Articles
Field Peas
General Comments Large-seeded, cool season annual. Best companion-seeded with a spring cereal grain to encourage climbing and minimize lodging. Pea-small grain mixtures can also be harvested as forage, yielding 1-3 TDM per-acre, with slightly higher forage quality and palatability than small grain forage alone. Nitrogen credits to a following crop are minimal. Credit 20 lbs […]
Oats
General Comments Oats will grow rapidly in late summer and continue until a hard freeze. They will not over-winter in Wisconsin. They are a good choice if fall-harvesting a forage is the main goal. They are more tolerant of temporary dry conditions than legumes. Oats and barley have had equal yields in fall forage trials […]
Medium Red Clover
General Comments A short-lived perennial that is best companion planted with spring cereal grains or frost seeded (March-April) into fall established cereal grains. The early-planted MRC will establish, but stay small until after grain and straw harvest in July or August. It will then grow vigorously and is less susceptible to dry conditions or competition from weeds […]
Crimson Clover
General Comments Crimson clover is a southern-US adapted clover that typically winter kills but may, in a warm winter, survive in Wisconsin. Crimson is slightly more tolerant of dry conditions than berseem, but is more sensitive to lower pH. For fall forage potential, expect 0.5-1 ton of dry matter per acre. A 30-50 lbs N nitrogen […]
Berseem Clover
General Comments Berseem is a fast-growing, annual clover that will winter-kill. Berseem clover will grow quickly when planted in mid-summer if moisture is sufficient. For fall forage, 1.5 to 2 tons dry matter (TDM) per-acre biomass production is possible A 40-60 lbs N per-acre nitrogen credit is possible for a subsequent crop (following year). However, growth and N […]
Annual Ryegrass
General Comments Annual ryegrass (ARG) is not a true annual, but is generally not cold tolerant so it typically dies out in Wisconsin winters It has rapid growth with good biomass production when summer seeded on most soil types. It has a shallow, fibrous root system desirable for erosion control. Though a somewhat popular and […]
Alfalfa removal in the spring
While removal of old stands is recommended with fall applications, many fields are now slated for removal due to winter-kill. This can be challenging, but options exist depending on the situation. Below I discuss management options for common scenarios this spring.
Yield and management of Roundup-Ready alfalfa
Establishment of dense vigorous stands of alfalfa is essential for long-term profitability, but establishment can be challenging because seedling alfalfa is vulnerable to competition from annual weeds and wind and water erosion. Roundup Ready Alfalfa was re-introduced last year as a new tool available to farmers growing high-quality alfalfa. While not for everyone, it will be useful for many alfalfa growers.
Selecting Cover Crops
UW-Madison Extension experts discuss selecting cover crops and questions that you should be to ask yourself to help clarify your goals for using cover crops.
Why cover crops?
Cover crops can provide many benefits for the soil in crop productions systems. Benefits can include conserving soil and water as well as improving the soil. Reduced Erosion An obvious effect of growing cover crops is covering the soil surface, which can significantly reduce the potential for wind and water erosion. This is particularly true […]
