In many areas, however, cane hay may be past this point and now heading out and marturing rapidly. If this is the case in your fields, harvest as quickly as possible to preserve forage quality and limite seed disbursement. These fields can produce a lot of seed, which can pose problems for years to come. Much of that seed will shatter from the heads and fall to the ground either before you cut or when you strike the plants at harvest. Then the potential problems begin. Over the next few years, that seed will germinate and cause potential weed problems for future crops. Because cane and many other summer annual grasses are members of the sorghum family, cross-pollination could result in some of the seed producing shattercane plants which will be hard to control.
Timely harvest now will pay both short-term and long-term rewards.
Bruce Anderson
Extension Forage Specialist
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| Published by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Cooperating with the counties and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. | ||
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