Extension Report

Baldwin County Extension Office

302A Byrne Street

Bay Minette, AL  36507

Ken Kelley

Regional Extension Agent

Animal Science

October 7, 2008

Time to Think About Green

There has been a lot of talk about green stuff lately, whether it’s a lack of “green” for companies like Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae, or going “green”, or “green” friendly products. Today though, it’s time for livestock producers to be planting their “green stuff”….winter grazing for their animals. Now it wouldn’t be realistic to mention planting our winter annuals without mentioning the fact that it is taking a lot more “green” to plant these winter pastures than it has in the past. However, if you look at the nuts and the bolts of nutrition of grazing animals, you will see that planting grazing for these animals is still the most economical way of feeding them (note that at no point have I used the word cheap in any context…there is no cheap feed).  What we need to focus on is doing everything we can to get the most out of our winter grazing. So, let’s take a few minutes and talk about some things we need to remember to do in order to get maximum production.

First, plant on time.  The Alabama Planting Guide for Forage Grasses (available at www.aces.edu), lists the planting dates for Ryegrass and small grains planted for forages as September 15 – November 1 for the south zone of the state. That means you need to be getting them in the ground as soon as possible. There has been a lot of research done that shows that winter annuals planted during the ideal planting dates produce much earlier and greater amounts of forages than those planted later in the year. Now bear in mind that there will be ryegrass planted later than the listed planting dates, much later in some cases, which will produce forage. However, we are talking about getting the most bang for our buck here, and again, research has shown that these forages produce much earlier and larger amounts of forages when planted on a timely basis. I should note here that these planting dates are for forages planted on a prepared seedbed. Ryegrass overseeded onto a permanent pasture should be planted 3-5 weeks later than if planted on a prepared seedbed. If winter annuals are planted on sod too early, the summer grass will continue to grow and compete with the winter annual seedlings. Although the time the summer grass will go dormant in any given year depends on weather, the usual dates for safe planting on sod in South Alabama is sometime between November 1-15. Now, you can reduce this time by disking thoroughly until the summer sod is mostly destroyed or weakened, but I would contend that if you were going to do that, you might as well go ahead and prepare a good seedbed and plant as early as you can. One final thought on overseeding perennial summer pastures. It is important not to overseed too early, but also to plant as soon as there is reasonably good assurance that summer grass will not make any significant amount of additional growth (again, this goes back to the fact that the earlier you get this stuff in the ground, the more forage you will produce).

All right, we know that we need to get planted at the right time. What are some other things we can do to get greater returns for our forage dollar?  We can plant high-quality seed. Sometimes a bargain isn’t a bargain. We can get the most from our soil. This means soil testing and fertilizing and liming according to our test results. We can plant for good stands. This means planting at the proper depth, planting when we have adequate moisture, and planting the correct rate of seed per acre. Proper depth is extremely critical, especially when you are dealing with specific plants such as clover. Clover covered too deep will not produce the stand that you desire. Crimson clover (one of the most popular and most planted of the clovers in our area) calls for a seeding depth of 0-1/2 inch deep. However, when you are talking about the small grains, i.e. rye, oats, wheat, they call for a planting depth of 1-2 inch. So it is important to know the recommended planting depth of the species that you will plant, and to do your best to plant them at that depth.

These are just a few of the things you can do to improve the production of your winter grazing. I always encourage folks to plant winter annuals. We have a distinct advantage in our part of the country of being able to produce these high quality winter forages. They are, for the most part, extremely nutritious (more so than your summer pastures) and produce a large amount of forage. When used wisely, they can usually save you some “green” when compared to buying hay or feed.  I would also mention to the hunters out there that the same things I mentioned for livestock producers apply to you. It pays to do the little things when you are establishing food plots. Much like other forage producers it would pay you to soil sample, lime and fertilize according to recommendations, plant in a timely manner, and plant correct amounts of seed at correct depths. If you do this, you will find you have much more productive food plots that do a much better job of attracting game.

As always, if you have any questions feel free to send me an email at kellewi@aces.edu or give me a call at 251-238-0373.

Weeks Bay Native Plant Sale

The Weeks Bay Annual Native Plant Sale will be held on October 10th – 12th at the Safe Harbor R. V. Park across U. S. 98 from Weeks Bay Reserve. Operating hours for the plant sale are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day. A variety of plants will be available for purchase which include:  Shrubs, Hummingbird and Butterfly Plants, Perennials, Trees, Wetland Plants, and Dune Plants.

Email address: kellewi@aces.edu

Phone number: 937-7176 or 943-5611, 928-0860, ext. 2222

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work in agriculture and home economics, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, and other related acts, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M University and Auburn University) offers educational programs, materials, and equal opportunity employment to all people without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, veteran status, or disability.

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