OMAFRA releases latest Field Crop Report

Sep 01, 2016

Report was released August 31

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

OMAFRA’s Field Crop Team released its latest Field Crop Report, and fall forages were the central theme.

As with many crops throughout the province, the rains last week played an important role in field development.

“With the recent rains, many hay fields have seen significant growth in the last two weeks,” the Field Crop Team writes.

However, farmers now need to decide whether to take a fall cutting of alfalfa.

Alfalfa field

“This year, plants have been stressed from the dry weather and now we are contemplating stressing them further by taking a fall cutting,” the report says. “Even if there is no winterkill, the added stress typically results in the delay of first cut in the spring with yields reduced by roughly the same tonnage that would be harvested in the fall.”

Cutting alfalfa close to a killing frost can minimize the risk of winterkill.

If alfalfa is cut before a frost, there could be little regrowth to deplete nutrient reserves. If it’s cut after, the leaves can start to drop and nutrients will leach out of the plant.

According to the Field Crop Report, a killing frost for alfalfa occurs when the temperature reaches -4°C for several hours.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.