With over 80,000 head of horses in the state of Georgia, horse owners are looking for efficient and nutritional forage options. Horses are naturally meant to consume a forage-based diet and on average, should consume at least one percent of its body weight in forages. In most instances, pasture and…
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To be so tiny, ants can cause lots of turmoil in our hayfields and pastures including equipment damage, employee harm (i.e. loading square bales), and just plain aggravation. Many times we as livestock or hay producers have what we consider more pressing things to attend to: fertilizing, armyworm control, or…
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The late Alan Nation, longtime editor of ‘The Stockman Grass Farmer’ was fond of encouraging readers to identify any “unfair advantage” they had and to use that advantage to the fullest. Those advantages may be very specific to a particular operation or they may be more regional. In the Southeast,…
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Hay is the most widely grown, mechanically-harvested agronomic crop in the United States. According to USDA, in 2019, the United States produced more than 57.7 million acres of forage crops harvested for hay. Annual production from this acreage is over 140 million tons of hay valued at more than 18…
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The process of preserving quality forage is an art. In this process there are factors that we cannot control, i.e. the weather, but the type of bale wrap we choose can be controlled. Many times, our choice of bale wrap comes from our personal preference or the machinery that is…
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If you do a Google search for Sericea Lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata), you will see results ranging from articles about controlling it as a weed, touting it as a highly invasive forb that creates a tremendous seed bank; to articles that praise its ability to help fight internal parasites in small ruminants. Determination of whether it is good or bad, gets the quintessential Extension answer – It depends.
Did you know that according to research conducted by UGA, you can lose up to sixty percent of your hay by storing it uncovered outside? While choosing a site for your hay barns can be a challenge, these four main components can assist in making your decisions.
By Savannah Tanner Emanuel County CEA With over 80,000 head of horses in the state of Georgia, horse owners are looking for efficient and nutritional forage options to feed to their animals. A good rule of thumb for horse owners is that your horse should consume at least one percent of its body weight in hay…
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By Roger Gates Whitfield County CEA Livestock producers who have had to purchase hay in dry years do not need economists to describe the impact of supply on price. The value of an adequate supply becomes increasingly obvious as winter transitions to spring if pasture growth is slow or delayed. At…
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By Steve Morgan Harris CEC Hay has many benefits which makes it the most commonly used stored feed option on livestock farms. Unfortunately, a lot of money is lost each year by not investing in suitable storage options. It is estimated that the total value of hay storage and feeding…
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