Fall Forage Tips Damon Pollard, Extension Agent, Livestock
August and September are a good time to accomplish fall pasture maintenance. With fall arriving, now is the time to apply lime and fertilizer to pastures and hayfields planted in cool season grasses. Cool season grasses make their peak growth in the cooler weather of spring and fall, and any fertilizer applied in spring is long gone. Additional nitrogen now will increase growth for fall grazing.
If you have fields planted to summer annuals like Sudex or Pearl Millet, they can be over seeded with winter annuals as well to provide winter grazing. For cattle, and small ruminants, you can utilize oats, wheat, rye or ryegrass. Rye is the highest yielding choice. For horses, the best choices are oats and ryegrass. Oats will produce heavy spring yields and horses love them. Ryegrass is a good choice for both spring and fall grazing, as it will produce more fall forage and a heavier spring yield than any other winter annual suitable for horses. If managed properly, it will provide grazing throughout the winter, cutting down on the grain requirement.
The most expensive forage for livestock is hay. By investing in fertilizer and seed now, you can reduce hay needs for this winter.
Fall Planting is Ideal Matt Rodriguez, Extension Agent, Horticulture
Fall is a great time for many things. Hiking, biking, birding, and of course yard work and gardening. Fall is ideal for planting trees and certain flower bulbs. Timing your fall garden can ensure a bountiful harvest of cool season and other root vegetables. Cooler temperatures sound nice, but it can bring about problematic conditions for our lawns, especially if paired with rainy weather.
Fall Tree Planting
The main benefit to planting in the fall is to allow time for the tree to establish and increase its chance to survive the heat of the summer. Essentially it’s given a less stressful time to become accustomed to its new place. The first step is to assess where the tree is going to go. As always Right Plant; Right Place. The tree will need proper drainage and adequate sun exposure.
Foot Rot in Beef Cattle Damon Pollard, Extension Agent, Livestock
In recent weeks, several producers have called with questions about treating foot rot in beef cattle. Those calls, in turn brought up questions about the cause and treatment, and in general, why am I having it in my herd?
Foot rot is an infectious disease in cattle that results in swelling, and varying degrees of lameness in cattle. It is a painful condition that results in difficulty walking and getting up and down and if left untreated can be quite costly to the cattle producer.
The causative bacterium of foot rot is Fusobacterium necrophorum, however other bacterial agents seem to contribute as well. These bacteria cannot penetrate healthy intact skin so they invade the interdigital (between the toes) through continually wet skin or through abrasions from rocks, stubble or frozen or dried mud that cattle are exposed to.
Foot rot can occur anytime of year but is usually more prevalent when pastures are wet or muddy. Periods of high moisture tend to create favorable conditions for foot rot occurrence. All ages are vulnerable, but it occurs most commonly in cattle that are weaning age or older. Infection rate can vary from a few animals in the herd, up to 25% of the herd affected.
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