Plan your Forage Crops

By Reggie Mchunu and Delia Thomson, Pannar Seed

Cultivated forage crops are usually planted to complement natural grazing and field crop residue. Most crops are grazed or used to make hay or silage. When grazed, it can be used in a green state when it is actively growing or as foggage (standing hay) after the crop has matured. In the case of hay or silage the feed is preserved to be used at a later stage as a feed supplement or when feed is scarce.

Crop options for grazing or foggage include the following:

• Summer crops: maize, forage sorghum, perennial grasses e.g. smuts finger and weeping love grass and lucerne.
• Cool season crops: ryegrass, Japanese radish, oats, triticale and stooling rye.

In the case of crops for hay or silage, the following crops can be considered:

• Hay production: teff, weeping love grass and lucerne.
• Almost any crop is suitable for making silage, but the least complicated crop by far, is maize as it is widely adapted, easy to cultivate and least complicated to ensile.

PRODUCTION PLAN

In developing a production plan suited to individual production systems several considerations need to be well-thought-out. These include which pastures would be best suited, economics of scale as well as the end-use of the pasture. All these considerations and their implementation will ultimately affect the profitability of the enterprise.

• The choice of species and variety would depend on the soil type, the availability and efficiency of irrigation, the climate and for which type of animal production purpose the pasture will be used. For example: Is there a need to plug the autumn quality gap? Is the pasture required for intensive animal production e.g. milk production, finishing of weaners or lambs, or is it required to maintain the condition of the breeding stock?
• Extensive dryland pastures usually require a long recovery period between grazings. Some pastures respond to rotational grazing better than others.
• Fertilisation practices should be geared to the pasture’s potential within the constraints of moisture availability (rainfall and/or irrigation) and soil type. Take a soil sample and have it analysed in order to correct the basic fertility before planting.

Once the basic fertility of the soil has been rectified, then fertilisation should be based on nutrient removal. A ton of grass hay or silage dry matter (DM) taken off a pasture will remove approximately 20 kg of nitrogen (N), 15 kg of potassium (K) and 3,5 kg of phosphorus (P). Legumes will remove more potassium and phosphorus, but well nodulated legumes can make a meaningful contribution towards the nitrogen needs of a pasture.
Up to 85% of the potassium is returned to the pasture via the grazing animal, but in the case of nitrogen, most is lost and only about 30% is utilized by the plant. Nitrogen fertilizer guidelines in this article are for zero grazed pastures (total removal of material). If pastures are grazed the recommended nitrogen application could be reduced.

To learn more about our forage crops, click here.