Page 26—Foraging Around, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 17, 1999
REDUCING THE POTASSIUM
CONTENT OF FORAGES
THROUGH FORAGE
MANAGEMENT
Dr. Marvin H. Hall
Penn State Forage Specialist
In recent years, potassium (K) con
tent of forages has become a major
concern on dairy farms because it
plays a major role in cation balance of
the feed ration which is a contributing
factor for milk fever.
Increasing K level in the soil, be
cause of current manure management
strategies and excessive K fertiliza
tion, has resulted in relatively high K
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THROUGH
THE
CLASSIFIED
ADS
IN
Lancaster
Farming
PHONE
717-6'>6-l 164
OR
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717-733-6058
Mon., Tues.,
Wed., Fri.
8 AM to 5 PM
Thurs.
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y ❖ Special Report
levels in many of our forages.
High K content of forages increases
the difficulty in balancing the ration
with respect to divalent cations such
as magnesium and calcium. However,
there are a few management practices
that can be implemented to reduce for
age K content and minimize the poten
tial problem before it occurs.
1. Apply manure or potassium-con
taining fertilizers only where they are
recommended through soil testing.
When soil potassium exceeds recom
mended levels it accumulates in fora
ge plants without a concurrent in
crease in forage yield. This situation
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Long stem silage is better used ,n the animals digestive system. an 3 available in either manual or fully automatic
Feeding high quality haylage from wrapped bales can reduce or eliminate e '
feeding gram while retaining or increasing weight gams or milk
production
results in forages with excessively
high K content.
2. Allow forages to mature as much
as possible before harvest. There are
some obvious forage quality trade
offs associated with this practice.
However, K levels can be reduced by
about 25 percent (e.g. 2.3 to 1.8 per
cent) if alfalfa is allowed to mature
from bud to 25 percent flower before
harvesting.
3. Harvest the forage as low to the
ground as possible. The tops of forage
plants contain higher concentrations
of K than the base of plants. Harvest
ing close to the ground will result in
lower K content forage.
4. Practices that keep more leaves
in harvested forage will reduce K con
tent because K tends to accumulate in
the stem.
5. Include a grass in the forage mix
ture. Grasses tend to have lower K
content than legumes. However, on
soils with excessive K levels grasses
can also contain excessive amounts of
K.
For all of these management prac-
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100 Stover Drive 100-120 Lehigh Ave. • P.O. Box 928
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717/249-6720 716/343-5411
Serving Farmers Through Farm Equipment Dealers. Sinpq 1961
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tices to be effective, a good system oi
forage monitoring and inventory must
be in place. Segregating forages based
on K content and matching this with
the needs of animal groups is essen
tial. If high forage K levels persist
then substituting some low K forage
such as com stalks, for the high K
forage can help bring the total forage
K content to a more manageable level