GeorgiaForages.com Forage Update - Summer 2013

A periodic email sent to forage producers and industry professionals.

Dr. Dennis Hancock, Forage Extension Specialist, University of Georgia

Here are some HOT TOPICS and happenings on www.GeorgiaForages.com:

• -      New Look for GeorgiaForages.com Updates
• -      Latest! – Georgia Forage News
• -      Upcoming! – Georgia Grazing School (and Deep South Stocker Conference)
• -      My Latest Trip
• -      Potential Trip to New Zealand and Australia
• -      Now Open! – 2013 Southeastern Hay Contest
• -      Now Open! – 2013 Georgia Forages Photo Contest
• -      Upcoming! – Meeting Dates to Circle on Your Calendar

  

New Look for GeorgiaForages.com Updates

The last GF Update was sent via MailChimp, an online email blast service. I received a lot of positive feedback on the new format. I hope it makes the emails I send easier to read and navigate. If your email system doesn’t allow html emails, you can still click the link to view this email in plain text.

Latest! – Georgia Forage News

University of Georgia Extension has some of the best Extension Agents in the U.S.! Some of the best examples can be found on our Forage Extension Team. They have co-written a newsletter series entitled Georgia Forage News. The latest edition (their second) addresses three major topics: 1) the bermudagrass stem maggot, 2) forage testing, and 3) harvest timing for corn silage. This is an outstanding newsletter! See: http://bit.ly/125doAy.

Upcoming! – Georgia Grazing School (and Deep South Stocker Conference)

The Georgia Grazing School returns! Last year, we were unable to make the Grazing School work because of variety of logistic and funding issues. This year, WE ARE BACK!!! and better than ever! In fact, this year, we have an extra-special treat.

Georgia splits hosting duties for the Deep South Stocker Conference with Mississippi and Alabama. This year, it is Georgia’s turn and we are planning on holding the 2013 Grazing School (August 7-8) in conjunction with the Deep South Stocker Conference (August 8-9)! This allows us to keep our costs low, do more hands-on programs, AND bring in some additional experts from around the country. Some examples include: 1) more extensive field exercises with sizing and allotting pasture for break-feeding; 2) a tour of UGA’s new Forage Garden, a display of the many and varied forages that can be grown in Georgia; 3) the latest developments in the world of fencing, waterers, and pesticides; 4) a detailed fencing demonstration; 5) a look inside respiratory disease with a close-up examination of the effect it can have on lung and respiratory capacity; and 6) stockmanship and stewardship demonstrations by Curt Pate, one of the world’s leading trainers in safe and effective cattle handling. I just can’t tell you how excited I am to see this program come together!

For those who haven’t had a chance to attend one of our Grazing Schools… You REALLY NEED TO COME! The Georgia Grazing School is a two-day workshop that focuses on the benefits of management-intensive grazing. Training will take place in both classroom and field settings. We cover the system comprehensively, approaching from an understanding of soil fertility, forage crop selection/establishment, utilizing and optimizing plant growth, how to match animal nutrient needs with forage quality provided, and how the grazing system design can have an effect on all these elements.

The program costs $150 and includes lunches and breaks on each day, a nice dinner at the end of the program, a grazing school handbook, and a forage and weed ID handbook. For more information about this program, check out the Grazing School’s webpage here: http://bit.ly/125fxMw. Registration will be available online within the next few days, and I’ll send a separate announcement about that in the coming days.

My Latest Trip

If you are really a lover of forage management and are really into pasture-based livestock systems, then you’ll appreciate the enormity of my most recent trip… a trip to New Zealand! New Zealand is a small island nation in the South Pacific whose economy is extremely dependent upon their ability to efficiently and cost-effectively raise livestock on pasture. And they’ve gotten extremely good at it. In fact, they provide a lot of the most common pasture-based livestock technologies that we use today, including everything from electric fencing to animal genetics!

To tell you why I was in New Zealand recently, I need to give you a bit of backstory. Over the past 3 years, I have been cultivating several relationships with New Zealand agribusiness and trade authorities. Georgia has developed quite a reputation throughout the world (and especially in New Zealand) as a real “hot-spot” for growth in pasture-based livestock systems in general and dairying in particular. My networking has primarily been with the NZ Agribusiness Centre (a consortium of a diverse set of kiwi agribusiness) and NZ Trade & Enterprise (somewhat analogous to our U.S. Commerce Department).

My relationship with them has matured into a potential economic development opportunity for Georgia. Back in early May, I teamed up with Georgia’s Center for Innovation for Agribusiness and organized a program in Augusta and Waynesboro that highlights the opportunities for pasture-based livestock systems in Georgia and the Southeast. We connected the CEOs or representatives of approximately 9 major NZ companies with Georgia’s Department of Economic Development and the local development authorities in that region. These companies have already decided to expand their business into North, Central, and South America and are currently deciding on whether to locate those jobs in Georgia or in one other state. Our goal is to get those jobs here! Only time will tell if our “sales pitch” was effective, but pasture-based livestock production in Georgia and the SE U.S. was definitely of key interest to them when I made my recent return trip to NZ. I think we made an overwhelming case to support these jobs coming to Georgia! I’m anxious to see it come to fruition.

Potential Trip to New Zealand and Australia

A few months back, I mentioned my desire to take a group of producers and ag industry service providers on a trip to New Zealand in September. While in New Zealand earlier this month, I had the great opportunity to begin to finalize an AgriTour there.

We are still working out the details, but the plan is to arrive in Auckland, NZ on Monday September 9^th and tour Auckland, Hamilton and the Waikato Region (the center of the major pasture-based livestock industries in NZ), Rotorua (a site of several interesting items of agritourism interest and one of the major cultural centers of New Zealand’s indigenous peoples, the Maori), and a few other tourist attractions. The AgriTour will conclude on Saturday, September 14^th.

More details on this trip, the cost, and travel information will be forthcoming in a couple more weeks (hopefully). Until then, go make sure your passport is current or if you don’t have one, begin the process of getting one. This AgriTour will be an incredible adventure. Trust me… you are going to want to be on this trip!

Now Open! - 2013 Southeastern Hay Contest

Just a reminder!!! Enter your hay or baleage samples into the 2013 Southeastern Hay Contest and compete with other Southeastern producers for the title of Best in Class! For more information about the contest, including a link to the rules and entry form, visit: http://bit.ly/WBJlza.

Now Open! - 2013 Georgia Forages Photo Contest

Just a reminder!!! Enter your forage photos into the 2013 Georgia Forages Photo Contest (see: http://bit.ly/WBJyCu.) The purpose of the contest is to recognize, through photography, the multi-faceted uses of forages in Georgia. This contest is open to anyone who would like to share their photos with the Georgia Forages community. There is no entry fee for participating in this contest. Entrants can submit color digital photo files to Dr. Dennis Hancock, UGA Forage Extension Specialist by merely emailing the entry to Dr. Hancock. The entry form used last year is NOT needed. However, Dr. Hancock will follow up with you after receiving the photo to confirm entry and obtain any further information.

Entries will be placed into one of six categories. The photo categories include:

a.      Harvested Forages

b.     Grazing

c.      Education

d.     Wildlife and Conservation

e.      Troubleshooting (e.g., nutrient deficiencies, diseases, etc.)

f.      Open

Entries must be received by October 1^st. Winners will be selected by the UGA Forage Extension Agent Team and will be announced on October 15^th, at the beginning of the Sunbelt Ag Expo. Certificates will be awarded for the best photos. The top 3 photos in each category will be enlarged and displayed at the Sunbelt Ag Expo at the “Ask the Expert” booth in the Livestock Pavilion. Photo entries will also be posted to a website for public viewing. Entrants do not have to attend the Expo to participate in the Photo Contest.

Credit will be given to the photographer and the photographer will retain all rights to their entry (i.e., for sale, duplication, or use other than publicly displaying the entry for the purposes of the contest).

Upcoming! – Meeting Dates to Circle on Your Calendar

            There are several meetings coming up in the next few weeks and months that I want to make sure you have on your calendar. Here are the dates/times, meeting name, and location. For more, see: http://bit.ly/ZoXnVI.

Sunbelt Ag Expo Field Day

Jul. 11, 7:15 a.m - Lunch | Sunbelt Agricultural Expo | Moultrie, GA

Hay Day (hay equipment demonstration day)

Aug. 6 | Lamar Co.

Georgia Grazing School

August 7-8 | Watkinsville, GA

Deep South Stocker Conference

Aug. 8-9 | Watkinsville, GA

22nd International Grassland Congress

Sep. 15-19, 2013 | Sydney, Australia

SE Hay Contest

Oct. 15-17, 2013 | in Conjunction with the Sunbelt Agricultural Expo | Moultrie, GA

Sunbelt Agricultural Expo's: Forage-Based Livestock Management Seminars, and “Ask the Expert” Booths

Oct. 15-17, 2013 | Moultrie, GA

If you have a forage-related question, check out our website at www.georgiaforages.com, talk with your county Extension Agent by dialing 1-800-ASK-UGA1, or send an email to me at dhancock@uga.edu.

Regards,

Dennis W. Hancock, PhD
Forage Extension Specialist

Bermudagrass Stem Maggot

Don W. Clark Jr. - Grady County ANR Agent

There is a relatively new pest that has had a major impact on Bermudagrass hay production in South Georgia and North Florida.  The Bermuda grass stem maggot, native to Southeast Asia was found in Tift, Pierce, and Jeff Davis counties in 2010.  I found it in Grady County in 2011, it was also found in many South Georgia and North Florida Counties in 2011 and 2012 as well.

            If your Bermuda grass hay field looks like it has been damaged by frost in the middle of the growing season, you are probably experiencing damage from this insect.

            The larval (maggot) stage of the BSM is what is causing the damage.  This maggot is inside the stem when the damage is done.  The adult fly lays its eggs on the Bermuda grass pseudostme (folded leaf blades).  Upon hatching, the larva works its way toward a node, where the leaf blade emerges from the stem.  As the larva develops, it feeds on the node.  This feeding results in the browning of the last one to three leaf blades.

            In 2011 and 2012 I consulted with Dr. Dennis Hancock and Dr. Will Hudson for the purpose of setting up a test in an effort to find a control strategy.  Some observations we made were that BSM was much more common on small stem varieties like Alicia than large stem varieties like Tifton 85 and Coastcross.  Also we needed to control the adult fly because the maggot would be difficult to control protected by the stem.  I set up several tests in 2011 and 2012 in an effort to find an acceptable control strategy.  We used low rates of several pyrethroid’s and three different spray schedules.

     My three growers used different spray schedules as follows:

A.   Treated behind the baler (3 days after cutting) and again 7 days later.

B.    Treated 7 days after cutting and again 7 days later.

C.    Treated 5 days after cutting and again 10 days later.

All three of my hay producer’s experienced similar control.

Dr. Hancock, Dr. Hudson, and two graduate students are also continuing to work on control strategies for this pest.  Hopefully we will have more information on control of this pest very soon.   For more information check out this factsheet:  Biology and Management of Bermudagrass Stem Maggot.

Forage Testing

Clay Talton - Elbert County ANR Agent

            In the county extension office we are continuously asked questions about testing forage for nutrients.  Most producers are asking me “how much does it cost” and “what’s the benefit.” A forage test is a vital part to any livestock operation.  Forage for livestock plays a vital role in daily nutrition and without an understanding of the nutrients being provided it is impossible to know if an operation is feeding their animals to meet their daily nutritional needs.  Daily intake of animals changes with age and nutritional needs change with age and stage of production.  With that being said, a forage test is critical to ensuring a lot of hay is fed correctly with or without supplementation based on the report.

So how do I take a forage sample? Well the first step is easy…call your County Extension Agent! Your County Agent can provide you with information on proper testing methods for the forage you want to test and let you know what it cost.  Also, they can help you determine what test you need depending on nutrients you are concerned with.  In order to have an accurate forage test it is imperative to get a representative sample.  The method of sampling can vary with types of forage.  Most commonly, we are sampling baled hay from round or square bales.  When sampling hay, use a core sampler.  The most common types of core samplers are the Penn State Forage probe that attaches to the end of a drill or hand brace and the Colorado Hay Probe.  Take 10 to 20 core samples from each hay lot then composite and mix for analysis. Small rectangular bales should be sampled by coring from the end. Large hay bales should be sampled from the front or back (not the sides) in order to get a cross section of the rolled hay. If sampling baleage, be sure to tape over the hole from where core was taken.  Drop your sample by your local extension office and be sure to give them all of the information regarding the specie of livestock you are feeding.

So what’s next? Well, you should receive your report from your local extension office detailing the results of the hay you tested.  If you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask your County Agent about how to feed the hay and to get help in determining if the hay will meet the current nutritional needs of your animals.  Also, they can help you to determine what, if any, supplementation is needed. 

Interpreting a forage report can be somewhat overwhelming for a first time forage tester.  Most producers are concerned with relative forage quality (RFQ), crude protein (CP), total digestible nutrients (TDN), Dry Matter (DM) and nitrates. RFQ is an index for ranking forages based on a comprehensive analysis. It is calculated from CP, Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF), Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF), fat, ash and NDF digestibility. RFQ is based on a scoring system where the higher the RFQ, the better the quality. This value is a single, easy to interpret number that improves producer understanding of forage’s quality and helps in establishing a fair market value for the product. See the following extension publication, Using Relative Forage Quality to Categorize Hay, to learn more about RFQ.  Crude protein is the total protein in the sample including true protein and non-protein nitrogen. Protein is required on a daily basis for maintenance, lactation, growth and reproduction. Total digestible nutrients is the sum of the digestible fiber, protein, lipid, and carbohydrate components of a feedstuff or diet. TDN is directly related to digestible energy and is often calculated based on ADF. Nitrates can become a problem when fed in high amounts. Nitrate accumulator plants include sorghum, sorghum sudangrass, sudangrass, weeds and small grain forages. Table 1 shows the values that are represented on a forage test and when to use caution if those values reach a high value.

Table 1.

Forage Nitrate

(ppm dry forage)                               Guidance                 

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Safe to feed with adequate feed and water

4,500 - 6,500                                       Safe under most conditions but, if feeding pregnant animals, restrict to one-half (1/2) of the ration

6,500 - 9,000                                       Limit to one-half (1/2) of the ration

9,000 - 15,000                                     Limit to one-third (1/3) of the ration

15,000 - 18,000                                   Limit to one-quarter (1/4) of the ration

>18,000                                               Potentially lethal, very risky, dilute carefully

Drought, frost, fertilization and manure application practices are factors that can lead to high nitrate levels. When nitrate is converted to nitrite, it impedes the uptake of oxygen by the blood resulting in death due to lack of oxygen. Blood becomes brownish in color and exterior membranes may become bluish in color. Dry matter is the moisture-free content of the sample. Because moisture dilutes the concentration of nutrients it is important to always balance and evaluate rations on a dry-matter basis.

Once you have determined how to feed your hay, don’t forget that the nutrient needs of livestock are constantly changing based on age and stage of production.  Be sure to test every lot of hay you bale or buy and to adjust any additional supplementation being used as an animal’s stage of production changes.  If you have high quality hay that is providing an excess of nutrients for the stage of growth or production of your animal, be sure to save it and use lower quality hay that will meet their needs.  The little amount of money required to test a lot of hay can save you hundreds in the long run.