Air June 21 - 27, 2006

Double Cropping?

This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I’m Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. With wheat getting harvested at what will probably be a record early finish, there may be quite a few producers thinking about double cropping into that wheat stubble. Both soybeans and milo can be considered for double cropping and with this being as early in the season as we are, it might be reasonable to consider. In general, you will want to have enough soil moisture to make sure that the crop will at least germinate and get established. For some fields, that may kill the idea right now UNLESS you are optimistic enough to think that it’s going to turn off wet as we move through the summer. I don’t know that I am that optimistic, but you may be. Make sure that you are planting into a weed free environment. For a burn down treatment, I wouldn’t use anything other than straight glyphosate. Do not use 2,4-D unless you are willing to wait at least 7 days after application before planting and that’s 7 days for every pint of 2,4-D you apply. If you are using Roundup Ready soybeans you can plant first, but don’t waste much time in getting that glyphosate applied. Weeds use water that a soybean seedling could sure use! I would keep seeding rates low to help keep costs down. That means about 60,000 seeds per acre on soybeans and about 35,000 to 40,000 seeds pers acre on milo. If we do get moisture as needed, that will give you more than enough plants to make sure you get a harvestable crop. And if it doesn’t rain - that’s just that much less money that you are going to be out. As for fertilizer on the grain sorghum - let’s wait and see what happens. This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I’m Chuck Otte.

Small Grain Cereals as forage crops

This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I’m Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. With hay crops already coming in short this year, and extended forecasts for below normal precipitation, livestock producers may be considering alternative forages for hay crops. While many of you may be looking at sudans or forage sorghums, don’t overlook the possibility of using the cereal grains as a forage crop. Wheat, barley, rye, oats and triticale can all be planted in mid summer for utilization in later summer to early autumn. Many producers are hesitant to use rye or triticale for fear of contamination of future wheat crops, but with proper sanitation, crop rotations and the ability to plant glyphosate resistant crops, this shouldn’t be an issue. Any of these cereal crops can be used for hay, silage or pasture. If you are interested in making a hay crop, then look to wheat, barley or oats. These all make the best quality hay and if harvested in the mid to late boot stage you will garner good protein contents and the awns of the wheat or barley won’t be well enough developed to be a problem. All can make excellent silage - probably the highest feeding value of any of the forms of using these as forages. Make sure to harvest at the proper moisture content to make good silage. Interestingly, if you harvest these as silages in the late milk to dough stage, they can rival and even beat the protein level of corn and sorghum silages. Finally, small grain pasture is often not utilized in our area. Plant that grain crop early, especially triticale or rye, and by late August or early September you can have extremely high quality pasture for cattle that you may want to pull of grass, or to get a little extra gain on some yearlings. Cereals, they aren’t just for grain production! This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I’m Chuck Otte.

Cattle management in hot dry weather

This is Ag Outlook 2006 on 1420 KJCK, I’m Chuck Otte, Geary County, K-State Research and Extension Ag & Natural Resources Agent. If this heat and especially dry weather continues, pasture grass could be in short supply come August and September. As a cattle producer, you need to be making plans now about what to do then. Waiting until the pasture is bare before you think about it, is asking for a train wreck. What do you have for harvested forages? Can you supplement them in the pastures or are you already worried about having enough hay to get through winter? Can you cull the cow herd in July and August to start reducing stocking rates now? How about setting up some creep feeding for the calves? This is a good way to improve some gain on those young cattle and take some of the strain off their mothers and reduce the forage needs of the cow herd a little. You can also consider early weaning. Get the calves off the cows and out of the pasture completely. Keep an eye on the market - you may have some real profit potentials with selling during some of the non traditional marketing periods. Everybody is taking calves to market in October, so what happens if you take yours in during August? Consider using grain crops for emergency forage. Soybeans, corn and sorghum can all be used of emergency grazing and in a drought year may be a far more profitable use of those plants. Regardless of what you do, always make sure that you are providing an adequate supply of fresh water and if preparing to utilize a drought stressed crop, let’s also have some discussions about potentials for prussic acid in sorghums and nitrate risks in any crop. This has been Ag Outlook 2006 on the Talk of JC, 1420 KJCK, I’m Chuck Otte.
 

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