Division of Extension
Nitrate poisoning is a condition that may affect ruminants consuming certain forages or water that contains an excessive amount of nitrate. Horses are much less sensitive to nitrate toxicity since they are hindgut ferments and do not have a rumen.
Most dairy farmers do not have a drive-over scale available on their farms. Frequently it would be useful to know the weight of forage harvested from a field. Measuring alfalfa or corn silage yield is necessary to adjust management practices, to maintain crop inventories, and for crop reporting purposes.
The optimum crop to plant in an emergency forage situation should be determined by 1) when and how it will be utilized, 2) the forage quality needed, and 3) seed availability and cost.
What happens to corn silage yield and quality with later planting dates? The following is a summary of planting date trials conducted at Arlington, WI. The objective of these trials is to measure the impact of planting date on corn forage yield and quality.
Accurately determining corn whole plant moisture is important when harvesting for corn silage. Harvesting corn for silage too early (high moisture content) or too late (low moisture content) can affect forage yield, quality and silage fermentation.
Weed suppression can be important during alfalfa establishment as weeds can reduce stand life, alfalfa biomass, and forage quality. To reduce these impacts producers commonly apply herbicides to establishing alfalfa.
Alfalfa stands are typically terminated by herbicides in Wisconsin. While many options are available, combinations of 2,4-D and glyphosate are most commonly used.
Garnering much recent interest by dairy producers and their nutritionists has been a new method of harvesting whole-plant corn for silage. The resultant product has been called corn shredlage by the developer of the process Shredlage™
Plant sugars are fermented by anaerobic bacteria to organic acids which reduce the pH of the plant material. This process preserves the crop during long-term storage.
Routine laboratory forage analysis of corn silage typically includes percent starch determination for the feed. Nutritionists utilize this information to partition Non-Fiber Carbohydrate (NFC) portions into % starch, % sugar and other NFC components to optimize production and animal health.
Research is developing new understanding of forage, fiber, and the animal’s ability to use them. We have also increased understanding of the genetics of alfalfa to allow improved variety selection methods and enhanced performance for the farmer. This paper will consider both topics. Growing Alfalfa/Grass Mixtures Generally dairymen have perceived grasses to be too high […]
