II. Grasses

A. Warm-Season

1. bahiagrass - VERY aggressive, tolerent of low fertility, close grazing is desirable.

2. bermudagrass - common or hybrids; hay harvested at 4-6 wk intervals, close grazing

3. crabgrass - weed, annual, high quality, very responsive to N

4. dallisgrass - clay & loam soils, better quality than bermuda, avoid seed head production (fungus)

5. johnsongrass - weed, excellent hay, drought tolerent, continuous grazing???

6. pearl millet - annual, pasture or silage, large stem, short season, very productive

7. switchgrass - ?? -not as good as most, graze close

- energy - (alternative energy source - alcohol = fuel)

B. Cool-Season

1. tall fescue - very good quality (possibly best) - very tolerent to drought, overgrazing, etc., BUT fungal toxin. Endophyte free VS. Endophyte??

2. orchardgrass - requires higher fertility than fescue, not tolerent to overgrazing

3. ryegrass & small grains

- very suitable in southest

- not recommended when feeding high grain diet

III. Legumes

Advantages: fix N; palatable; high in CP and Ca

Disadvantages: bloat; stand loss; costly

A. Alfalfa

- grown extensively in the west and midwest

- very high quality

- not tolerent to continuous grazing

B. Clovers

- red (pinkish to violet heads) = short lived ~2 years

- white = cool season, with fescue not bermuda or bahia

- ladino = primarily grazing, not good hay

- crimson = annual, grazing (long, red head)

- sweet = grows almost anywhere, contains coumarin (anti vit. K)

C. Bird’s-Foot Trefoil - non-bloating, short lived

- will not compete with bermuda & bahia

D. Lespedeza - developed for the south (heat tolerent)

Annual - quality forage in late summer

Perennial - Sericea - tannin problem

IV. Forbes - non-grass herbs which animals eat (weeds)

V. Browse - edible parts of woody vegetation

I. Use of Forage Crops

A. Pasture

1. Need to control grazing - shift location of salt, shade, water; avoid close late fall grazing; avoid over- & under- grazing

2. Clip pastures - control weeds & get rid of course , unpalatable material

3. proper fertilizer / lime

4. scatter droppings

5. interspecies grazing

B. Soilage (Green-Chop) fresh forage that is cut & chopped in the field, then fed to penned animals (mostly dairies)

1. Advantages

a. minimizes nutrient losses (VS. hay)

b. minimizes wastage

c. less fencing

d. produces maximum yield/acre

2. Disadvantages

a. special equipment

b. labor

c. weather-related problems for harvesting

C. Hay - dehydrating green forage to <20% moisture

1. Common Losses

a. shattered leaves (too dry / too much handling)

b. heat damage (too wet / microbes)

c. fermentation (slow drying)

d. bleaching (too long / ¯ carotene)

e. leaching (rained on)

2. Relative Humidity VS. Moisture

graph of % H2O vs Rel. Humidity