Other Forage

Here’s the problem: Summer annuals were providing great forage, but in Tim Willis’ and Robbie Tate’s low ground, there were just too many issues. There was standing water at times, floods at others, just not an easy place to grow forage – especially annuals.

Your small grains may already be in the ground, but manage aggressively to maximize their cover crop and feeding capabilities.

Sorghum has been referred to as the lazy man’s crop. That isn’t a reflection on anyone’s work ethic, but rather refers to the fact that there are multiple ways to harvest or feed sorghum and any one of them will wait in the field without detriment to the crop at the expense of (or while possibly losing) another crop.

Without question, the interest in cover crops is for soil health benefits. However, using cover crops as a tool to improve soil health is a long-term investment with additional costs of production. It is necessary to understand that changes in soil health resulting from cover crop management can take several years or decades to happen.

It is hard to believe the winter months will soon be upon us. This time of year can be challenging for cattle producers in the Southeast because of the fall forage gap experienced during the late fall and early winter months.

If corn is king and alfalfa is queen, then oats should definitely be in the royal family somewhere due to its ability to produce good yields of high-quality forage at a reasonable cost.