Grazing Gazette pennStai IS College of Agriciilioral Science* in cooperation wuh USDA/ARS SUPPLEMENTATION OF SPRING PASTURES Larry Muller and Lua Hidden Penn State University We’re all glad to see die spring pastures finally green up. Spring has been late this year, and many dairy producers have been delayed in getting cows to pasture. Slow pasture growth has been particularly frustrating because of limited supplies on many farms. Spring pasture is welcomed by all including the cows, but has many challenges for managing the plants and animals. This year, perhaps more than most years, pastures will all be ready to graze at a similar time. Proper grazing management and decisions on excess pastures to set aside for harvesting are most important. Proper supplementa tion of these high quality pastures is also a challenge, particularly with the high prices of supplemen tal feeds this year. • Pasture quality. Pasture avail ability and quality are the two most important factors in maxi mizing the amount of nutrients obtained from pastures. With proper pasture manage ment that maintains pastures in a vegetative state and at a pasture height of 6-9 inches, pasture qual ity will be high. A typical chemi cal analyses of spring pastures during the 6-7 weeks of spring is: Dry Matter, % Total protein, % Degradable proteins, %of total protein . 75-80 Acid detergent fiber, % Neutral detergent fiber, % Net energy of lactation, mcal/lb Nonfiber carbohydrates, % RELENTLESS CONTROL MEANS RESIDUAL CONTROL All season. PURSUIT® herbicide combines contact and residual activity to clear out more than 40 weeds, including velvedeaf, cocklebur, shattercane, nightshades and foxtails. In fact, PURSUIT gives you the greatest overall weed control available. And that means you get the greatest For More Information Call 1-800-942-0500 Always follow label direction*. ®/” Trademsrits, America CyanamW Company C 1996 The high total protein and NEL and the low fiber content indicate a high quality forage. However, there are nutritional limitations to spring pastures: • The forage is very wet (80-8 S percent moisture) • Protein is highly degradable in the rumen and not effeciently utilized • Low “effective fiber” • A lower energy value for the cow than the “paper” value These limitations, if not proper ly supplemented, may lead to high nutrient passage through the digestive tract (and loose manure). The inadequate fiber can contri buted to low milk fat tests. frteffe cient utilization of the high protein content and the energy cost to the cow to excrete this excess protein, and the less energy avaiable to the cow can lead to less than optional milk production. These limitations suggest that we need to strategi cally supplement pasture to max imize the utilization of this high quality pasture. • Pasture alone. With the short supply and prices of supple mental feeds, it is tempting to reduce the amount of suppmental feeds. Based orrstudies from New Zealand and other countries, intake from high quality spring pasjures may provide sufficient nutrients to maintain 35 to 45 pounds of milk with little or no Pasture supplemental energy. Cows in early lactation may be expected to produce 50-65 pounds of milk per day with pasture as the only for age. However, these cows will likely lose extensive body weight and condition because of inadequ ate energy intake and inefficient utilization of protein in pasture. Reproductive efficiency may decline if cows lose too much body condition. Eric Kolver, a graduate student from New Zealand who is study ing at Penn State, conducted ttiis study as part of his thesis research. Early lactation cows were fed only high quality ryegrass/white clover pasture in the spring of 1995. Cows on pasture consumed about 42 pounds of DM or 3.4 percent of body weight. Milk production averaged 66 pounds per day. However, then compared to con trol cows fed a TMR, the cows consumed 10 pounds less DM/ day. produced 30 pounds less milk, and lost more body condi tion. The results further support the need to feed supplemental feeds to our high producing Hols tein cows when grazing high qual ity pasture. ■ Forage supplementation. Pas ture is the lowest cost forage, and we should maximize the intake of pasture through proper grazing management. However, lush spring pasture is 80 to 85 percent moisture which leads to a fast pas sage of feedstuff's through the digestive tract. Spring pasture is often low in NDF and low in “effective fiber.” This can lead to low milk fat tests. Feeding a few pounds of long hay will add some effective fiber, and will likely slow the rate of feed passage. Of interest is that some New Zealand dairy producers often feed a cou ple pounds of low quality hay or straw for this exact reason. Com silage can be an excellent supple mental forage because it adds needed nonfiber carbohydrates (NFC) as a source of energy for the rumen microbes and also “dilutes" out the high protein in spring pasture. Com silage is an excellent forage for dairy produc ers who feed a TMR with pasture. One management problem is that adequate amounts must be removed from a silo daily to main tain good quality silage. • Energy (Grain) Supplementa tion. Energy is thought to be the 15-18 22-26 23-26 35-42 74-.78 18-22 AgriGenter/k rtaalar • liivtoi • Iwrir—w mfl W««nMl>lllty return on your investment For heavy infestations of grasses, use the premiere sequential program of PROWL® followed by PURSUIT. Relentless control means residual control. For soybeans, nothing is re important. most limiting nutrient when pas ture is the major source of forage. The amount of grain needed to increase the total energy intake on a pasture based system can have long-term effects on energy balance, milk production, body weight and condition changes, reproductive performance, and profitability. Research and pro ducer experiences indicate that supplemental energy from grain is beneficial and profitable with high producing cows under a grazing system. Supplemental grain benefits the cow in two ways: (1) it provides needed energy for activity (walk ing, grazing) and (2) provides a source of rumen available NFC. While pasture can be quite high in protein, it is low in NFC. Without additional NSC in the diet, protein may be used for energy, and excess nitrogen is excreted in urine. The “energy cost" of excret ing this Nitrogen may decrease milk by 6-7 pounds per day. Thus, valuable protein is lost to the ani mal and excreted into the environ- Conservation Partnership (Continued from Page A 24) He also talked about the changes made to the State Conservation Commission, that were made as a compromise to agricultural inter ests in light of the enactment and enforcement of the Nutrient Man agement Act In an effort to shift the balance of power away from DEP, the chairmanship of the commission was changed from a continuous role by the secretary of DEP loan alternating chairmanship between the secretary of agriculture and the secretary of DEP. Also, support staff for the com mission was setup within the Department of Agriculture, shift ing some positions from DEP over to the PDA. Further, the commission’s executive director was changed in that the director is now indepen dent of employment to either state agency. Previously, the executive director of the Conservation Com mission was also a DEP employee. Those changes were made at the Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, May 4, 1995-A25 meat Hie result is lower perfor mance and a higher nutrient load ing into soil and water. Providing grain supplements rich in NFC and lower in protein (nitrogen) can help to “capture” more of the protein in pasture and “convert” it to milk protein. Research shows milk production responses of 'A to VA pounds for each pound of grain fed. We can expect about a 1 pound milk yield increase for each 1 pound of grain fed for the first 10-12 pound of grain fed. This response to grain decreases as more grain is fed. This is profitable even with today's grain prices. Research at Ohio Slate reported about a 1 pound milk response to 1 pound of grain fed with both orchardgrass and alfalfa based pasture systems. With milk priced at 12 cents per pound and grain at 8 to 9 cents per pound, grain feeding on pasture still makes economic sense ; how ever, we may want to utilize this grain for high producing cows at a grain: milk ratio of about 1 to 3. (Turnlo Page A 33) same time legislation was passed to create the two agencies DEP and DCNR out of the former Department of Environmental Resources. “Much of the commission’s attention has been focused on gear ing up for the implementation of the nutrient management regula tions,’* Brosius said, adding that the regulations ”... will have a direct impact on cleaning up the rivers and streams of Pennsylvani a, and the bodies of water into which they flow. “The signing of this pledge today is a public display of the commitment of our respective departments to the citizens of this commonwealth; a commitment to preserve and protect the recrea tional and open spaces that they enjoy and which give Pennsylvani a its unique character. “It is also a commitment to ensure their future access to these areas, and, by protecting farmland, ensqring the future of the food supply.” In addition to Secret ary Brosius and DEP Secretary James Seif, those present included Janet Oertly, state con servationist in charge of the Pennsylvania USDA NRCS; Roger Lehman, representing the Game Commission; Cheryl Cook 11, director of the USDA Rural Economic and Community Deve lopment Service; Wil liam Baumgartner, state executive director of the Consolidated Farm Ser vice Agencies; Karl Brown, executive direc tor of the State Conser vation Commission; James Starling, dean of the Penn State Universi ty College of Agricul tural Sciences; Gordon Hiller, master of the Pennsylvania State Grange; and Pat Sueck, second vice president of Pa. Association of Con servation Districts. A representative from the Pa. Fislt and Boat Commission was unable to attend.
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