Balancing harvest efficiency and economics of grazing fall forage cover crops.

View the project final report

Commodities

• Agronomic: oats, rapeseed, turnips
• Animals: bovine

Practices

• Animal Production: grazing management
• Crop Production: cover crops
• Education and Training: on-farm/ranch research
• Production Systems: integrated crop and livestock systems

Annual forages/cover crops can be used to fill the grazing gap in between perennial pasture in the fall and start of corn residue grazing. Currently, small cereal grains, warm season grasses, and brassicas are all commonly planted in the summer for fall/winter grazing. The cool season species (small cereals and brassicas) typically produce less forage than the warm seasons but are higher in quality. Grazing management is a key component that impacts the profitability of grazing these annual forages. Strip grazing can increase forage utilization by allocating animals to a smaller portion of a larger paddock for relatively short times. When compared to continuous grazing, strip grazing has been shown to result in greater harvest efficiency and thus allowing more grazing from the same acres in perennial grass systems. However, this usually comes at the cost of reduced forage selectivity and thus reduced individual performance, such as reduced average daily gain for growing calves. There is also an increase in labor needed to move fence with strip grazing. Thus, a series of on-farm experiments were conducted over two growing seasons (2020 and 2021) in Nebraska to evaluate the effects of strip grazing on cattle performance when utilizing various annual forage resources during the late fall and winter. Strip grazing increased carrying capacity by an average of 47 ± 15% and gain per acre by 44 ± 5% compared to continuous grazing though significant variability in the amount of increase was observed. This variability can likely be attributed to forage type (quality), frequency of moves, and forage allowance. Overall, strip grazing can be a valuable tool to increase carrying capacity when grazing summer planted cover crops during the fall and winter.

1. Demonstrate establishment practices in a cropping system for fall grazing forage cover crops and techniques to increase harvest efficiency. 
2. Collect and evaluate forage and animal performance data on replicated, partnering producer sites to measure the impact of stocking density on fall grazed forage cover crops. 
3. Educate producers, industry, and peers about optimal establishment and utilization of forage cover crops with field days, cooperating producer demonstration sites, social and traditional media outreach, professional publications and presentations.