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Why Use Native Grasses in Fescue Belt Grazing Systems? Working - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Why Use Native Grasses in Fescue Belt Grazing Systems? Working - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Why Use Native Grasses in Fescue Belt Grazing Systems? Working Lands for Wildlife Workshop Southern Indiana Purdue Ag Center June 20, 2019 Patrick Keyser Center for Native Grasslands Management UT Beef and Forage Center Putting It in
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2011 2016
Repeated Severe Droughts
Five out of ten years have been extreme or exceptional droughts in major parts of the TFB…
2008 2012 2007
32,000 lost operations, 2007-2012 alone!
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Decadal Oscillation
– Why Do They Just Keep Coming?
Atlantic Pacific
Brian Bledsoe, Southern Livestock Standard Meteorologist. Presentation at the 71st Southern Pasture and Forage Crop Improvement Conference Knoxville, TN, June 5, 2017.
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Drought… The Gift that Keeps on Giving!
Jessamine Co, KY Aug 2008
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15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Top 25% 2nd 25% 3rd 25% Low
Acres per Cow Performance Quartile
Acres per Cow
What About the Bottom Line?
Courtesy, Dr. Jason Johnson, Texas A&M Extension Ag Econ
NCBA’s Standard Performance Analysis
Data from 475 herds over 15 years
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6.60% 2.30%
- 2.00%
- 7.40%
- 10.00%
- 8.00%
- 6.00%
- 4.00%
- 2.00%
0.00% 2.00% 4.00% 6.00% 8.00% 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Top 25% 2nd 25% 3rd 25% Low
Return on Assets Acres per Cow Performance Quartile
Acres per Cow % ROA
The Bottom Line…
Courtesy, Dr. Jason Johnson, Texas A&M Extension Ag Econ
Data from 475 herds over 15 years
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Summer Forage Slump
Even without these droughts, we should complement CSG-dominated systems with WSG
Reduced:
- quantity
- quality
- intake
- performance
- pasture damage
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Fescue Toxicosis
Well-documented penalty during summer, reduced:
- calving rate (92% vs. <70%)
- weaning weight (570# vs. 525#)
- ADG (1.2 vs. 0.8 lb/day for steers )
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Interest in Improving Summer Forage
(In April, After Average to Wet Summer, 2010)
5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Not Somewhat Interested Very Respondents (%)
1,620 TN beef producers (20-499 head; 80% of TN farms); Margin of error = 1.81%
- P. Keyser, Univ. TN, unpublished data
22% 31%
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Are Native Grasses a Viable Option?
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Going “Old School”
What Was here, “Back in the Day”?
45⁰ N
Tieszen et al. 1997. Ecol. Applic.
C4 = warm-season grasses C3 = cool-season grasses 38⁰ 27’ N
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What Would an Ideal Summer Forage Look Like?
Ideally, summer forages should offer:
– Exceptional drought resiliency – High yields – Strong animal performance – Long stand life (perennials) – Cost-effective production – No toxins
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C4 Photosynthesis = Green Grass
July 12, 2018, Linn Co., MO; D2/D3 Drought
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Exceptional Drought Tolerance
2 4 6 8 10 12 2006 2007 2008 2009
Dry Matter Yield (T/ac)
Courtesy Dr. Don Tyler, Univ. TN
65% of 4-year average
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Deep Roots = Soil Health
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Soil Health: Improved Water Infiltration
Less: erosion, runoff, nutrient loss More: water stored within the soil
0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 Bigblue Alamo Gama Fescue
Hydraulic Conductivity (Kfs cm/s)
ab a bc c
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High Yields
Gene Olson et al. 2009. University of Kentucky Extension
TN preliminary (3-yr) yields: 5.6 T/ac for BB, 4.4 T/ac for IG
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Forage ADG (lb/hd) Gain (lb/ac) Switchgrass 1.74 435 Big blue/Indian 2.11 368 Eastern gamagrass 1.06 247
Animal Performance
(Steers) 2010-2012
93 – 115 days grazing per year ; 600 lb starting wt
Backus et al., 2017 Journal of Animal Science, 95:3143-3153
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Long-lived Perennial...
- 21-year old stand of
switchgrass
- managed with:
– no fertilizer – no spraying – rotational grazing – spring fire (every 1-3 yrs)
July 19, 3 PM, 90⁰
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Cost of Gain ($ per lb) for Grazing Heifers
$0.00 $0.10 $0.20 $0.30 $0.40 $0.50 Big bluestem/indiangrass Switchgrass
Keyser et al. 2016. Agronomy Journal 108:373–383
Heifer development:
- most expensive aspect of production
- mainly feed cost (75%) for 30+ months w/o any return
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Spring-Calving Herd Cow Pregnancy Rates
With and Without Non-toxic Summer Forage
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 E+E+ E+Other OtherOther
- M. Burns, Clemson Univ., PhD dissertation, 2012.
Weaning Weights
- 31 lb (steer & heifer)
- 32.7%
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What Would an Ideal Summer Forage Look Like?
Ideally, summer forages should offer:
– Exceptional drought resiliency – High yields – Strong animal performance – Long stand life (perennials) – Cost-effective production – No toxins
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Complementing Cool-season System with Warm-season Grasses =
Orange Co., NC, June 10, 2014
Improved:
– condition of CSG pastures (rest) – besides clovers, best thing we can do to improve fescue management? – opportunities for stockpiling – reduced hay feeding costs/improved profitability? – resilience to fescue toxicosis (increased pregnancy retention, birth/weaning weights)
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Complementing Cool-season System with Warm-season Grasses =
Orange Co., NC, June 10, 2014
Improved:
– backgrounding retained steers (fall calving herds) – heifer development (post-weaning and post-breeding) – drought resiliency for cows Still need data on impacts to repro side (spring and fall calving herds): – improved calving rates? – improved weaning weights?
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Native Grass College
http://nativegrasses.utk.edu/curricula.htm
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