Spring is a challenging time of year when it comes to cool-season perennial forage management. Keeping an eye on forage stage of production can help to ensure optimum forage quality.
Spring can be one of the most difficult times of the year to manage cool-season perennial pastures and hay fields due to the variable weather and forage growth rates. The forage growth seems to be at a stand-still, then in the blink of an eye it is suddenly going to seed and the quality is plummeting.
Managing pastures and hay fields to balance optimum yields and quality is an art, and keeping a close eye on the progress of the stand is the first step to correct management. Making sure that your hay equipment or fences are ready is a key to success. Waiting until it is time to turn livestock out to pasture is not the time to mend fences, and waiting until your hay is ready to be mowed is not the time to fix hay equipment broken at the end of last year.
As forage maturity and yield increases, overall forage value declines. Lignification and cell wall contents increase with maturity while percent crude protein (CP) and cell solubles decline – reducing the overall digestibility and palatability of the forage. A measure of the cell wall components can be a good indicator of forage quality. Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) and Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) are measurements of the cell wall components, which continue to increase as the forage matures. Neutral detergent fiber has been shown to have an inverse relationship animal intake, meaning the greater the NDF in a forage, the less the animal is able to consume. Acid detergent fiber has been shown to have an inverse relationship with digestibility, meaning the greater the ADF in a forage, the lower the digestibility of that forage.
Tall fescue and orchardgrass, common cool-season perennials in the northeastern United States, have been shown to reduce their CP values by 10% and their total digestible nutrients (TDN) by 12% as the forage grows from a vegetative to mature stage of production, causing a severe decline in overall animal performance.
For harvested forages, baleage may be a good solution to ensuring hay fields get harvested at the proper time. Baleage provides a better opportunity to harvest less mature forages earlier in the growing season by beating the weather with the need for a smaller window of time for the entire process.
Source: psu.Spring is a challenging time of year when it comes to cool-season perennial forage management. Keeping an eye on forage stage of production can help to ensure optimum forage quality.
Spring can be one of the most difficult times of the year to manage cool-season perennial pastures and hay fields due to the variable weather and forage growth rates. The forage growth seems to be at a stand-still, then in the blink of an eye it is suddenly going to seed and the quality is plummeting.
Managing pastures and hay fields to balance optimum yields and quality is an art, and keeping a close eye on the progress of the stand is the first step to correct management. Making sure that your hay equipment or fences are ready is a key to success. Waiting until it is time to turn livestock out to pasture is not the time to mend fences, and waiting until your hay is ready to be mowed is not the time to fix hay equipment broken at the end of last year.
As forage maturity and yield increases, overall forage value declines. Lignification and cell wall contents increase with maturity while percent crude protein (CP) and cell solubles decline – reducing the overall digestibility and palatability of the forage. A measure of the cell wall components can be a good indicator of forage quality. Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) and Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) are measurements of the cell wall components, which continue to increase as the forage matures. Neutral detergent fiber has been shown to have an inverse relationship animal intake, meaning the greater the NDF in a forage, the less the animal is able to consume. Acid detergent fiber has been shown to have an inverse relationship with digestibility, meaning the greater the ADF in a forage, the lower the digestibility of that forage.
Tall fescue and orchardgrass, common cool-season perennials in the northeastern United States, have been shown to reduce their CP values by 10% and their total digestible nutrients (TDN) by 12% as the forage grows from a vegetative to mature stage of production, causing a severe decline in overall animal performance.
For harvested forages, baleage may be a good solution to ensuring hay fields get harvested at the proper time. Baleage provides a better opportunity to harvest less mature forages earlier in the growing season by beating the weather with the need for a smaller window of time for the entire process.
Source: psu.edu