By Ryan McGeeney
As summer turns to fall, forage and pasture experts with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture are encouraging Arkansas farmers to think ahead and take the steps necessary for successful end-of-year grazing.
Jonathan Kubesch, extension forage specialist for UADA, said that even with the promise of an El Niño weather pattern ostensibly bringing more moisture in the coming months, producers will need to deal with extraordinarily dry soil conditions when planning their fall and winter annual planting.
“The good news is, we have some really good odds ahead of us in October-November, in terms of getting the moisture we need to execute a solid winter annuals program like we normally would,” he said.
With the typical planting window for fall annuals generally starting around Sept. 15, Kubesch said growers may want to begin planning for winter annuals such as small grains and annual ryegrass.
“We should have some better odds,” he said. “The trade-off with planting in September and October is that we’re not going to have grazing before the New Year.”
Kubesch said farmers are walking a bit of a tightrope, needing to wait for adequate moisture to plant but not waiting until the ground becomes so wet that fieldwork becomes impossible.
“If the spigot stays off all the way to December, our next-best pivot point will be to plant between late-February and mid-March, with spring oats or annual ryegrass,” he said. “We’ll be using them in April and May, right before our bermudagrass and bahiagrass perk up.”
Source : uada.edu