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Check forage for damaged stands, especially in alfalfa
 

By SUSAN MYKRANTZ

WOOSTER, Ohio — The winter of 2019 wreaked havoc on roads, leaving potholes big enough to swallow a small car – and the impact on forage stands is no less serious for farmers.

Rory Lewandowski, extension educator in Wayne County, said severe temperature swings, changing snow cover, rain, sleet, and ice, combined with soils that have remained wet and or saturated throughout the fall and winter, created the potential for significant winter injury. He recommends forage growers evaluate the health of their forage and assess winter damage, particularly in alfalfa stands,

“Assessment and stand health evaluation can begin once plants start to green up and produce 2 to 4 inches of growth,” he said.

One of the primary concerns is the possibility of heaving damage. “Taprooted crops, such as alfalfa and red clover, are particularly susceptible to heaving damage. In severe cases, the plant can be heaved several inches or more out of the soil, breaking the taproot and killing the plant.”

He said saturated clay soils with high shrink/swell potential, exposed to rapid freeze/thaw cycles, are likely to increase heaving conditions, which can physically lift the plants out of the soil. This exposes the crown of the plant to possible low temperature damage and/or physical injury from harvest operations.

Lewandowski said growers should look at several sites around the field to evaluate the health of their stand, which includes stem counts and digging up plant root. They should check at least one site for every 5-10 acres, but more samples give a better assessment of the conditions in the field.

Counting the number of stems per crown gives a better indication of the yield potential of the field. He said if there are fewer than 40 stems per square foot, producers should consider replacing the stand.

“While you are counting stems, take note of where growth is taking place,” said Lewandowski. “Healthy plants have symmetrical, even growth on both sides of the crown. Damaged plants often have more stems on one side of the plant than the other.”

He said evaluating the crown and root issues will give producers an idea of how plants will hold up to stresses in the coming growing season.

“A healthy root will have a creamy white color and no to very little discoloration in the crown and taproot,” he explained. “These are the plants that have numerous shoots and the shoots are evenly distributed across the crown of the plant.

“Discolored crowns and roots indicate a plant health problem. There may be obvious areas of root rot and crown rot that are dark brown to black in color. There may be streaks of brown running down the root.”

Lewandowski said unhealthy plants have fewer stems coming out of the crown, and those may tend to be more numerous on one side of the crown as compared to the other.

“These plants green up in the spring of the year and appear productive,” he said. “But because of their compromised root system, they may not survive the entire production year, especially if we have a hot, dry year.”

He said as a rule of thumb, if more than 30 percent of the split roots have brown streaks running down the root and/or black areas of root/crown rot that cover greater than 30-50 percent of the root’s diameter, then yield potential is significantly reduced. At that point growers may want to consider alternative production options, such as terminating the stand after first cutting and planting other crops for forage.

Dr William Weiss, professor in the Ohio State University Department of Animal Science, concurs winter damage will have the biggest impact on forage yield, but continued rainfall across the region will impact quality as well. He suggests farmers consider an early summer planting of BMR-sorghum or sudan-type forages.

“They are highly digestible and can start providing forages in (about) 45 days post-planting, which may help make it to new-crop corn silage,” said Weiss.

When it comes to adjusting for forage quality, he explained the easiest fix is to reduce inclusion rate of lower-quality forages. “If they have adequate inventory of corn silage, then reduce hay crop forages and increase corn silage. If corn silage supply is limited, then you will need to replace a portion of the lower-quality forage with byproducts such as whole cottonseed, corn gluten feed, soy hulls, wheat midds.”

He advises dairy producers to work with their nutritionist, as they will have to look at prices and total diet to see what fits best, but as a true forage substitute whole cottonseed is the only non-forage feed that causes cows to ruminate.

“If possible, target best forage to early-lactation, high-producing cows and lower-quality forage to dry cows, heifers, and late-lactation group,” Weiss said. “But this usually isn’t very practical on real farms. If inventory allows targeting forage quality, consider grouping cows by stage of lactation or production.”

Early cover harvest

Another option is a bipartisan resolution known as the Feed Emergency Enhancement During Disasters (FEEDD) Act. House Resolution 3183 was introduced in Congress on June 10 with the goal of helping farmers and ranchers in handling feed and forage shortages following recent natural disasters.

The bill was introduced by U.S. Reps. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and has several co-sponsors so far from states impacted by wet weather. The legislation provides greater flexibility to farmers and ranchers during this planting season when high levels of prevent-plant are happening because of extreme moisture or drought.

The FEEDD Act would allow producers who use prevent-plant to at least plant and graze, hay, or chop a cover crop before Nov. 1 in the event of a feed shortage due to excessive moisture, flood, or drought. Through the waiver, these producers would not have to take a further discount under the Federal Crop Insurance Program.

Last Thursday, the USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) did announce that farmers who planted cover crops on prevent-plant acres will in fact be permitted to hay, graze, or chop those fields by Sept. 1, rather than waiting until November.

“We recognize farmers were greatly impacted by some of the unprecedented flooding and excessive rain this spring, and we made this one-year adjustment to help farmers with the tough decisions they are facing this year,” said Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Bill Northey.

RMA has also determined that silage, haylage, and baleage should be treated in the same manner as haying and grazing for this year, and producers may still maintain eligibility for their full 2019 prevent-plant indemnity.

“These adjustments have been made for 2019 only,” said RMA Administrator Martin Barbre. “RMA will evaluate the prudence of a permanent adjustment, moving forward.”

6/26/2019