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Hay & Forage Grower
USDA
Hay Prices
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For information on Hay & Forage Grower, contact:
Neil Tietz, Editor, ntietz@hayandforage.com
or
Fae Holin,
Managing Editor, fholin@hayandforage.com
For specific information from past issues of eHay Weekly and
Hay & Forage Grower, click on hayandforage.com, and use the search
function in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage.
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By Neil Tietz, Editor, Hay & Forage
Grower
Roundup Ready alfalfa seed could be back on the market in time for
spring 2010 seedings, believes Matt Fanta, trait business manager for
Forage Genetics International. He says the long-awaited draft
environmental impact statement (EIS) on the biotech crop is expected to
be published by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) by mid-September.
Following an expected 60-day public comment period, APHIS will prepare a
final EIS. If the document shows that Roundup Ready and conventional
alfalfa can successfully co-exist, and barring further legal action
against the transgenic crop, it may once again be deregulated.
Click
here to read the entire story.
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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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Two Minnesota researchers are recruiting alfalfa-corn growers to
help with a research project aimed at reducing purchased fertilizer
inputs.
Starting this fall, Jeff Coulter, University of Minnesota extension corn
agronomist, and Michael Russelle, USDA soil scientist, will conduct
on-farm research to investigate the effect of various management factors
on the nitrogen credit from alfalfa to first-year corn. They’re
looking for southern Minnesota alfalfa-corn growers who have three- or
four-year-old alfalfa fields with stands of two or more plants per
square foot that will be terminated after the growing season. The land
area required for the research is approximately 1.5 acres. Ideally,
fields will be located within 2.5 hours of the Twin Cities.
The researchers will require help from the growers to establish the
regrowth treatments this fall. They’ll also require help to establish
tillage timing (alfalfa termination) treatments this fall and again next
spring. After spring plowing in 2010, growers will prepare the seedbed,
plant corn and control weeds with their equipment, using the same
production practices used within the rest of the field. (Exception:
Manure and N fertilizer cannot be applied in the experimental area).
The researchers will take care of N fertilizer application and crop
harvest in the experimental area. Cooperating growers will receive $500
this fall and an additional $500 in the fall of 2010. The Minnesota
Corn Research and Promotion Council is providing funding for the
project.
Interested growers can contact Coulter at 612-625-1796 or coult077@umn.edu or Russelle at
612-625-8145 or Michael.Russelle@ars.usda.gov.
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Early August is a good time in many parts of the country to check
established alfalfa stands to see if they need to be replaced with new
seedings, says University of Nebraska extension forage specialist Bruce
Anderson. Some steps to take when evaluating fields:
- Count shoots. Older dryland fields with less than 25
shoots/square foot coming from two or three plants should be replaced.
Very productive sites, such as irrigated and sub-irrigated fields,
should have over 40 shoots/square foot from four to six plants.
- Dig and examine plant roots. Healthy roots are solid and white, with
a firm texture. Roots that are discolored in a third to half of the
tissue might survive this coming winter, but the plants will not yield
well next year.
- Examine crowns and taproots. If they show extensive brownish
discoloration or are becoming mushy and partly rotted, the plants
probably won’t survive another winter.
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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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Following up wheat harvest by planting oats in mid- to late summer,
or even into early fall, is a strategy worth considering for Ohio
producers seeking additional forage production. That’s according to
Stan Smith, Ohio State University extension program assistant in
Fairfield County, and Curt Stivison, engineering technician with
Fairfield Soil and Water Conservation District.
During seven years of research, Smith and Stivison report, oats planted
into wheat stubble during July and August have consistently yielded 3+
tons/acre of dry matter. Even so, they note, yield and quality can vary
greatly depending on planting date, nitrogen fertilization and oat
varieties.
Among their observations and recommendations: - Optimum planting
date for yield is the first week of August. Early August plantings also
result in the highest total amount of TDN produced per acre. Later
plantings will be slightly higher in quality, but not enough to offset
the yield advantage of early August planting. While more conducive to
mechanical harvesting in early fall, planting in early July reduces
yield and quality. The earlier oat plantings also exhibit more
susceptibility to rust.
- Regardless of the planting date or variety, no-till seeding rates of
80-100 lbs of oats have consistently resulted in optimum forage yields.
- Optimum nitrogen application rate is 40-50 lbs/acre. It not only
produces the highest yields, but it’s also the most cost-effective
rate at current nitrogen values. Higher rates of nitrogen actually
appear to depress yields based on 2008 plot results.
- The optimum combination of yield and quality of August-planted oats
arrives 60-75 days after planting. Oats planted earlier mature more
quickly and thus rapidly decline in quality beginning 50-60 days after
planting.
- Oats harvested 50-60 days after planting and while still in the boot
stage of maturity will provide regrowth that may be grazed or sometimes
even mechanically harvested a second time.
- A weed-control application of glyphosate is a necessary and
cost-effective practice prior to oat planting.
To learn more about
the research, go to beef.osu.edu/beef/.
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- Iowa State University extension forage specialist Steve
Barnhart has put together a list of resources growers can use to keep
tabs on hay prices throughout the Midwest. Along with price summaries
from more than a dozen Iowa auctions, Barnhart’s list also provides
links to Web sites carrying price information and buy/sell lists in
nearby states. To access the page, click
here.
- Research results from teff trials in northern New York suggest the
warm-season annual grass might be a good option for farmers looking for
emergency hay, pasture or silage planted mid-summer. To download Teff
As Emergency Forage, a Cornell University extension fact sheet
offering management tips for obtaining a high-quality, high-yield crop,
go to nmsp.css.cornell.edu/.
- As of July 1, the number of cattle and calves in the U.S. totaled
101.8 million head, according to last week’s USDA Cattle Report.
That’s down 1% from year-earlier levels. Beef cows, at 32.2 million,
were down 1% from the July 1, 2008, figure, while milk cows, at 9.2
million, were down 2%. To see the full report, click
here.
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Colorado
It has been an extremely tough start to the haymaking season in
northeastern Colorado, reports hay grower Don Leonard of Don’s Hay
Service near Brush.
Wet weather was the major obstacle for first cutting. “We were coming
off a drought this spring,” says Leonard. “Then the rains started,
and they just didn’t quit. The harvest conditions were terrible at
best. Some of our first crop was on the ground for 33 days. We
eventually had to get it off, but the quality was next to nothing.”
Leonard puts up large square bales of alfalfa and alfalfa-grass hay on
450 acres of irrigated ground. He does custom harvest work – hay,
wheat straw and cornstalks – on another 1,800 acres. He markets to
dairies, feedlots and ranches.
The late start continued to hinder growers on second crop as well. “We
had a lot of stripes where the windrows from first cutting had been
laying so long. It really set back regrowth.”
As he looks ahead to third-crop harvest, Leonard points out that the
weather still hasn’t returned to normal. “We’re still getting a
lot of humidity, and it seems like there’s a chance of a thunderstorm
in the forecast every day. We’re looking forward to some dry
weather.”
If the weather eventually cooperates, Leonard expects top-quality hay
will fetch a good price. “Premium- and supreme-quality hay are going
to be in short supply throughout a big part of the region,” says
Leonard, who’s also treasurer of the Colorado Hay and Forage
Association. “We’ve heard reports out of Idaho, Utah and Wyoming,
and they’ve been facing the same kind of thing we’ve been facing
here. Demand will be there if we have product.”
Leonard can be reached at 970-380-2044 or donshay@kci.net.
Minnesota
Timely rains in mid-July will give a boost to third-crop haymaking in
the central part of the state, reports Dan Martens, University of
Minnesota extension educator for Stearns, Morrison and Benton counties.
“There are still a few people in the area picking away at second crop.
But, for the most part, it’s all wrapped up,” says Martens. “And
most people across the area have caught enough rain to give third crop a
good start.”
Cool and dry weather crimped first-crop yields in the area slightly.
“On the upside, we didn’t have any rain to speak of during harvest,
so overall quality was very good. Second-crop yields were close to
normal, and we had a weather pattern that allowed people to get it put
up without rain. The quality should be good there as well.”
Being able to put up good-quality hay has been a bright spot for area
dairy producers. “Given everything else they’ve had to deal with
this spring and summer, they needed something positive.”
Martens notes that some hay growers have been reporting high populations
of aphids following second-crop harvest. He suspects spraying for
alfalfa weevil larvae between first and second cuttings may have killed
some of the natural predators that ordinarily control the aphids.
“That’s speculation on my part,” he says. “We don’t normally
see many aphids here, so we’re all learning a little more about them
and how to deal with them.”
To contact Martens, e-mail marte011@umn.edu or phone
320-968-5077.
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New Mexico State University Extension is hosting a free forage
production workshop this Friday, July 31, at the UNM-Valencia Campus
Student Community Center in Los Lunas. It will feature sessions on
irrigation and crop management, pest management, weed identification and
herbicide usage.
For more information, or to register, contact Kyle Tator at ktator@nmsu.edu or 505-565-3002.
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The Marriott Hotel in Jackson, MS, will be the site for the
fourth-annual Mississippi State University Biofuels Conference on Aug.
6-7. According to conference director Rafael Herndandez, this year’s
list of speakers includes international experts in the areas of
biofuels, plant economics, sustainability and renewable energy
applications.
For more information or to register, go to www.biofuelsconference.msstate.edu.
The registration fee is $175.
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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.
Aug. 1-2 -- Florida Small Farms And Alternative Enterprises
Conference, Osceola County Heritage Park, Kissimmee. Go to smallfarms.ifas.ufl.edu/.
Aug. 11 -- Southeast Minnesota Forage Council/Midwest Forage
Association Summer Expo, Dan Miller Farm, Spring Valley, MN. Phone
Miller at 507-259-6270 or go to www.midwestforage.org/events.php.
Aug. 14 -- Ninth Annual Profitable Pastures Field Day, University
of Wisconsin Lancaster Ag Research Station. Phone 608-723-6243 or
608-723-2580 or email rhonda.gildersleeve@ces.uwex.edu.
Aug. 27 -- 2009 Arlington Agronomy And Soils Field Day,
University of Wisconsin Agricultural Research Station, Arlington.
Download the program at ipcm.wisc.edu/.
Sept. 2 -- Wisconsin Forage And Tillage Expo, D and D Hawkins
Farm, Chippewa Falls. Phone the Chippewa County UW-Extension office at
715-726-7950.
Sept. 17-19 -- National Hay Association Convention, Cadillac
Jack’s Gaming Resort, Deadwood, SD. Contact Don Kieffer at
800-707-0014 or visit www.nationalhay.org.
Sept. 22-23 -- Georgia Grazing School, University of Georgia
Livestock Instruction Arena, Athens. Details coming soon at www.georgiaforages.com/.
Sept. 29-Oct. 3 -- World Dairy Expo, Alliant Energy Center,
Madison, WI. Visit www.worlddairyexpo.com.
For a complete list of upcoming events, click here.
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