For example, an early maturing corn is one possibility if you plant it thick, although yield still might not be very high. A better choice for late plantings might be forage sorghum if chinch bugs and other insects are not a problem. Use high grain producing hybrids when available. The best choice of all for short-season silage might be sunflowers. They survive light frost and yield well under many conditions.
If you want hay instead of silage, plant sorghum-sudan hybrids, pearl millet, or foxtail millet when chinch bugs aren't a problem. A hay crop exceeding 1.5 ton per acre still can be grown if planted soon and rain is timely. Another hay or silage alternative is solid-seeded soybeans. A couple tons of good forage can be grown from taller, full season varieties planted after wheat. Oats planted in early August is another option. Yields over two tons are possible if moisture is good, fertility high, and our hard freeze comes a little late. The cheapest option might be to drill bin-run corn in a thick stand if you have good germination and a drill that can handle the kernels.
Also consider turnips, as well as oats, for fall pasture planted into wheat stubble in late July or early August. With a few timely rains in August and September, both oats and turnips produce much high quality feed in a short time. And, they are cheap to plant.
While moisture is critical, there may be some post wheat-harvest forage options that work for your operation.
Bruce Anderson
Extension Forage Specialist
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