Com Tested As Alternative
Forage Crop For Cattle
COLUMBUS, Ohio Four
rows of com in a field less than a
mile from the Ohio State Uni
versity campus has so far with
stood rain, snow, wind, insects
and wild animals. Two univer
sity researchers hope the crop is
still standing come spring.
The “standing” com is being
tested as a potential alternative
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forage crop to extend the graz
ing season for cattle through the
winter months. If successful, the
practice of strip grazing could
provide a cheap and convenient
method for farmers to keep their
cattle healthy. The project is
part of a larger collaboration
among researchers in Ohio,
lowa, Nebraska and Missouri to
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improve the profitability and
productivity of the beef indus
try.
Dave Zartman, Ohio Agricul
tural Research and Develop
ment Center project leader to
the North Central Regional
Committee for Ohio, hopes the
com will replace or augment
standard winter grazing feed
such as stockpiled fescue grass,
which is difficult for cattle to
reach through deep snow, and
hay, which is more expensive
than com. The com plus min
eral supplement would also pro
___ vide the energy and’
""1 nutrient requirements
that the cattle need.
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Stockpiling feed
through winter can
also be expensive and
inconvenient for the
farmer when such fac
tors as labor, hauling
feed, storage and re-
moval and equipment
are taken into consid
eration. “Our goal is to
make it worthwhile for
the farmer to get away
from those aggrava
tions by having a crop
that can be strip
grazed while stockpil
ing enough feed to
make it through
winter,” said Zart
man. “If we don’t find
a way to reduce pro
duction costs, farmers
won’t be able to keep
up competitively.”
Rhonda Gruber,
graduate research as
sociate with the De
partment of Animal
Sciences, is studying
how well the “stand
ing” corn holds up to
winter conditions, in
sects, wild animals,
nutrient degradation
and mold content. She
said preliminary data
have yielded positive
results. “We’ve found
very little mold, no
insect or wild animal
problems and only a
few of the stalks have
fallen over due to
wind.” The nutrient
analysis had not yet
been completed.
The study has so far
yielded 70 to 100 bush
els of grain per acre,
more than the re
searchers had ex
pected, with data to be
compiled through
March. “We expect to
lose about half of the
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feed availability,” said Gruber.
“With what’s still standing
come March, we want to see how
feasible it is to have such a prac
tice available. We are then going
to conduct livestock trials and
study factors like management
and consumption patterns.”
Gruber said analyzing com as
an alternative forage crop has
not been widely researched,
which leaves many questions to
be answered, such as what com
varieties best withstand winter
conditions, how many head of
cattle can be fed, and how much
monev a farmer would actually
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Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, December 30, 2000-A:
save, if any at all.
The researchers, however, do
know that strip grazing does
work. Fanners in Argentina
allow cattle to feed on “stand
ing” com to recoup the costs lost
when harvesting becomes too
expensive. Zartman also said
that strip grazing keeps cattle
healthy because manure k dis
tributed outside rather than in a
bam and because the cattle live
in the fresh air, cutting down on
disease. Strip grazing may also
help prevent animals from wast
ing feed and over eating.
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