Al6-Lanc»ster Farming, Saturday, December 28,1985 BY George F.W. Haenlein University of Delaware NEWARK, Del - Using hairy vetch plus small grains as cold season forages, double cropped and followed by corn or com and soybeans for silage produces more feed tonnage, digestible energy, fiber and protein, and more milk and meat per acre in this area than any other dairy farm practice that I can think of, with the exception of forage brassicas. With the capable help of Delaware Experiment Station farm with superintendent Larry Ford and his staff, we’ve ex perimented more with these crops during recent years at our university dairy farm, while trying in vain to secure good seed sources for brassica alternatives. And we’ve found many advantages to small grain forages plus vetch. With this combination, we’ve been able to produce up to 10 tons of excellent haylage or silage, or up to 21/2 tons of good hay per acre in addition to plenty of com silage for year-round heavy silage feeding, which is our most profitable way of producing milk. There is little difference in a Jorryb \sLi3g/ XanraU&x. Pa. 2020 Horseshoe Rd., Lancaster, PA SPECIALIZING IN FLUID FERTILIZER (Granular Fertilizer Also Available) OVER 36 YEARS EXPERIENCE Using Modern Applicating Equipment For Every Size Job. PLAN FOR NEXT YEARS CROP SOIL TEST NOW Call 717-397-0035 Here's What You Get For Less Than 15* A Week! •*«'V • -\. ranp . ' \ ARTICLES OF INTEREST on the latest trends in farming and feature stories about your farming friends and neighbors! A WHOLE SECTION OF HOME NEWS and features, recipes and columns written just for our readers! REPORTS ON OUR YOUTH... photos and articles about the next generation of farmers...our farming youth! Our total farm coverage also gives you At LANCASTER FARMING, we think we NEWS (including Dairy & DHIA Reports)... do a good job of keeping you in- FEATURES...BEST BUYS ON PRODUCTS formed... and we have over 40,000 paid & EQUIPMENT. ..FREE MAILBOX subscribers who think so too! MARKET...and much, much more! Ua&gsr Small grains plus vetch provide economical haylage nutritional value or yield between rye, wheat, barley or oats, but rye gives us fewer optimal harvest dates. For forage use, small grains must be harvested in the boot stage at the end of April to beginning May and before head emergence. This doesn’t give maximum ton nage but will give you the highest protein and digestible energy values per pound of harvested forage. The maturity stage of the gfain plants-not the vetch determines the harvest date. The vetch contributes protein and digestible energy to the small grain mixture. Besides that, it enriches the soil for the subsequent com crop. We estimate that hairy vetch has added an average of at least the equivalent of 50 pounds of nitrogen per acre per year over the last ten years, thus reducing our com production costs. These estimates are based on ob servations by our university farm management team. Another agronomic advantage of harvesting small grain forage early in the boot stage is that more residual winter moisture is available for the following corn silage crop, which can be planted _ , rm Po. Box 366, Lititz, PA 17543 F® ***?? 717-626-11640 r 394-3047 1 without yield-reducing delays especially if you’re using no-till. One of our most successful production practices for small grains plus vetch involves plowing in a rotation program at least every third year. In non-plowing years we disk and smooth cultivate more than once. Some com her bicide residues, such as Dual or Trizine may affect subsequent small grain and vetch growth, so some form of tillage is important. To determine our fertilizer needs we analyze soil samples take after corn harvest. Phosphate, potassium and lime are usually applied in early fall. In the spring we apply about 70 pounds of liquid nitrogen before March 20 or, if it’s a wet year, we may use granular nitrogen. Other fertilizer needs for the com are based on harvest removal of nutrients by the preceding small grain/vetch crop. We like to maintain a soil pH of 6.0 to 6.5. The small grain and vetch are seeded before November 1 as follows. In a cement mixer, we combine 48 pounds of barley seed and 9 pounds of inoculate hairy vetch seed. We drill the seed at a rate of. 2-1/2 bushels of small grains, such as barley, and 22 pounds of vetch, on a total of about 140 pounds per acre at a depth of 1.5 inches. The seeder is a con ventional grain drill with double disk openers and a chain drag. When selecting small grain varieties we prefer those with strong stems to support the vetch. This is because, if harvest were delayed, we’ve sometimes had problems with the vetch lodging ont the grain plants. We have harvested several hundred tons of vetch-plus-small grain forage each spring in recent years. This provides one-fourth to one third of our annual forage needs, allowing us to supplement our com silage without increasing acreage-a real advantage, since cropland is limited. We usually make 60 to 70-percent moisture haylage (after wilting for about a day) with no preservatives. This goes into 100-ton plastic bags which we use as temporary, horizontal silos, since we don’t have enough upright storage units for haylage. On a dry matter basis our EVERYTHING IN STORE Plus a ~~ IN STORE SPECIAL jgp And SOME Mi price ITEMS PAUL B. ZIMMERMAN, INC. 295 Woodcorner Rd , Litttz, PA 1754'! < . PH: 717-738-1121 STORP HOURS M f-F 7 00 to « 00 1 nos St Well 7 OOto 5 10 Sot 7 00 tot 00 CONSTRUCTION FARM BUILDINGS - EXCAVATING MANURE PITS SPECIAL FARM PRICES DYNAMIC MASONRY CONTRACTORS Mike Fisher (717) 687-6801 Aftar 6 PM. Call (717) 687-7217 barley- or rye-plus-vetch haylagi mixtures have been testing bet ween 14 to 20 percent crudi protein, 32 to 42 percent aci< detergent fiber and 0.40 to 0.5' megacalories of net energy pei pound for lactation. By com parison, our corn silages usually test only 7 to 9 percent protein, thi same fiber content but 50 to 9( percent higher energy due to thi kernels. Using small grain/vetch haylagi has allowed us to use less com mercial protein feed in our grab supplement program than we die when corn silage was our major oi only succulent forage, since tha tested only half the protein conten or less. For our university dairy hen the extra work and expense i planting, growing, harvesting am storing small grains plus vetch foi supplementary forage has hac decided agronomic, nutritiona and economic benefits. If you’v< haven’t tried it yet, I suggest yoi give this practice a try on youi farm, too. In these tight economic times we must make good use of al available resources. Inventory Sale CASH & CARRY DEC. 26th THRU 31st 70%o„ Refreshments SPECIALISTS IN. . SEPTIC TANKS • RESIDENTIAL SEPTIC SYSTEMS • FARM WASTE SYSTEMS • COMMERCIAL WASTE SYSTEMS -FREE ESTIMATES Gordonville, PA Septic Tanks Larry Herr
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