SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Building a successful and sustainable alternative forage system was explored by Jeffrey Jackson during the breakout session he conducted March 21 at the Central Plains Dairy Expo in Sioux Falls.
Jackson is an alfalfa and forage specialist with CROPLAN by WinField United, a division of Land O’Lakes.
Jackson said dairy producers should create a forage system that has windows for manure application.
“Each operation has its own unique needs and goals,” Jackson said. “There is no one-size-fits-all forage system. Cover crops can play a critical role in controlling soil erosion by having a live, living root in the ground 365 days a year.”
Rotating forage crops has several advantages.
“A diverse rotation of forage crops helps mitigate disease and insect pressures,” Jackson said. “Grazing is still the cheapest way to harvest forages.”
Corn silage is the gold standard forage crop for many dairy operators. But, it might make sense to consider alternatives, Jackson said.
“We have all seen a neighbor try to raise silage corn on a marginal piece of ground,” Jackson said. “Nothing grows on the knobs, and the rest of the field doesn’t look very good. Forage sorghum is extremely drought tolerant and will produce tons of forage even on a poor piece of land. Sorghum is one of the most underestimated forage crops that we have.”
Regarding the feed value of forage sorghum, Jackson said its feed value is about 80% of corn silage.
“Sorghum is so much cheaper to grow than corn,” Jackson said. “You would still come out ahead, even if you boost the energy levels of sorghum silage by purchasing distiller’s grains from your local ethanol plant.”
It can be difficult to manage the moisture levels in forage sorghum, especially if rain falls during silage harvest.
“If it rains on silage corn, the plants might pick up half a percent of moisture,” Jackson said. “A forage sorghum could pick up as much as 7% moisture. You can control the moisture in forage sorghum by windrowing and crimping it and letting it lie for a few days. Some farmers prefer to let sorghum freeze and dry, but then, you could miss the window for planting fall cover crops.”
Jackson said triticale is another forage crop that deserves consideration.
“Winter triticale yielded 12 tons of dry matter per acre in an Indiana test plot in 2023,” Jackson said. “Triticale is more drought resistant than other cereal crops and is virtually disease-free. It tolerates grazing well and has a deep, fibrous root system that scavenges nutrients and water. It also stores carbon deeper than other cereal crops.”
Jackson suggested that producers consider planting winter triticale in the fall and harvest it for silage in the spring.
“You could plant forage sorghum after chopping the triticale,” Jackson said. “Under the right conditions, you could harvest 20 tons of silage per acre from the triticale and another 20 tons per acre from the forage sorghum and do it all a lot cheaper than raising silage corn.”
Sorghum-sudangrass is a versatile forage crop that can be harvested as dry hay, chopped for silage or used for grazing.
“Sorghum-sudangrass grows fast,” Jackson said. “You can harvest them 45 days after planting. Their regrowth is quick, and you can usually get two crops. There are a lot of different varieties available, including those that have the BMR (brown mid-rib) trait, are brachytic dwarf or photoperiod sensitive.”
Jackson said the brachytic dwarf varieties have a shortened internode space, which means a higher leaf-to-stem ratio, less stalk, better fiber digestibility and more tillering.
Photoperiod-sensitive varieties will remain vegetative until the length of the day drops to less than 12 hours and 20 minutes of daylight. This happens at about mid-September in the Upper Midwest.
Jackson said that pearl millet is another short-season forage crop that deserves consideration.
“Pearl millet has slender leaves and stems, and good dry down for hay,” Jackson said. “As with all forage crops, it’s best to harvest pearl millet at the boot stage. Prolific tillering helps pearl millet compete with weeds and conserve soil moisture. Don’t be fooled by pearl millet’s appearance. It’s highly palatable and very digestible. This adds up to less manure for you to haul.”
If an alfalfa stand comes through the winter looking poor, Jackson said producers can no till sorghum into alfalfa after the first cutting.
“You will see a lot of sorghum by the third cutting,” Jackson said.
The existing alfalfa crop would need to be terminated if a producer chose to plant pearl millet.
“When you harvest millet, you need to cut it 5-6 inches off the ground,” Jackson said. “It might look like you’re leaving a lot of the crop, but you need to have a long stubble for millet to get quick regrowth.”
Dairy operators have a variety of alternative forage crops from which to choose. Many of these crops are cheaper to raise than silage corn.
“All dairy farmers are concerned about input costs and what they can do to make the biggest pile possible of high-quality forages,” Jackson said.
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