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| Winter forages are good replacements for the hay bale! |
The recent rainfall
has offered forage producers some alternatives if they wish to establish winter
pastures. With predictions for above
normal rainfall this fall, planting a winter forage could be a be a good bet to
help ease the lack of available forage.
Although cool-season annual forages can be expensive to plant and grow,
they can be a less costly substitute for supplements found in a bale, sack, or
tub. There are several options when it
comes to a cool season forage, and all have different pros and cons.
Oat is the least
winter-hardy cool season annual grass, but for South Texas, this would be a
good choice, since hard freezes are not common. Oats can be planted in early
fall and will more than likely produce the most early dry matter of the cool
season forages in South Texas. Keep in
mind that forage production can be variable with oats and oats do not grow well
on sandy soils, but tolerate wet, poorly drained soils better than other small
grains.
Rye is the most winter
hardy of the annual winter pasture grasses. Compared to other annual winter
grasses, rye produces more fall and winter forage. It matures earlier in the
spring than most wheat varieties - usually peaking in early Spring. Rye grows
well on well-drained soils that are sandy in texture.
Wheat provides the
most flexibility as a crop as it can serve as a forage crop and grain crop
simultaneously, if managed properly. It produces well on a wide range of soils,
with very sandy soils being the exception. One negative aspect of wheat is that
most of the production occurs in the Spring.
Barley and Triticale
are cool season annual grasses, but are not as widely used. Barley is most
noted for being tolerant of saline and alkaline soils. It does not grow well on
sandy soils, but is drought tolerant. Triticale is a "cross" between
wheat and rye and its forage production generally exceeds that of wheat. Triticale has characteristics of both parental
lines that may make it the most widely adapted of the small grains.
Ryegrass is adaptable
to a wide range of soil types, growing better on wet soils than most other cool
season annual grasses. It can be easily established by simply broadcasting seed
on the soil surface or on grass sod, but establishes better if a light disking
operation on a short sod is performed prior to broadcasting the seed.
Production of dry matter from ryegrass will be late in the cool season;
therefore,, most ryegrass will generally occur later than the small
grains. One advantage of ryegrass is
that it matures later than other small grains, extending the grazing
season. Moreover, mixtures of small
grains with ryegrass can work well to extend the grazing season.
Legumes like bur
medics and clovers are good for the soil and provide good nutrition for
livestock, however their dry matter production will be late in the cool season,
most of which will occur in early Spring.
Cool season legumes are an attractive option to decrease the production
cost associated with nitrogen fertilization because legumes have the ability to
fix atmospheric N. Annual clovers can contribute about 75- 100 lbs N/acre for
the subsequent grass crop. They are, however, only able to fix N from the air if
host-specific strains of Rhizobia bacteria are present in nodules on
their roots.
In South Texas, the
general recommendation is to overseed cool-season annual
forages from 6 to 8 weeks before the average first killing frost. Correct timing for cool-season
annual forage establishment cannot be overemphasized. If planted too
early, warm temperatures and the competitive nature of the warm season
perennial grass sod can result in stand failure.
Planting cool-season
forages with a drill is usually better than broadcasting as more of the seed is
placed at the proper depth. When broadcasted, the seeding rates should be
increased 25 to 30% to compensate for fewer seed becoming established plants.
Small grains should be planted from 1 to 1.5 inches deep, and ryegrass and clovers should be planted
approximately 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep. Clovers and medics
have very small seed and should be broadcast on the soil surface and rolled. Seeding rates for
cool-season small grains range from 90-120 pounds per acre, while ryegrass
seeding rates range from 25-30 pounds per acre and clovers and medics range
from 4-16 pounds per acre.
Fertilization for
cool-season forages should be based on soil test recommendation and fertilizer should be applied at planting or after emergence, except for
phosphorus, which should be applied several weeks ahead of the anticipated planting
date. Nitrogen fertilization of overseeded small grain-ryegrass is usually split into two applications
of 50 to 60 lbs/acre each. If ryegrass is planted in combination with a small grain, one to
two additional applications of N will be required. The initial N application on small grains
should be delayed until after the small grain-ryegrass is established and cool
temperatures have reduced warm-season grass growth. For ryegrass-only pastures, the first N
application should not be applied until mid January and then again
approximately six weeks later.
Although winter
pastures provide forage that is high in nutritive value, establishment and maintenance costs are relatively high. Therefore, winter pastures
containing small grains should be carefully used to maximize the return on the investment, and
one more thing, we have to have rain to make this system work.
