Lancaster farming. (Lancaster, Pa., etc.) 1955-current, February 07, 1998, Image 206
Page 14—Fbraglng Around, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 7, 1998 Maximizing Alfalfa Yields A Look Back DR. JOHN E. BAYLOR Retired Forage Specialist Penn State The nationally recognized Pennsyl vania Alfalfa Growers Program sponsored by PFGC in cooperation with Penn State involved nearly 400 Pennsylvania alfalfa growers and ended about 12-14 years ago. However, alfalfa growers in Penn sylvania and around the U.S. are still benefiting from many of the lessons we’ve learned. And while during the past decade or so we’ve continued to see improve ments in cultivars and management practices much of which we learned in the late ’7os and ’Bos is still valid. Below is a summary of the produc tion practices of top producers in that program. The overall average esti mated hay equivalent yield for the top 10 growers in each of the first eight years approached eight tons per acre, the yield goal recommended by many experts at that time for good soils, and more than 2'/i times the state average. Cultivars Over the eight-year period, at least 15 different high-yielding cultivars were used by the 80 top growers. These cultivars or varieties were also consistently among the highest yield ing in replicated trials in the state. Soils And Fertility All top growers planted alfalfa on well-drained soils, consisting mainly COLUMBUS, Ohio - When Cyd Bickford and her husband Paul de cided to tiy intensive grazing on their 600-cow, southwestern Wisconsin dairy farm six years ago, they con verted the whole farm to pasture in the first year. It wasn’t such a good idea. “We weren’t prepared for how ster ile the soil was and how little it pro duced the first couple years,” Bickford said. “It would have been better to have converted half the land to pasture and grown hay and com silage during the initial stage, while the pastures de veloped.” Starting slower also would have al lowed adequate time to plan how to set up premanent fencing and water lines. “We’ve pulled up more fence posts than most people have put in,” she said. The Bickfords will share their graz ing experiences with interested begin ning graziers in Akron, Ohio Feb. 16 at 11 a.m. during a “Getting Started Grazing” producer panel to take place at the Great Lakes Grazing Confer ence. Beginners should learn from an ex perienced grazier before starting, so they don’t make as many mistakes, Bickford said. Keeping an open mind is important. “It seems like the longer we graze, the more we leam there are no easy answers or bad answers. Just when we think we’ve got things under control, something causes us to change how we do things, especially the weather,” she said. “Grasses grow too quickly or it gets too muddy to use lanes to some pastures, so we have to take pastures out or add them to the rotation before we’d planned.” Rick Duff, another member of the Getting Started Grazing panel who’s of limestone. Lime and fertility pro grams for establishment and mainten ance were based on soil tests and grower experience. Most producers applied sizable amounts of dairy cow manure in the rotation before alfalfa. When yields exceeded eight tons of hay equivalent per acre, nutrient removal of phos phorous and potassium frequently ex ceeded 125 pounds and 600 pounds per acre, respectfully. Most top yields were obtained the first full harvest year after the year of seeding and were, for the most part, from stands seeded in the spring with out a companion crop. For the majori ty of those fields, a herbicide was used to control weeds establishment. Many top producers also used an in secticide at seeding time to protect (1) Ave. of 1 Beginning been intensively grazing 100 to 120 sheep on his Athens County farm since 1986, also believes it’s import ant for beginning graziers to go slow ly. “I’ve made about every grazing mistake you could possibly make, but the danger today is that it’s more ex pensive to make mistakes, because more people are trying to sell you things you may not really need, like inappropriate fences and expensive exotic grasses.” Duff said. He recommends new graziers keep their grazing system as simple as pos sible for a few years, so they can see how their pastures improve and per form and bow their animals prefer to move through fields. Then they can spend money, if needed, on more ex pensive water systems, fence and grass seed. Grazing takes more time starting out, but once a system is established, less labor is needed and the time in volved is minimal. It could take as lit tle as 10 minutes a day just long enough to walk to the field, open the gate, let the animals go through, close the gate and walk back, Duff said. Grazing is not only a science, it’s an art, said Gary Wilson, agriculture and natural resources agent at the Hancock County office of Ohio State Univer sity Extension and the moderator for the Getting Started Grazing panel. Graziers must know when to put ani mals on pasture and when to take them off, how to sustain pasture growth and yield, when to rotate animals, and how to adapt all these things to their own soil, grass and landscape. “New graziers need to learn the art of grazing when to do things that maximize yield from pastures and growth of animals.” Wilson said. “People who graze get most of their Establishment Production Costs, Costs Per Ton, And Net Returns At Various Yield Levels; Pennsylvania Alfalfa Growers Program. (1981-84) Yield Range Tons/A <3.0 (1) 3.0- 4.0- 5.0- 6.0- 7.0- >B.O 983 & 1984 only. Graziers Should Take It Slowly new stands against troublesome in sects. Seeding rates were generally in the neighborhood of 15-16 pounds of properly inoculated seed per acre for these top top yields. Frequency Of Harvest Over the eight-year period, all top growers made at least four cuttings per year and several harvested their crops five times. At that time, when three cuttings per year had been common, this move to more frequent harvests by top pro ducers indicated the potential of more intensive management for high yields of high quality forage. Cutting intervals of 35, 38, and 45 days between cuts 1 and 2, 2 and 3, and 3 and 4, respectively, appeared neatly ideal for Pennsylvania growers at that time. While weather conditions then and now frequently dictate frequency of cutting, most top growers were able to maintain a cutting schedule close to the ideal. In 1978, the second year of the pro gram, three of the top 10 growers Ave. Yield Tons/A 2.76 3.50 4.55 5.51 6.44 7.34 8.13 information from each other, so hav ing a panel where new people can talk with experienced graziers will benefit everyone who attends.” Any livestock producer who wants to leant how to develop a grazing sys tem or improve details of their current system should attend the Great Lakes Grazing Conference, said Tom Noyes, dairy agent at the Wayne County of fice of Ohio State University Exten sion and one of the event’s coordina tors. A conference highlight will be a presentation by Charles Opitz called Mastering the Ait. Opitz, who has been grazing for more than 10 years on his 1.200-cow Wisconsin dairy farm, is considered one of the real masters of grazing, Noyes said. David Kline, an Amish dairy graz ier in Holmes County, will discuss how grazing affects the whole farm. The conference also will include pre sentations by university grazing spe cialists from Michigan State Univer sity, the University of Missouri, Ohio State, Penn State University, the Uni Storage Production Cost/A $279.73 255.47 250.05 285.36 304.19 310.46 344.20 stored all of their cuttings as silage with eight storing one or more cuttings in that form. For the other years, nearly every top producer stored at least one cutting as silage with about 40 percentof those growers storing all cuttings in the silo. Disease Control Controlling insects attacking alfal fa, especially potato leafhopper, is es sential to produce top yields of high quality forage. Today new leafhopper tolerant varieties promise to offer some pro tection against this pest. However, in most years all top growers sprayed their crop at least once, frequently more often, with an approved insecti cide. However, top producers also took advantage of the insect management program to help producers better pre dict the buildup of troublesome in sects in individual fields. Dollars And Sense Keeping good records on produc tion costs was an important part of the grower’s program. (Turn to Page 18) Cost Per Net Ton $104.25 75.91 56.80 53.88 49.25 43.74 43.95 versity of Wisconsin and the Univer sity of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Last year, mote than 400 people at tended the conference, and Noyes ex pects better numbers this year. “The conference has become one of the premier grazing conferences in the Midwest,” he said. “Most of our topics are a result of last year’s evaluations. We took a lot of their ideas and molded the conference around what participants said they’d like to hear.” The Great lakes Grazing Confer ence runs from Ba.m. Monday, Feb. 16 to noon Tuesday, Feb. 17 at the Ra in ada Plaza in Akron. Registration is $4O for the first person from each farm before Feb. S and $5O after. Addition al participants from the same farm pay $25 before Feb. 5 and $35 after. Mail in registrations must be sent by Feb. 10. For registration after that date or for more information about the confer ence, those interested should cot tact the Wayne County office of Ohio State University Extension at (330) 264-8722. Net Return Per Acre $ 59.60 16.51 94.33 138.46 196.50 258.87 310.21