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Hay & Forage Grower
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or
Fae Holin,
Managing Editor, fholin@hayandforage.com
For specific information from past issues of eHay Weekly and
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by Fae Holin, Managing Editor, Hay & Forage
Grower
Dairy producers don’t expect to make money during this down market –
they just don’t want to lose more of it, says Bill Sanchez, a
technical services director with Diamond V Mills, Inc.
Yet feeding cows lower-quality, bare-bones rations may hurt their
pocketbooks more than help them. Sanchez, who is based in Tigard, OR,
urged hay growers, nutritionists and other forage industry experts to
help dairymen find other ways to cut costs in a talk at the recent
Four-State Dairy Nutrition and Management Conference in Dubuque, IA.
“A lot of our producers focused on short-term profits for survival and
trimmed rations back,” he said. “They know that the cows are going
to bear the brunt, but how are they going to get these cows back in
shape? We have whole mineral programs being pulled out, so obviously
they’re down on essential nutrients.”
“Who hasn’t changed their rations?” he asked the audience of
dairymen, nutritionists, hay growers and forage specialists. “I
certainly don’t always have the backbone to tell a dairyman with
10,000 cows who tells me he’s losing a million dollars a month to not
change anything in the ration. The point is, we want him to lose less.
Let’s not throw up our hands and take everything (in a ration) out.”
Click
here to read the entire story.
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Whether you’re looking for proven
performance in a package that offers exceptional value or a tractor that
gives you the latest electronic conveniences and push button simplicity,
the new T6000 Series tractors from New Holland are built for you. T6000
tractors are a natural choice for haying operations and heavy loader
work. To learn more, see your local New Holland dealer or call
1-888-290-7377. www.newholland.com/na
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Kansas State University Extension in Barton County is offering
county alfalfa growers a deal it hopes is too good to pass up. If a
grower submits an alfalfa entry for the county fair, extension will send
a sample to a cooperating lab for relative feed value (RFV) and protein
analysis at no cost to the producer. As icing on the cake: If the Barton
County sample wins the market alfalfa show at the Kansas State Fair, the
grower will get a $100 cash award from the extension office.
The whole idea, says Barton County agriculture agent Rick Snell, is to
build interest in hay testing among local growers. He notes 50,000 acres
of alfalfa are grown in the county, but estimates only about a third of
growers routinely have hay tested. “If somebody is shipping hay to
dairy customers, they most likely get it tested,” says Snell. “Other
people are less likely to do it. We’re trying to build awareness of
the value of testing in terms of improved forage quality. Testing can
also be a good marketing/advertising tool for growers.”
Barton County growers will have to hurry to take Snell up on the offer.
He’d like samples delivered by the close of business on Wednesday,
June 24 (tomorrow). To contact Snell, phone 620-793-1910 or email rsnell@ksu.edu.
On another note: Snell reports that high-quality alfalfa hay in his area
is fetching around 80 cents/RFV point. "It´s holding up fairly well,"
he says. Grinding hay headed for pellet mills and beef feedlots is
bringing $80-90/ton, according to reports Snell has been hearing.
"That´s really good for that poorer quality of hay.”
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USDA’s Risk Management Agency (RMA) has promised to consider a
request from Doug Goehring, North Dakota ag commissioner, to give
producers in his state more options for insuring hay and rangeland.
As part of a new program available in 18 states, RMA uses either a
rainfall or vegetation index (depending on area of the country) to
determine eligibility for payment. The rainfall index is used in North
Dakota, but Goehring says it isn’t working. He contends that central
and western North Dakota, where the program is available, don’t have
enough weather-reporting stations to verify rainfall amounts. He’d
like to see RMA give state ranchers the option of basing claims on
either the rainfall index or the vegetation index. The vegetation index
uses satellite imagery from the U.S. Geological Survey to measure
“greenness.”
RMA has made changes in 11 other states, says Tim Hoffman, the
agency’s director of product administration and standards. Three
states have rainfall and vegetation indexes in separate areas, but
nowhere do producers have a choice of which index to use, says
Hoffman.
To learn more about RMA, go to www.rma.usda.gov/.
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Alfalfa growers in many parts of the Midwest just started to see
the effects of winter injury on stand density and yields when they got
into fields for first-crop harvest, says Iowa State University extension
forage specialist Steve Barnhart. He recommends considering the
following options if a stand assessment shows productivity is on the
decline: - Continue to harvest the low-producing stand, and plan
for either a new late-summer or spring forage seeding.
- Attempt to thicken the existing stand with perennial grasses or
legumes. Planting new alfalfa into a thin alfalfa stand is not
recommended. Overseeding (best with a no-till drill) red clover or a
perennial grass won’t contribute much to this season’s yield, but
should improve production from the field next year.
- Drill a temporary forage such as oats, spring wheat or barley into
the existing stand. These cool-season cereals would grow quickly, but
probably would head at a short height and provide only one growth cycle.
By delaying harvest, seed stems will add to yield, but will likely
reduce palatability and feeding value.
- Drill annual ryegrass (also called Italian ryegrass) or perennial
ryegrass into the existing thin stand. The ryegrasses have relatively
rapid seedling emergence and growth, and will add modestly to forage
yield for the remainder of the season. They can have a summer dormancy
limitation during hot, dry summers, and should not be considered
long-term components in the stand due to relatively poor
winterhardiness.
- Plant a supplemental or emergency warm-season summer annual grass
such as sudangrass, or one of the annual forage millets in another
field. For more details on these emergency summer annual grass choices,
click
here.
- Plant teff. Barnhart says this warm-season annual grass is the
“least-tested choice (in Iowa),” but has grown reasonably well in
some Midwestern locations. It establishes quickly, with first harvest in
45-50 days, has very small seeds and must be planted at shallow depths
(1/8-1/4”) in a very firm seedbed. Seed sources are limited.
To
learn more about assessing alfalfa stands, download Iowa State’s
Evaluating Hay And Pasture Stands For Winter Injury at www.extension.iastate.edu/.
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$2.40 Per-gallon projected average
retail price for diesel fuel in 2009, according to the U.S. Department
of Energy’s latest Short–Term Energy Outlook. In 2008, the
average price for diesel was $3.80/gallon To see the complete June
outlook, go to www.eia.doe.gov/.
170 Number of ethanol plants operating in the
U.S. during January 2009, up from 139 plants at the start of 2008. For
more statistics on the U.S. ethanol industry, go to www.ethanolrfa.org/.
495 Number of employees who will go on
indefinite layoff next week at a John Deere manufacturing facility in
Ottumwa, IA. According to a company press release issued earlier this
month, another 195 employees at the facility will face “periodic
inventory adjustment layoffs throughout the next several months.” The
John Deere Ottumwa Works manufactures balers, mower-conditioners,
windrowers and pull-type forage harvesters.
100 million Quarts of milk produced by
Arkansas’ 140 dairy producers in 2008, according to University of
Arkansas extension dairy specialist Jodie Pennington. He notes the
state’s dairy producers put more than $30 million annually into the
economy buying feed and other supplies. To read more about the Arkansas
dairy industry, go to www.uaex.edu/.
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Texas
After a brief reprieve in May, the return of hot, dry weather has set
back haymaking in Victoria County, reports Texas A&M Agrilife extension
agent Sam Womble. “Thirty days ago, we were in a lot better shape than
we are now,” says Womble. “We got a few showers a month to six weeks
ago, and people were pretty optimistic about the hay crop. But now
we’re back to temperatures in the mid- to upper 90s every day, with a
constant wind and the hay crop is drying up. Plants will look good early
in the morning, especially if we’ve had heavy dew. But by noon
everything is wilted. ”
Womble notes most of the hay put up in the county is bermudagrass. He
says the most recent weather turnaround has many growers holding off on
fertilizing their hay meadows. “People are willing to invest in
fertilizer if they think there’s a good chance for rain to return. But
right now, with no rain in the forecast and limited standing forage,
quite a few people are opening up the gates and grazing their hay
ground.”
For prices, Womble says large round bales (around 1,200 lbs) are
bringing $50-60/bale; small squares, $5-7/bale.
To contact Womble, phone 361-575-4581 or email s-womble@tamu.edu.
Washington
The alfalfa hay growing season is off to a great start in the state,
says Jack Getz, USDA Market News reporter in Moses Lake. “It’s
really been going well,” he says. “We had a cool spring in some
areas, which meant it took awhile for the crop to get going. But for the
most part, yields are about normal. We’re all done with first cutting,
and most people got through without any weather-related problems. This
is probably the best hay-growing weather for first-crop alfalfa we’ve
had in a long, long time.”
Prices are a different story altogether. Getz says high-quality alfalfa
hay is currently fetching $120-140/ton, roughly $100/ton less than it
did a year ago. A struggling dairy industry is the key factor. “Last
year, dairy producers were anticipating a tight hay supply, so they were
trying to build inventories early,” says Getz. “This year, they’re
buying hand to mouth. Nobody has any money because of the low milk
prices.”
Hay exporters have also been sitting on the sidelines, says Getz.
“They don’t see any reason to hurry and get into the market at this
point. They know the competition from dairy producers for supplies
isn’t there right now and may not be there for some time to come.
Also, they don’t want to be too competitive between themselves early
and drive the market up that way.”
To contact Getz, phone 509-765-3611 or email jack.getz@usda.gov.
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Erin Hodgson, Iowa State University extension entomologist,
recommends taking a three-pronged approach to protecting alfalfa from
potato leafhoppers. Consider:- Using glandular-haired, potato
leafhopper-resistant alfalfa varieties. “Using resistant varieties
does not mean fields will be hopper-free, but plants should be able to
tolerate moderate populations compared to conventional varieties,”
says Hodgson. Newly planted resistant fields may not show tolerance
immediately, but should express tolerance after becoming established.
Consider using potato leafhopper-resistant varieties if the local area
is consistently infested.
- Altering cutting management to disrupt potato leafhopper
populations. Delaying harvest will allow nymphs enough time to become
adults and start reproducing. Young nymphs will be destroyed or starve
before regrowth occurs. Timely cutting will force adults to move to
nearby crops, but they often move back into a field after regrowth.
Start scouting seven to 10 days after each cutting to monitor for
reinfestations.
- Applying pesticides. The fluctuating values of hay and control costs
are important considerations for making a treatment decision. Tables
showing action thresholds for conventional and tolerant alfalfas treated
with insecticides registered in Iowa are available at www.extension.iastate.edu/CropNews/2009/0615hodgson.htm.
To contact Hodgson, email ewh@iastate.edu or phone 515-294-2847.
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 Use
our site to search for forage production tips! Plus, read what other
growers are doing to stay profitable.
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Researchers from Washington State University (WSU), Columbia Basin
College and USDA-ARS will host a field day highlighting switchgrass and
other perennial warm-season grasses that can be used as feedstocks for
ethanol biorefineries and as forage. The field day will take place July
2, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the WSU Irrigated Agriculture Research and
Extension Center at Prosser.
The researchers will discuss irrigation and weed management, stand
establishment, rooting dynamics, varieties, fertilization and biomass
yields for the cellulosic ethanol industry. Participants will also see
warm-season perennial grasses growing with various quantities of applied
irrigation water to determine water-use efficiency.
For more information, contact June Trimble at 509-786-9232 or Steve
Fransen at 509-786-9266.
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June 24 -- North Dakota State University’s Central Grasslands
Field Tour, 6-9 p.m., Central Grasslands Research Extension Center,
Streeter. Visit www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/streeter/
and click on Field Days and Events.
June 25 -- University Of Tennessee Tobacco, Beef And More Field Day,
Highland Rim AgResearch and Education Center, Springfield. Call
615-382-3130.
June 27 -- 2009 Equine Field Day, University of Kentucky’s
Maine Chance Equine Campus, Lexington. Call 859-257-2226 or go to www.uky.edu/Ag/Forage/EquineFieldDayFlieremail.pdf.
July 8-10 -- Missouri Dairy Grazing Conference, Holiday Inn,
Joplin. Go to agebb.missouri.edu/dairy/grazing/conference
or phone 573-882-9551.
July 9 -- Organic Field Day, University of Minnesota Southwest
Research and Outreach Center, Lamberton. Phone 507-752-7372 or visit swroc.cfans.umn.edu and scroll to
Events.
July 23 -- University Of Kentucky All Commodity Field Day, UK
Research and Education Center, Princeton. Visit ces.ca.uky.edu/wkrec.
July 29-30 -- U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center Getting More From
Forages Conference, Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center,
Madison, WI. Visit www.dfrc.ars.usda.gov/forages/Program.html.
July 31 -- 2009 Illinois Forage Expo, Meier Farms, Ridott. Go to
web.extension.uiuc.edu/stephenson/index.html
or contact Dale Baird, University of Illinois extension educator, at dlbaird@illinois.edu.
For a complete list of upcoming events, click here.
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