Agriculture
I'm sure some of you all are already feeding hay to your livestock now that the summer has turned unusually hot and dry. Here are a few things to consider, read over, etc.
We will have a followup pasture walk of the warm-season forages planted May 2009 to show establishment differences and how these warm-season grasses can add to your summer grazing program - we'll announce a date soon.
Dr Chris Teutsch, Extension Forage Specialist, located in Blackstone, has posted some info and links to publications that may be of some help you to your grazing issues in the future. Here's that info from Chris:
As dry condition persist in many parts of Virginia, annual forages could play an important role in providing grazing this fall and next spring. I have attached the results from this and last year's annual ryegrass variety trials and a management guide for annual ryegrass.
Small grains could also be used for late fall and spring grazing. Please see links below:
Growing Small grains for Forages
Virginia Small Grain Forage Variety Testing Report: Long-Term Summary
Small Grain Forage Variety Testing, 2009
One additional option is brassicas. I have not done any work with brassicas in Virginia, but Penn State has an excellent publication that would be applicable to VA: Brassicas for extending grazing
Lastly, if you need to purchase hay, the latest Hay Clearinghouse report from VDACS Market News folks was just posted this week - here's the link to that report: http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/marketnews/pdffiles/hay.pdf .
One more thing: our 5th Annual NRV Ag Field Day will be Tuesday the 17th at VT's Kentland Farm outside of Blacksburg. Registration at 8am, sessions begin at 9am. $10 per person mainly to cover the meal. Two general sessions in the morning and a livestock track and a horticulture track of several sessions in the afternoon. We'll post a PDF copy of brochure and registration form on our office's website this week. Watch for followup announcement.
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