Building A Better Pasture & Hay Fertility Program

Jaynie Norman • Feb 24, 2021

By Dennis Brown of Byron Seed

As the title suggests we need to look at our forage fertility as a program. The definition of a program is “a planned, coordinated group of procedures for a specific purpose.” Our purpose is to get the most kilocalories per acre. This includes forage quality and yield. Producers wonder why does the nutrient levels of their pasture and hay ground appear to be so lacking, when fertilizer is being spread and/or manure is constantly being applied or (deposited) there? This is a common question from those growers who have soil tests pulled on their pasture and hay ground. For the ones that don’t have soil test they are not sure why the yield is not there, why the cows won’t milk, or why the stock just won’t eat the hay or grass as well. How many producers assume that due to stocking rates they will have adequate fertility because of all the manure being deposited on their pasture and all the money spent on fertilizers on hay acres? And how many livestock producers spend large sums of money to purchase excellent animals and then put them on pastures or feed hay that receive an occasional fertilizer top-dressing, and expect it to suffice for maintaining top herd health and excellent pasture fertility. Cattle will utilize minerals from forages up to 30% more efficiently than free choice fed minerals. Unfortunately, it seems that so many who have livestock on pasture, incorrectly make this type of assumption. There are those who have successfully accomplished growing grass this way, to point and, consequently, too many consider that testing pasture and hay fertility levels is completely unnecessary. But there are times and circumstances when a high price must be paid for thinking like that. It can ultimately result in costly losses in terms of plant and animal health, and even needlessly limit potential forage production. Most pasture and hay soils treated this way will never come close to attaining their top production potential, especially the improved forage genetics that Byron provides. The forages are only as good as your soils. Same as your cows are only as good as your feeding program. Most soils need more than N-P-K.

N-P-K should be added in sufficient amounts if required, but not at the expense of neglecting other required nutrients for top performance such as Calcium, Boron, Sulfur, and Zinc. Furthermore, the two nutrients most affected by manure in terms of an increase in soil fertility levels are phosphorous and potassium. Nitrogen is harder to measure because of the leaching effect and microbial tie up in the organic matter of the soil. In other words, two of the three macro nutrients most often supplied as fertilizer are the most likely nutrients to be supplied from manure. The producer needs to be careful not to over apply manures or over apply P and K in any form.

Excess nutrients can have just as a negative affect as a deficiencies of nutrients. Our goal is to have a balance of nutrients in the soil. However, we should keep in mind: because manure that is produced on pastures that are already lacking one or more of these needed nutrient will likely also be short when it comes to supplying hose same nutrients. On dairy farms calcium is the #1 nutrient that lacking, this is due to milk has a percentage of calcium per volume and it leaves the farm daily. Such deficiencies occur in far more forage acres than most producers seem to suspect.

Many producers are not comfortable enough to make fertility recommendations with or without a soil test. Here is a general rule of thumb on making recommendations if you know how much nutrients are removed with each ton of forage. With this knowledge you can recommend enough nutrients to replenish what was removed or the nutrients needed to start a new seeding.

Soil fertility is just a piece of the puzzle. Mother Nature has a larger hand in forage production than what we do. But if she decides to play nice and have favored on us, these levels will give you the optimum forage. Although if we can keep the fertility levels adequate it will help the forages go through stressful situations and will greatly increase the total persistence of the forage stands.

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Jaynie Norman

Bill would label livestock rivals as ‘imitation’ or ‘lab-grown’ meat

By Jaynie Norman • 01 Feb, 2024

By Chuck Abbott Successful Farming With U.S. approval of cultivated chicken grown in fermentation vats, farm-state lawmakers filed companion bills in the House and Senate on Tuesday to require alternative proteins, such as plant-based foods, to carry the words “imitation” or “lab-grown” on their labels. Sponsors said they wanted to prevent confusion in the supermarket between “real farm-raised meat” and its rivals. Plant-based meats accounted for 2.5% of retail packaged meat sales in 2022, according to the Good Food Institute, a think tank and network of organizations “working to accelerate alternative protein innovation.” Only a trickle of cultivated chicken is on the U.S. market at present. Upside Foods said last September it would build a commercial-scale plant to produce cell-cultured meat products in suburban Chicago. The USDA is working on label regulations for cultivated meat. In the interim, it decided Upside Foods and Good Meat, which were cleared last summer by USDA to sell cultivated meat to consumers, would label their products as cell-cultivated chicken. “The American consumer deserves to know what they are eating and feeding their family,” said sponsor Rep. Mark Alford, Missouri Republican. “It’s only fair that all products are labeled fairly.” Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall said, “Distinguishing between a black-bean burger and an actual beef burger shouldn’t be hard.” Under the legislation, foods made with plant protein and that are sold with a name associated with products from a food-bearing animal or that are created to taste or look like them would be required to carry the word “imitation” on the label or a word to show the source of the protein. “Meatless chicken tenders” would be one possibility, according to a summary of the bill. Similarly, labels for cultivated meat would include “cell-cultured” or “lab-grown” immediately adjacent to the name of the food. The bill was backed by the largest groups speaking for cattle, hog, sheep, and chicken producers, the American Farm Bureau Federation, and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. Livestock producers have argued for years for restrictive labels to prevent alternative proteins from using names associated with animals. A one-page summary of the bill is available here . To read the text of the legislation, click here .

Prevention and Treatment of Tick Bites

By Jaynie Norman • 23 May, 2023

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Livestock and Animal Antibiotic Changes are Coming Soon

By Jaynie Norman • 12 Jan, 2023

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced in June 2021 that all medically important antimicrobials for food-producing animals and pets will move from over-the-counter (OTC) to prescription (Rx) effective June 2023 . A prescription is already required for most antibiotics delivered to livestock, and the remaining three categories of injectable antibiotics available over-the-counter will soon be joining the list of medically important antimicrobials that require a veterinarian’s prescription. To add to the stress of raising livestock, now things will change again which is going to influence the ag industry overall. I hope that this list of medications will give people a chance to read it and become familiar with the situation before the change comes in June of 2023. Changes Coming are as follow: In 2018, the FDA established a 5 year plan for supporting antimicrobial supervision by veterinarians. The plans purpose to address antimicrobial resistance using only medically necessary drugs as necessary to prevent, treat and control disease. It has to be determined by a licensed veterinarian if it is necessary, but you won’t have to order the prescriptions from the vet directly. You will, however, need to establish a Veterinary-Client-Patient Relationship (VCPR) if certain animals are not examined regularly. Popular Products Will Require Prescriptions Following a recent penicillin shortage, soon producers will get hit with this change that once again impacts access to antibiotic therapy for animals. When you’ve used them for so long as OTC meds to treat pneumonia or shipping fever in your livestock, Now, the change will be to establish the relationship with your veterinarian to get the prescriptions for these meds. Here is the list by active ingredients. The following are some products that will be seeing label changes to prescription-only status: Oxytetracyclines Injectables: Liquamycin LA-200, Noromycin 300 LA, Bio-Mycin 200, Agrimycin 200, etc. Boluses: Terramycin Scours Tablets, OXY 500 Calf Boluses Penicillins (Penicillin G procaine, penicillin G benzathine) Injectables: Penicillin Injectable, Dura-Pen, Pro-Pen-G, Combi-Pen 48, etc. Intramammary tubes: Masti-Clear, Go-dry, Albadry Plus Sulfa-based antibiotics (Sulfadimethoxine, sulfamethazine) Injectables: Di-Methox 40%, SulfMed 40% Boluses: Albon, Sustain III Cattle & Calf Boluses, Supra Sulfa III Cattle & Calf Boluses Tylosin Injectables: Tylan 50, Tylan 200 Cephapirin, cephapirin benzathine Intramammary tubes: ToDAY and ToMORROW Additionally, several swine medications fall under the new guidance: Lincomycin Injectables: Lincomix 100, Lincomix 300, LincoMed 100, LincoMed 300 Gentamicin Injectables: Garasol, Gentamicin Piglet Injection ToDay Mastitis Treatment for Lactating C ows