A SPRING FORAGE OPTION
by Elam Fisher, Byron Seed Plot Manager
This past year has left us with thousands of bare acres that would normally be all set to produce thousands
of tons of high quality forage next spring, which will be sadly missed.
But we have options.
Farmers are getting ready for that sweet spot in early spring to plant spring annuals . They know that early
plantings of oats, spring triticale, and spring barley always gives them a huge advantage over later planted.
This should give our farmers another big boost in the feed supply.
If we can get it planted.
But what if we have another wet spring? Another spring of sitting around watching the sun shine on fields
that are too wet to plant? And how many acres will we be able to plant in those short early windows?
What if we were able to go out on our fields when they are still frozen, no worries about compaction, and
plant when we have little else to do? What if all you need is a fertilizer spreader or boom truck that can
cover hundreds of acres a day? What if you could raise four to five tons of top quality haylage like this?
What if your biggest problem was utilizing all that dry matter that you raised, because it was just too easy
to plant?
Enter annual ryegrass.
A little known fact about annual ryegrass is that it frost-seeds. And it frost-seeds very well. In fact, some
people claim it is even more reliable to frost seed than red clover. Some cover croppers have been doing it
for years, with very good success. Give an annual ryegrass seed water, and it sprouts. People have seen it
sprout suspended above water. Annual rye grass is determined to survive. And make forage – tons of it.
My first introduction to ARG was back when Byron first started handling seed from the KB people. My
father and I went to this meeting where a guy was talking about annual ryegrass. We hadn’t been able to get
our rye crop planted the fall before. The speaker, Wayne Kizer, mentioned the fact that annual ryegrass
frost- seeds very well. I could almost see the wheels start spinning in Dad’s head, and the next morning we
were out there spinning annual ryegrass seed on the snow, in mid February. We had a wet spring that year,
and by the time we could plant corn in that field, (late May) we had a thick, tall stand of annual ryegrass out
there.
Fast-forward to spring of 2019
I had total winter-kill of my annual ryegrass yield trial plot, and
I didn’t feel like leaving that entire plot bare all spring. In late February, I broadcasted a mix of clovers,
some spring peas, and mostly ARG, in part of the plot.
The clovers were too slow to do much, but the annual ryegrass did very well, once we finally had some
warm weather. By the time the winter triticale (planted the fall before) was ready to harvest on May 20, the
frost seeded annual ryegrass was at boot stage, and we took off about 1.5 tons of high quality dry matter.
This would be about
4.25 tons of 65% moisture haylage – from ground that would have otherwise been bare.
On the first of April, it was almost dry enough to plant something, but rain was coming again, so I mudded
in a mix of oats and peas right beside the frost seeded annual ryegrass. The picture below was taken on
May 13th, with the ARG on the right, and drilled mix on the upper left. As you can see, the frost seeded
grass had a huge head start on the drilled oats.
Interestingly, I hadn’t fertilized the ARG, as I hadn’t really expected taking off a forage crop. Add the
typical ROI from fertilizer on annual ryegrass, and the picture just keeps getting better!
I see annual ryegrass almost as the vice grips or pliers in the farmer’s back pocket. Maybe not the best tool
if you have wrenches handy, but it sure has gotten me out of a lot of trouble.
I assume Italian ryegrass would also work, but I would expect it to vernalize, and you still wouldn’t be able
to take multiple cuttings. I would still plan to drill small grains on the acres that I think I would be able to
slip into that early window, as you will get more yield out of early small grains. But I always hate seeing
the sunshine going to waste in the time it takes to dry out those bare fields, when I could have something
growing there. Especially if it’s this easy.
Another limiting factor I see is the odd year that we have that early, hot, dry spring, which would be a
challenge for any spring annual forage crop. Early will be critical. However, we have seen people fly on
ARG in April before a rain, with excellent success.
Byron Seeds has tried most of the ARG varieties that the industry has to offer. We know the different
maturities and we know the top digestible energy yielders in the industry. We keep the best ones for our
customers.
Spread your workload. Spread your risk. Spread some annual ryegrass seed. As you well know, the
ROI on bare fields is negative. What if the farmer’s biggest problem this spring is that he has more grass
than he can utilize, because it was just too ridiculously easy to plant? He can always feed it to his corn
crop!
Forage shortage? What forage shortage? Byron’s customers don’t (need to) have a forage shortage.
by Elam Fisher, Byron Seed Plot Manager
This past year has left us with thousands of bare acres that would normally be all set to produce thousands
of tons of high quality forage next spring, which will be sadly missed.
But we have options.
Farmers are getting ready for that sweet spot in early spring to plant spring annuals . They know that early
plantings of oats, spring triticale, and spring barley always gives them a huge advantage over later planted.
This should give our farmers another big boost in the feed supply.
If we can get it planted.
But what if we have another wet spring? Another spring of sitting around watching the sun shine on fields
that are too wet to plant? And how many acres will we be able to plant in those short early windows?
What if we were able to go out on our fields when they are still frozen, no worries about compaction, and
plant when we have little else to do? What if all you need is a fertilizer spreader or boom truck that can
cover hundreds of acres a day? What if you could raise four to five tons of top quality haylage like this?
What if your biggest problem was utilizing all that dry matter that you raised, because it was just too easy
to plant?
Enter annual ryegrass.
A little known fact about annual ryegrass is that it frost-seeds. And it frost-seeds very well. In fact, some
people claim it is even more reliable to frost seed than red clover. Some cover croppers have been doing it
for years, with very good success. Give an annual ryegrass seed water, and it sprouts. People have seen it
sprout suspended above water. Annual rye grass is determined to survive. And make forage – tons of it.
My first introduction to ARG was back when Byron first started handling seed from the KB people. My
father and I went to this meeting where a guy was talking about annual ryegrass. We hadn’t been able to get
our rye crop planted the fall before. The speaker, Wayne Kizer, mentioned the fact that annual ryegrass
frost- seeds very well. I could almost see the wheels start spinning in Dad’s head, and the next morning we
were out there spinning annual ryegrass seed on the snow, in mid February. We had a wet spring that year,
and by the time we could plant corn in that field, (late May) we had a thick, tall stand of annual ryegrass out
there.
Fast-forward to spring of 2019
I had total winter-kill of my annual ryegrass yield trial plot, and
I didn’t feel like leaving that entire plot bare all spring. In late February, I broadcasted a mix of clovers,
some spring peas, and mostly ARG, in part of the plot.
The clovers were too slow to do much, but the annual ryegrass did very well, once we finally had some
warm weather. By the time the winter triticale (planted the fall before) was ready to harvest on May 20, the
frost seeded annual ryegrass was at boot stage, and we took off about 1.5 tons of high quality dry matter.
This would be about
4.25 tons of 65% moisture haylage – from ground that would have otherwise been bare.
On the first of April, it was almost dry enough to plant something, but rain was coming again, so I mudded
in a mix of oats and peas right beside the frost seeded annual ryegrass. The picture below was taken on
May 13th, with the ARG on the right, and drilled mix on the upper left. As you can see, the frost seeded
grass had a huge head start on the drilled oats.
Interestingly, I hadn’t fertilized the ARG, as I hadn’t really expected taking off a forage crop. Add the
typical ROI from fertilizer on annual ryegrass, and the picture just keeps getting better!
I see annual ryegrass almost as the vice grips or pliers in the farmer’s back pocket. Maybe not the best tool
if you have wrenches handy, but it sure has gotten me out of a lot of trouble.
I assume Italian ryegrass would also work, but I would expect it to vernalize, and you still wouldn’t be able
to take multiple cuttings. I would still plan to drill small grains on the acres that I think I would be able to
slip into that early window, as you will get more yield out of early small grains. But I always hate seeing
the sunshine going to waste in the time it takes to dry out those bare fields, when I could have something
growing there. Especially if it’s this easy.
Another limiting factor I see is the odd year that we have that early, hot, dry spring, which would be a
challenge for any spring annual forage crop. Early will be critical. However, we have seen people fly on
ARG in April before a rain, with excellent success.
Byron Seeds has tried most of the ARG varieties that the industry has to offer. We know the different
maturities and we know the top digestible energy yielders in the industry. We keep the best ones for our
customers.
Spread your workload. Spread your risk. Spread some annual ryegrass seed. As you well know, the
ROI on bare fields is negative. What if the farmer’s biggest problem this spring is that he has more grass
than he can utilize, because it was just too ridiculously easy to plant? He can always feed it to his corn
crop!
Forage shortage? What forage shortage? Byron’s customers don’t (need to) have a forage shortage.
