Fall-Grown Oat Forages: Unique Quality Characteristics by Wayne Coblentz and Mike Bertram Introduction For the dairy industry, the options for producing a late-summer emergency forage crop are limited, mostly because the growing season is relatively short. Recent research has shown that oats, seeded in late-summer, can provide an excellent source of emergency forage before winter. Furthermore, fall-grown oats […]
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Grazing Management for Fall-Grown Oat Forages by Wayne Coblentz1, Nancy Esser2, Geoff Brink3, Patrick Hoffman4, and Michael Bertram5 1US Dairy Forage Research Center, Marshfield, WI 2Superintendent, Marshfield Agricultural Research Station 3US Dairy Forage Research Center, Madison, WI 4Department of Dairy Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison 5Superintendent, Arlington Agricultural Research Station Introduction For the dairy (or beef) industry, the options for […]
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Forage Options Following Alfalfa Winterkill by Dan Undersander What are the best forage choices for planting mid-April to mid-May? A small grain-field pea mixture is the best choice for those needing forage in early/mid summer. The primary benefit of peas mixed with small grains is to improve quality; yield effects are variable ranging from 0 to […]
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Cereal Forages for Spring Planting by Mike Rankin Introduction Planting cereal crops in the spring for forage is a common practice in Wisconsin when forage supplies are short, hay prices are high, or there has been a high degree of alfalfa winterkill. This Focus on Forage will discuss management considerations for spring planted cereal crops, primarily […]
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Growing Double Crop Forage after Small Grains by Nick Schneider Introduction From 2006 to 2010, Wisconsin averaged 282,000 acres of harvested wheat (USDA-NASS, 2007-2011). After harvest some of these fields are planted with late summer alfalfa and a few more receive manure, but many sit fallow for the rest of the growing season. Fields that are […]
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Use of Straw in Dairy Cattle Diets by Randy Shaver and Pat Hoffman Introduction The use of straw in dairy cattle diets has increased greatly in recent years. Usage has been primarily in dry and transition cow diets and replacement heifer diets, but there is some usage even in diets for lactating cows. The type of straw […]
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Working Successfully with a Custom Operator Joe Stellato and John Biese, Crops and Soils Agents Shawano and Outagamie County UW-Extension, respectively Introduction The economics of farming today requires that dairy operators invest only in capital assets that produce a high rate of return on investment (ROI). Large, expensive pieces of farm machinery which […]
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Using In Vitro Total-Tract NDF Digestibility in Forage Evaluation by Dave Combs1 1Department of Dairy Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison Introduction Fiber is an essential component of diets for dairy cattle. In high producing dairy cows, about a quarter of the energy for milk production comes from digested fiber. Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) is a laboratory […]
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