Robyn Stewart
A big competitive advantage for cattle producers in Georgia is our ability to grow and graze forages into the winter months. Continuing the productivity of warm season grasses further into fall and getting our cool season species established is a critical part of managing a year-round forage system. There are a few things to keep in mind as we head into colder weather and warm-season grass dormancy that can help reduce our reliance on hay and feed this winter.
Hay and feed costs are directly tied to how long you have to supplement your grazing in the winter. One way of extending your grazing season for 30 to 60 days is to stockpile your warm-season species like Bermuda or Bahia. There are several management considerations if you are interested in stockpiling for an extended grazing species. First, as with any forage recommendation, make sure that you have soil tested, limed, and fertilized appropriately for the grass species you have. Starting with healthy soil is essential for establishing a good grazing stand at any time of year. In order to prepare for stockpiling, you should cut or graze the field down about 8 weeks prior to the first frost in your area, then remove all animals from it. After your remove the animals, apply 40-50 units of nitrogen per acre, and be patient for the next 45-60 days as Bermuda and Bahia grow more slowly in cooler weather. So long as you have sufficient rainfall, you should be able to start grazing the stockpiled forage about 60 days after you fertilize the field.
In order to make the most of your stockpiled grazing, you should use a strip or timed grazing system. Livestock that free-range on stockpiled forages will quickly graze, walk down, and ruin the benefits of stockpiling in the first place. It can be very labor intensive to use timed grazing, where you allow livestock on the field for a period of time each day and then remove them. Strip grazing is more effective at extending your forage resources. In order to strip graze, livestock are allowed on a “slice” or “strip” of the pasture to graze until that space is grazed down. After the forage in that strip is eaten, the fence is moved to another “strip” and the process repeats. This system is particularly effective for situations where forages will not regrow, such as stockpiled dormant forages. Be sure to consider where your water access is for your livestock before you start a strip grazing program.
The second management practice to consider is to plant cool season annuals for an extended grazing season. There are several other things you can do to optimize forage production of winter annuals. While you can graze winter annuals once plants are established and have about 3-4 inches of growth, it is recommended that the plants accumulate 6-8 inches of growth prior to grazing. Grazing too early can reduce winter annual production by at least 1/3 through the course of the grazing season. It’s also important to recognize how winter annuals grow. On the front end of the season, the growth rate of winter annuals is fairly slow, but on the tail end of the season can be quite rapid. It may benefit you to reduce your stocking rate or grazing period at the start of the season and increase your stocking rate and grazing on the tail end to match the growth pattern of the forage. Another consideration is when and how to fertilize winter forages to maximize their outputs. An initial application of nitrogen at planting is essential for good stand management and early grazing. In January or February, a second application of nitrogen should be applied to help increase winter and spring growth. Later in spring, you may consider applying a final round of nitrogen, particularly with ryegrass. Be careful though, because late ryegrass production can decrease bermudagrass yield once we hit warm weather. If you add any legumes in to your grazing mix, you can reduce your nitrogen applications accordingly.
Extending your forages into fall and through winter can be an essential part of managing costs for livestock producers. If you need help with your forage system, let us know at uge3181@uga.edu or 706-359-3233. Please remember we are at the new building at 2080 Rowland-York Drive.
