Page 14—foraging Around, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 24, 1998
HARVEST MANAGEMENT
ALTERS ECONOMIC RETURN
COOL-SEASON GRASSES
M.H. Hall, Penn State Extension
Cool-season grass use in
Pennsylvania farming systems is
increasing as farmers attempt to
better manage and utilize nitrogen
from manure. Harvest management
recommendations for many cool-sea
son grasses are generally based on
research which monitored yield only.
With forage quality being a major
concern in balancing animal rations,
livestock farmers are asking more
about harvest management prac
tices to manipulate forage quality
and the economics of these prac
tices.
The objectives of this study were
to determine the effect of harvest
frequency and number on forage
yield and quality, and net economic
return of cool-season forage grasses
common to the northeastern United
States.
Study Description
Established stands of orchard
grass, reed cauarygrass, smooth
bromegrass, and timothy at the
Russell E. Larson Agric. Research
Center near Rock Springs, PA were
subjected to two (70-d interval),
three (45-d interval), or four (35-d
interval) harvests per year. Dry
matter yield and forage quality were
determined and economic evalua
tions of each treatment were made
based on the value of the harvested
forage and the differential costs
associated with production.
Applied Questions
• Which harvest schedule pro
duced the greatest DM
yield/acre? In dry years, greatest
DM yields for all species were
obtained when 2 or 3 harvests/year
were taken on a 70 or 45-d interval,
respectively (Table 1). During the
growing seasons with normal or
above normal rainfall, greatest
yields of smooth bromegrass and
timothy were again achieved when
Harvested 2 or 3 times/year; howev
er, yields or orchardgrass and reed
car|Brygrass were greatest when"
harvested 3 or 4 times/year (Table
1).
• Which harvest schedule
resulted in the highest quality
forage? Regardless of rainfall dur
ing the growing season or grass
species, forage quality improved and
value of the forage increased from
$49 to $Bl/ton as harvest interval
decreased from 70 to 35 d, respec
tively.
• Which harvest treatment
produced the greatest economic
return/acre? In dry years, the
number of harvests (harvest inter
val) made no difference in net eco
nomic return regardless of the grass
species (Table 1). This response is
logical because harvest schedules
that produced the greatest yields
also produced forage of the lowest
quality, resulting in similar econom
ic return for all harvest schedules.
In growing seasons when rainfall
is normal or above normal, frequent
harvests (35 or 45-d intervals) tend
❖ Special Report
ed to result in the greatest net eco
nomic return per acre (Table 1).
Frequent harvests also produced the
highest quality forage but did not
negatively impact forage yield as
Table 1. The effect of number and frequency of harvests on the annual dry
matter (DM) yield and net economic return from four perennial cool
season grasses under different environmental conditions.
Species
#/yr x interval
Orchardgrass
Reed canarygrass
Smooth bromegrass
Timothy
tDry and wet conditions averaged 70 and 135 percent, respectively, of normal (29.6 in. by 1 Oct).
Reduced plant growth permitted only three harvests to be made from the four-harvest treatment in
dry years.
+Based on relative value of the harvested forage ($65/ton hay with a forage quality of 16% CP and
60% DDM) minus costs for harvesting ($2B/harvest) and fertilization.
§AII values are the mean from 2 years.
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Treatments
Harvest
schedule DM
ton/acre
2 x 70 d
3 x 45 d
3 x 35 d
4 x 35 d
2 x 70 d
3 x 45 d
3 x 35 d
4 x 35 d
2 x 70d
3 x 45 d
3 x 35 d
4 x 35 d
2 x 70d
3 x 45 d
3 x 35 d
4 x 35 d
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much as in dry years. An exception
to this trend was for timothy where
harvest frequency had no effect on
economic return.
Recommendations
In the northeastern United
States, cool-season grass harvest
schedules must remain flexible and
responsive to climatic conditions. In
dry years, reduced yields associated
with more frequent harvests of
orchardgrass, reed canarygrass,
smooth bromegrass and timothy
were offset by improved forage qual
ity so that net economic return per
acre was unaffected. Therefore,
under dry conditions, the level of
Dry Conditions'!
Economic
returnj:
$/acre
3.97§
3 77
3.04
ton/acre
88
97
97
3.78 %
3.63 97
2.87 108
130
117
103
4.45
3 89
2.77
106
88
87
4.13
3 70
2.89
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Normal to wet conditions'!
Economic
returnf
DM
$/acre toon/acre
5.35 159 '
5.64 217
5.55 258
5.48 197
5,86 250
5.15 247
6.31 233
6.19 283
4.89 252
5.70 172
5.25 194
4.54
forage quality required by the con
suming animal should be used as
guidelines for implementing a har
vest schedule. Sufficient DM intake
for high producing dairy animals
would be impossible with the quali
ty of forage obtained with 70-d har
vest intervals. In years when rain
fall is at or above normal, 35 to 45-d
harvest intervals should be
employed to maximize DM yield and
forage quality.
Forage producers need to be able
to plan a harvest strategy that will
maximize net economic retui n with
out knowing what the growing sea
son will be like. Consequently, pro
ducers who want high quality for
age, should plan the first harvest as
if four harvests will be taken on 35-
d intervals. This means that in cen
tral Pennsylvania the first harvest
should be taken about 20 May to
ensure that a large portion of the
grass forage for the season will be of
high quality since a large portion of
the total annual yield comes ifl the
first harvest. The 35-d harvest
interval could then be lengthened to
45d or more unless rainfall and
grass growth are well above normal.
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Carlisle, PA 17013
717/249-6720