Forage expert cites production, ranching strategies

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

November 14, 2002 -- Once pastures dry out in South Central Texas, producers will be deciding what types of forage to plant for the coming winter and spring.

According to Dr. David Bade, professor and Extension forage specialist from Texas A&M University, that will be a critical decision.

"Any of you who've heard me speak, before, know that I'm a believer in having a forage system plan out there that has forage in the growing stage or hay stage 365 days a year," Bade told the producers attending the recent South Central Texas Cow and Calf Clinic in Brenham.

He believes the better job producers do with forage and pasture management, the better cows they will produce, since the quality of the forage plays a big part, along with the animal genetics, in successful ranching.

Bade went on to discuss the various types of Bermudagrasses and the different ways of planting them. The Bermudagrass comes in either seeded or non-seeded varieties, and has proven to be a good grass for this part of Texas.

"The Coastal bermudagrass has been around since the 1950s in Texas. It was first produced in 1943, and has been around a long time, because of the good characteristics it has," explained Bade.

It is more productive on sandy soil than clay, but the quality isn't as good as some of the newer varieties.

"As you're looking at some of the seeded bermudagrass varieties, keep in mind that all of those are selections out of Common bermudagrass," he added.

While it may be easier to plant the seeded grass, care must be taken not to plant it too deeply, the forage specialist said.

Other methods of producing forage involve planting tops or sprigs, rather than small seeds. Bade's two favorites are Tifton 85 and Jiggs bermudagrass. "Both of them are planted by tops and the Tifton 85 can also be planted by sprigs ... both of them are suited for sand and, also, for clay soil types."

In comparing the two, Bade said the Jiggs is easier to start and does better in the heavy, wet clay soils than the Tifton 85. The Jiggs is not as drought resistant, though, and the Tifton 85 yields more than the Coastal bermudagrass, and is a lot higher in quality, too.

Other Coastal bermudagrass varieties mentioned included African Star, World Feeder and Russell. According to literature presented at the recent clinic, these newer selections are becoming popular, yet studies are still being done to evaluate the adaptability and production, compared to regular Coastal bermudagrass.

Bade explained to the crowd that soil testing and preparation is a number one priority, before planting new grass, hay grazers, or clover.

Another subject Bade touched on was hay grazer production.

"Two things that are happening there. One is a photo-period sensitive variety. What that means is it doesn't produce the seedhead until the day length gets short ... like in the fall of the year. It will grow all summer long, producing leaves and not a seedhead. This gives us a bigger window to cut hay or graze from these varieties," said Bade.

"The other thing is what they call a ground midriff variety. It is higher in energy. A lot of increase in animal gain on those, and, once again, a good yield. Then, they combine the two, so now we have ground midriff photo sensitive varieties."

Studies have shown cows will eat the ground midriff forage before any other, said Bade.

As far as cool-season forages, Bade said he still didn't have a variety that he would recommend, but wished he did.

He did mention several varieties of clover that he would recommend for producers. They included Armadillo Burr Medic, for late winter and early spring, and Little Burr Medic. Arrowleaf clover is well suited for sandy, well-drained soil, too, and the R18 does well in low pH soils, while the Ball clover reseeds itself.

"You don't have to have a solid stand to do you a lot of good," he explained.

Finally, Bade talked about grazing management and the importance of it to producers.

"As we look at the new grazing systems, one of the problems I see people do is they try to increase their stocking rate before that grass has responded to that grazing management. They get their stocking rate ahead of their grass. You have to keep that supply grass ahead of your stocking rate," he said.

In closing, Bade said producers need to rotate the cattle according to the grass ... not the pasture ... to utilize what forage they are growing, and suggested feeding the cattle according to the age and nutritional needs of the individual cows.