|
The summer drought of 2006 has been tough on all livestock producers, including goat farmers. The drought situation resulted in limited forage availability and then limited sources of hay.
With limited forages for grazing, most producers have been feeding hay since midsummer. Hay farmers struggled to get one cutting in June after a wet spring; then thanks to a few showers some of them were able to get a second cutting in September. Fall is here and now farmers realize their pastures do not have adequate forages remaining for grazing into the winter. They must now decide what can be planted to provide supplemental grazing.
Establishing supplemental winter grazing requires pastures that can remain fallow, or ungrazed, until seeds can become well established as forages. Allowing animals to graze immature stands of winter forages will result in loss of potential winter grazing. Given the opportunity, animals will selectively graze the tender young vegetation, pulling it up roots and all, and efforts to establish winter grazing will have been wasted.
Prior to planting winter forages make sure there are pastures that can remain fallow until forages are well established and developed.
Prior to determining the type of winter forages to be planted there needs to be an understanding that there are two categories of forages – there are grasses and there are legumes. Legumes tend to be higher in protein and are beneficial to soils. The reason they are beneficial to soils (without going into detail) is they help “fix” nitrogen back into the soil. Anything that puts nitrogen into the soil is good for the soil and other forages. There is no best choice when deciding whether to plant winter grasses, legumes, or both; each offers quality grazing during the winter season.
Cool season grasses that should do well during winter months include the following: barley, Kentucky Bluegrass, oats, orchardgrass, rye, ryegrass, Timothy, and wheat. There are clovers that can be planted, but goats will not graze clovers unless they are the only forage available. Keep in mind that during the coldest times of winter most of these grasses will not readily grow and offer limited availability for grazing; during subfreezing temperatures they tend to remain dormant.
All these winter forages offer high nutritional value, which can be important when pregnant nannies are grazing on these high quality forages.
Some cools season legumes that should do well during winter months include the following: Crownvetch, Blue Lupine, Common Vetch, and Hairy Vetch. All these legumes are high quality forages. Legumes offer an additional benefit; they tend to be high in tannins. Based on studies, tannins have been shown to reduce the impact of parasites in ruminants. Keep in mind, during the coldest times of winter most of these legumes will become dormant and offer limited grazing capacity. Legumes offer dual benefits including high nutritional value and tannins that limit the survivability of parasites, both of which are beneficial to pregnant nannies that need the extra nutrients and are more susceptible to the effects of a heavy parasite burden.
As managers of pastures and grazing, it is important to understand subfreezing temperatures will result in limited ability of winter grasses and legumes. The colder temperatures limit the ability for forages to regenerate growth, so it becomes important to control or limit access to winter forages.
This may require grazing management practices such as rotational grazing, or insuring adequate grazing area for continued grazing. A surplus of grazing area will minimize the need for supplemental feeding of hay and grain. Providing goats with a greater variety of forages during the winter months will make for more hearty animals and a lower feed bill.
Rather than delving into requirements for establishing winter forages, I will defer to your local Quality Co-op or other feed and seed stores. There are also Cooperative Extension publications which provide specifics on a variety of information including preferred soil types, seeding rates, planting depths, etc. Whether searching the Cooperative Extension website or visiting the local Extension Office the following publications will provide detailed information: ANR-150, ANR-149, and ANR 227. Feel free to contact your local Extension office for additional help.
Robert Spencer is the Urban Regional Extension Specialist for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System with the Urban Affairs and New Nontraditional Programs Unit & The Urban Centers in North Alabama. |
