Forages Following Wheat
Wheat harvest will be coming up soon and that leads us to think about some forage opportunities after harvest is complete. There is plenty of growing season left this year and there are several forage possibilities, especially in a year where pasture or hay is short in some areas.
If the cropland is not irrigated, receiving some rains after wheat harvest is going to be necessary to grow that forage crop.
One dryland choice might be a high grain-producing forage sorghum if chinch bugs and other insects are not a problem. Sunflowers can be a surprisingly good choice for a short-season silage. They survive light frost and yield well under many conditions.
If hay is preferred, plant sorghum-sudan hybrids, teff, or pearl or foxtail millet. A hay crop exceeding two to three tons per acre can be grown easily if planted soon after wheat harvest. Another hay or silage alternative is solid-seeded soybean. A couple tons of good forage can be grown from taller, full season varieties planted after wheat.
Oats planted in late July to early August is another option. Yields over two tons are common when moisture is good, fertility is high, and your hard freeze comes a little late.
Definitely 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 relatively inexpensive to plant.
Don't automatically let your wheat ground sit idle the rest of the year, especially if you could use more forage.
Sub-Irrigated Meadow Hay Harvest
July traditionally means the beginning of the haying season for Sandhills sub-irrigated meadows. A key point related to the quality of meadow hay is harvest date. Crude protein and energy concentration decline as plants become stemmy and mature. As this happens, the types of livestock that can be fed that hay with little or no supplements become more limited.
A good practice can be to record harvest dates for different meadow fields. Quality of hay cut in early July could vary significantly compared to hay cut in late July or August. Including notes if hay was impacted by rain before baling can also be useful. This information, along with hay tests, can be useful when making hay feeding decisions this winter and next spring. Also remember that earlier meadow harvest will provide a longer regrowth period and extra growth for fall grazing.
Within some meadows, there can be variation in hay quality depending on plant species that are present. Sedges and rushes are most common in the wettest and lower parts of meadows, and these species are lower in quality compared to grasses.
The extra rain received in parts of Nebraska this year has been mostly welcome. But excess rain can make some meadows impossible to even get in to cut the hay. When hay is in demand, waiting until the ground dries and firms up enough to drive haying equipment over it is an option, but the quality of this late cut hay will be lower.
Annual Forage Insurance Sign Up
In Nebraska, you can't predict the rain; however, you can protect your bottom line.
If you plant annual forage or cover crops for livestock feed, dry weather doesn't have to mean a total loss. The USDA's Annual Forage Insurance Program shields your investment against lack of rainfall, covering crops planted between Aug. 1 of the current year and July 31 of the following year.
But coverage requires action right now.
The USDA sign-up deadline is Wednesday, July 15, and it is strictly enforced. Miss it, and your forage crops go uninsured for the entire next crop year. Government subsidies are available to help keep premiums affordable.
Don't leave your feed supply to chance. Call your local crop insurance agent today and lock in your protection before July 15.
