Forage growth is exploding
I stated last month that this was the earliest spring that I have ever seen and that type of weather continues. Forage growth, soil temperatures and even mushrooms are all early this year. The warm weather and soil have many producers scratching their head trying to figure out what is best to do. Weather patterns are certainly a lot different than they were last year and at least for the moment, it is a dry spring.
Forage growth is just exploding! It is at least three weeks early in most of the state and pushing us in making decisions about getting livestock grazing earlier than ever on new growth. Forages seem to be denser than normal. Most of Indiana did not have the normal freezing depths this winter and I’m not sure that some areas ever did freeze up completely; that is most likely having an impact on the forage growth also.
Most pasture fields that had good residual left over winter and sufficient fertility have rebounded extremely well and are ready for some early forage grazing. It is advisable to make sure to not overgraze this early growth though. Early growth is always best to forage over quickly and move to the next allotment to leave sufficient new growth behind. Overgrazing at this point will often reduce density and open the stand with increased potential for annual and perennial weed problems.
Talking about weeds . . . I am already seeing a fair amount of poison hemlock in some fields and especially along road sides and low areas. Poison hemlock looks a lot like cow or wild parsnips but has purplish colored streaks and spots on the smooth stem. This plant is poison to both livestock and humans. I believe it was
Socrates that was killed by poison from this plant. It is a true biennial so it will set seed the second year – so kill it the first year! It is a prolific seed producer. Do not handle with bare hands. According to Purdue’s toxic plant website, poison hemlock has toxic components that include the volatile alkaloids coniine and gamma-conicine. A lethal dose for a horse is 4 to 5 pounds of leaves, cattle may be poisoned with 1 to 2 pounds, and sheep with
a half pound or less. Humans are often poisoned, mistaking the roots for parsnips, the leaves for parsley, or the seeds for anise.
Affected animals show signs within 2 hours of eating the plant, and tend to become nervous, and will tremble and become uncoordinated. After the excitement phase, the animal becomes depressed. The heart and respiratory rates slow down, the legs, ears and other extremities become cold, colic and/or bloating may occur. Even at this stage, the animal may not die, but may remain like this for several hours to days, and then recover. In lethal cases, the animals tend to die within 5 to 10 hours after the onset of the clinical signs, typically from respiratory failure (in which case the mucus membranes will appear blue). A mousy odor has been reported to emanate from affected animals. Contact your local extension office for more information on this plant or control methods, see this Purdue fact sheet: http://www.vet.purdue.edu/toxic/plant28.htm.
Back to pasture; it could be challenging to control growth this spring. Soil temperatures are at least 12-15 degrees warmer than normal and this has sped up forage growth and corn planting too. The warmer temperatures are also pushing some forage to mature earlier – I am already seeing early varieties of orchardgrass forming seed heads. Graze, but do short duration periods and keep the livestock moving. This will help keep everything vegetative and a little more under control. Areas that have low fertility, poor stands, poor soil, could possibly benefit from letting the forages mature more which would potentially, depending on management, leave more residual behind and slowly build organic matter, maintain cover, keep the soil cooler and help heal that site. This could be grazed later as stockpiled forage. Livestock will remove slightly less off this site and more nutrients will be returned to the soil. Deeper roots will help bring up nutrient reserves from deeper in the profile. This is not a substitute though for good fertility replacement if needed. With more forage present, the livestock will eat the best and leave the rest. You should always manage for animal performance first and if so, you will simultaneously manage for the forage too.
This early spring flush, like discussed here many times over, is high in water and protein so make sure that there is sufficient dry matter available to balance everything out.
We really can’t predict what the future of this spring and summer will bring to us so you should always have a contingency plan for any unexpected and adverse condition that we might obtain. I always recommend keeping some hay on hand for insurance, don’t over stock, move often and maintain cover no matter what.
As always, keep on grazing!
I stated last month that this was the earliest spring that I have ever seen and that type of weather continues. Forage growth, soil temperatures and even mushrooms are all early this year. The warm weather and soil have many producers scratching their head trying to figure out what is best to do. Weather patterns are certainly a lot different than they were last year and at least for the moment, it is a dry spring.
Forage growth is just exploding! It is at least three weeks early in most of the state and pushing us in making decisions about getting livestock grazing earlier than ever on new growth. Forages seem to be denser than normal. Most of Indiana did not have the normal freezing depths this winter and I’m not sure that some areas ever did freeze up completely; that is most likely having an impact on the growth also.
Most pasture fields that had good residual left over winter and sufficient fertility have rebounded extremely well and are ready for some early grazing. It is advisable to make sure to not overgraze this early growth though. Early growth is always best to graze over quickly and move to the next allotment to leave sufficient new growth behind. Overgrazing at this point will often reduce density and open the stand with increased potential for annual and perennial weed problems.
Talking about weeds . . . I am already seeing a fair amount of poison hemlock in some fields and especially along road sides and low areas. Poison hemlock looks a lot like cow or wild parsnips but has purplish colored streaks and spots on the smooth stem. This plant is poison to both livestock and humans. I believe it was
Socrates that was killed by poison from this plant. It is a true biennial so it will set seed the second year – so kill it the first year! It is a prolific seed producer. Do not handle with bare hands. According to Purdue’s toxic plant website, poison hemlock has toxic components that include the volatile alkaloids coniine and gamma-conicine. A lethal dose for a horse is 4 to 5 pounds of leaves, cattle may be poisoned with 1 to 2 pounds, and sheep with
a half pound or less. Humans are often poisoned, mistaking the roots for parsnips, the leaves for parsley, or the seeds for anise.
Affected animals show signs within 2 hours of eating the plant, and tend to become nervous, and will tremble and become uncoordinated. After the excitement phase, the animal becomes depressed. The heart and respiratory rates slow down, the legs, ears and other extremities become cold, colic and/or bloating may occur. Even at this stage, the animal may not die, but may remain like this for several hours to days, and then recover. In lethal cases, the animals tend to die within 5 to 10 hours after the onset of the clinical signs, typically from respiratory failure (in which case the mucus membranes will appear blue). A mousy odor has been reported to emanate from affected animals. Contact your local extension office for more information on this plant or control methods, see this Purdue fact sheet: http://www.vet.purdue.edu/toxic/plant28.htm.
Back to pasture; it could be challenging to control growth this spring. Soil temperatures are at least 12-15 degrees warmer than normal and this has sped up forage growth and corn planting too. The warmer temperatures are also pushing some forage to mature earlier – I am already seeing early varieties of orchardgrass forming seed heads. Graze, but do short duration periods and keep the livestock moving. This will help keep everything vegetative and a little more under control. Areas that have low fertility, poor stands, poor soil, could possibly benefit from letting the forages mature more which would potentially, depending on management, leave more residual behind and slowly build organic matter, maintain cover, keep the soil cooler and help heal that site. This could be grazed later as stockpiled forage. Livestock will remove slightly less off this site and more nutrients will be returned to the soil. Deeper roots will help bring up nutrient reserves from deeper in the profile. This is not a substitute though for good fertility replacement if needed. With more forage present, the livestock will eat the best and leave the rest. You should always manage for animal performance first and if so, you will simultaneously manage for the forage too.
This early spring flush, like discussed here many times over, is high in water and protein so make sure that there is sufficient dry matter available to balance everything out.
We really can’t predict what the future of this spring and summer will bring to us so you should always have a contingency plan for any unexpected and adverse condition that we might obtain. I always recommend keeping some hay on hand for insurance, don’t over stock, move often and maintain cover no matter what.
As always, keep on grazing!
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