By Tracy Courage
Amid the uncertainty, producers can also weather the financial storms by effectively planning and managing their forages.
John Jennings, a professor and extension forage specialist for the Division of Agriculture, offered advice for spring forage plans, reminding producers to allow 30 days after implementing a practice to see the effect. Jennings was among the speakers during a webinar about COVID-19 impacts on the cattle industry.
Jennings offers these tips:
- Start rotating pasture immediately to allow for forage accumulation
- Close gates or divide large pastures with single electric polywire to allow forage to accumulate
- Fertilize cool-season grasses and winter annuals as soon as possible
- Repair and overseed hay feeding areas
- Target fertilization for existing forages; Fertilize cool-season grasses like fescue and winter annuals such as ryegrass as soon as possible; Fertilize bermuda in early May
- Plant oats or ryegrass for spring grazing or hay as soon as possible
- Plant summer annuals such as pearl millet, sudangrass, corn, or crabgrass in May and June for summer grazing
Source : uaex.edu