingshot
BrettYoung
2
HR R HR HR HR HR
R HR HR HR HR HR
HR HR
HR
R
H G
FD 5 - MODERATELY DORMANT
DG 5315
G RX
FD 4 - DORMANT
HR
R HR HR HR HR HR HR R HR HR
R-RRA; X-HarvXtra; H-75-95% Hybrid
Salt Tolerance (G-Germination/F-Forage)
Standability Expression (R-Resistance)
Continuous Grazing Tolerance (Y-Yes)
Multifoliolate Expression (H-High/M-Mod/L-Low)
Northern Root Knot Nematode
Southern Root Knot Nematode
Stem Nematode
Potato Leafhopper
Blue Alfalfa Aphid
Pea Aphid
Spotted Alfalfa Aphid
Aphanomyces Race 2 Root Rot
Aphanomyces Race 1 Root Rot
Phytophthora Root Rot
Anthracnose Race 1
Fusarium Wilt
Verticillium Wilt
Bacterial Wilt
Winter Survival
Variety
Contact for Marketing Information
R G
R
HR H
2022 VL - 5 2022 Variety Leaflet.indd 5
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FD 5 FD 6 - SEMI-DORMANT FD 7 - SEMI-DORMANT FD 8
R-RRA; X-HarvXtra; H-75-95% Hybrid
Salt Tolerance (G-Germination/F-Forage)
Standability Expression (R-Resistance)
Continuous Grazing Tolerance (Y-Yes)
Multifoliolate Expression (H-High/M-Mod/L-Low)
Northern Root Knot Nematode
Southern Root Knot Nematode
Stem Nematode
Potato Leafhopper
Blue Alfalfa Aphid
Pea Aphid
Spotted Alfalfa Aphid
Aphanomyces Race 2 Root Rot
Aphanomyces Race 1 Root Rot
Phytophthora Root Rot
Anthracnose Race 1
Fusarium Wilt
Verticillium Wilt
Bacterial Wilt
Winter Survival
Variety
Contact for Marketing Information
Sureshot
BrettYoung
HR HR HR HR HR HR R
SW5213
Alfalfa Partners
HR HR HR HR HR HR HR R HR
SW5637S
Alfalfa Partners
HR HR R HR HR HR R
WL 365HQ
W-L Alfalfas
1 HR HR HR HR HR HR R HR HR
WL 372HQ.RR
W-L Alfalfas
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR R
WL 375HVX.RR
W-L Alfalfas
2 HR HR HR HR HR HR HR
WL 377HQ
W-L Alfalfas
HR HR HR HR HR HR
6010
BrettYoung
6610N
Nexgrow Alfalfa
Alfagraze 600 RR
America's Alfalfa
ArtesianSun 6.3
Croplan
Cisco II
Alforex Seeds
2 HR HR HR R HR MR
Hi-Gest 660
Alforex Seeds
R MR HR HR R
HR HR R
HybriForce-2600
Dairyland Seed
2 HR R HR HR HR R
R
HR R HR
H
HybriForce-3600
Dairyland Seed
HR R HR HR R
HR R HR
HR HR HR
H
L-602
Legacy Seeds
HR HR HR HR
Revolver
BrettYoung
HR HR HR HR HR HR
RR 6 Shot Plus
Croplan
R HR HR HR HR R
SW6330
Alfalfa Partners
R LR R
WL 458HQ.RR
W-L Alfalfas
3 HR HR HR HR HR HR
WL 467HQ
W-L Alfalfas
HR R HR HR HR
57Q53
Pioneer
MR HR HR HR R LR
6829R
Nexgrow Alfalfa
R
R
R HR HR
HR HR R
AFX 779
Alforex Seeds
R
R
R
AmeriStand 618NT
America's Alfalfa
AmeriStand 715NT RR America's Alfalfa
R HR
F R
R
HR HR HR R HR R
HR
H
G
R
HR
H
G RX
HR
HR M
HR HR
R HR HR
R
G
HR H
G
MR HR HR HR
HR
HR R
HR R
R
R
R HR
HR
R
R HR HR HR HR HR
G
R
2 HR HR HR HR HR R HR
L
R
MR H R HR
G/F
HR
G
R R
R
R
L
G
R
G
R
HR
G
R
HR HR R
R
G
HR HR HR
HR
R HR HR HR
HR HR
HR
HR R HR HR HR
HR HR
HR
R
R
R
R
MR MR HR R HR R
LG 7C300
LG Seeds
LG 7R400
LG Seeds
R HR HR R HR R
Magna 715
Dairyland Seed
R
R HR HR R
SW7410
Alfalfa Partners
R
HR MR R
AmeriStand 803T
America's Alfalfa
MR
HR MR HR
HR HR
R HR
R HR MR
MR R
R HR R
HR
L
R HR
HR
HR M
MR HR MR
R MR HR
M R
HR HR
R
R HR HR HR R
R
R HR HR MR R LR
R HR HR
HR
HR HR
R MR HR LR R
HR HR HR
HR
GrandSlam
Dyna-Gro
R
HR HR HR
R
Magna 801FQ
Dairyland Seed
R MR HR MR HR
HR R
R HR HR
Sun Titan
Croplan
MR MR HR R HR
G/F R
M
AmeriStand 835NTS RR America's Alfalfa
R HR R HR
M
G
R
HR HR HR
HR
G
R
HR H G
2022 VL - 6 2022 Variety Leaflet.indd 6
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R
R HR HR HR
HR R
R
R
F
HR HR HR
R
G
HR R HR R HR
HR HR R
R
G
Pioneer
HR MR HR HR HR MR
HR HR R
HR HR HR
6906N
Nexgrow Alfalfa
MR
R
HR HR HR
HR
G
AFX 960
Alforex Seeds
LR MR HR HR R
HR HR HR
HR
G
AmeriStand 901TS
America's Alfalfa
R MR HR R HR
HR R
AmeriStand 955NT RR America's Alfalfa
HR R HR MR HR
HR HR R
HR
DG 9212
Dyna-Gro
LR R HR HR HR
HR HR HR
HR
LG 9C300
LG Seeds
MR
R
R
PGI 908-S
Alforex Seeds
R
R HR HR HR
HR HR HR
R HR HR
RR Desert Rose
Croplan
R
R HR HR HR
HR HR HR
R
RRALF 9R100
LG Seeds
R
R HR R HR
HR HR HR
HR
G
Sun Quest
Croplan
MR
R
HR HR HR
HR
G
SW9628
Alfalfa Partners
LR
R LR R
HR R
R
HR
SW9720
Alfalfa Partners
MR
R
R
HR HR R
MR HR
SW9813S
Alfalfa Partners
R
R
R
WL 656HQ
W-L Alfalfas
MR
WL 668HQ.RR
W-L Alfalfas
HR R HR HR HR
6015R
Nexgrow Alfalfa
R MR R
R
AFX 1060
Alforex Seeds
LR R
R
R
SW10
Alfalfa Partners
MR
R
HR R
R LR
R HR
G R H G G/F R R
F
MR
HR HR HR
HR
G
HR HR R
HR
G
R
R
HR HR HR
HR
G
R
R
HR R
HR
R
HR HR HR
R
HR
G R
FD 10
R HR
HR R HR
R
HR
R
FD 9 - NON-DORMANT
HR R
R
R-RRA; X-HarvXtra; H-75-95% Hybrid
Salt Tolerance (G-Germination/F-Forage)
Standability Expression (R-Resistance)
Continuous Grazing Tolerance (Y-Yes)
Multifoliolate Expression (H-High/M-Mod/L-Low)
Northern Root Knot Nematode
Southern Root Knot Nematode
Stem Nematode
Potato Leafhopper
Blue Alfalfa Aphid
Pea Aphid
Spotted Alfalfa Aphid
Aphanomyces Race 2 Root Rot
59N59
Aphanomyces Race 1 Root Rot
W-L Alfalfas
HR
Phytophthora Root Rot
WL 558HQ.RR
R
Anthracnose Race 1
W-L Alfalfas
HR
Fusarium Wilt
WL 538HQ
Verticillium Wilt
Alfalfa Partners
Bacterial Wilt
Winter Survival
SW8421S
FD 8
Variety
Contact for Marketing Information
This publication provides ratings of alfalfa varieties eligible for certification by seed certifying agencies. It does not list all important characteristics to be considered in the selection of alfalfa varieties. With the exception of some varieties listed as checks, all varieties listed can be purchased in the United States.
NAFA OFFICE
4630 Churchill Street, #1 St. Paul, MN 55126 Phone: (651) 484-3888 • Fax: (651) 638-0756 nafa@alfalfa.org
VISIT NAFA AT ALFALFA.ORG
2022 VL - 7 2022 Variety Leaflet.indd 7
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MARKETERS
Varieties are submitted by marketers and listing does not imply NAFA endorsement. Variety information in this publication is that which is submitted for certification.
Alforex Seeds
La Crosse Seed
Pioneer
Leaflet Listing: Alforex Seeds
Leaflet Listing: La Crosse Seed
Leaflet Listing: Pioneer
Jordan, MN 55352 877-560-5181
La Crosse, WI 54603 800-356-7333
Johnston, IA 50131 715-223-7390
www.alforexseeds.com
www.lacrosseseed.com
www.pioneer.com
America’s Alfalfa
Legacy Seeds LLC
Preferred Alfalfa Genetics
Leaflet Listing: America’s Alfalfa
Leaflet Listing: Legacy Seeds
Leaflet Listing: Preferred
Nampa, ID 83653 800-406-7662
Scandinavia, WI 54977 715-467-2555
Story City, IA 50248 515-733-2203
www.americasalfalfa.com
www.legacyseeds.com
brendale@outlook.com
BrettYoung
LG Seeds
S&W Seed Company
Leaflet Listing: BrettYoung
Leaflet Listing: LG Seeds
Leaflet Listing: Alfalfa Partners
Winnipeg, MB R3V 1L5 800-665-5015
Westfield, IN 46074 800-544-6310
Longmont, CO 80501 720-506-9191
www.brettyoung.ca
www.lgseeds.com
www.alfalfapartners.com
Dairyland Seed
NEXGROW Alfalfa
W-L Alfalfas
Leaflet Listing: Dairyland Seed
Leaflet Listing: Nexgrow Alfalfa
Leaflet Listing: W-L Alfalfas
West Bend, WI 53095 800-236-0163
West Salem, WI 54669 800-568-5434
Collierville, TN 38017 608-498-1313
www.dairylandseed.com
www.plantnexgrow.com
www.wlalfalfas.com
DEKALB
Nutrien Ag Solutions
WinField United
Leaflet Listing: Dekalb
Leaflet Listing: Dyna-Gro
Leaflet Listing: Croplan
St. Louis, MO 63167 800-335-2676
Geneseo, IL 61254 309-944-4791
Arden Hills, MN 55126 800-328-9680
www.dekalb.com
www.dynagroseed.com
www.croplan.com
Innvictis Seed Solutions, LLC
NAFA is proud to collaborate with Hay & Forage Grower on the distribution of its “Winter Survival, Fall Dormancy & Pest Resistance Ratings for Alfalfa Varieties” 2022 Edition.
Leaflet Listing: Innvictis Seed
Boise, ID 83702 208-780-2728 www.innvictis.com
“Winter Survival, Fall Dormancy & Pest Resistance Ratings for Alfalfa Varieties” 2022 Edition is a publication of the National Alfalfa & Forage Alliance and cannot be reproduced without prior written permission from NAFA.
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