June 6, 2002

Annual Forages Could Relieve Short Hay Crop

Threat of a short hay crop in parts of North Dakota could make seeding annual forages important this year, especially if June stays dry, according to North Dakota State University crop specialists.

Continued drought in Montana and Saskatchewan could result in a high demand for hay this fall. Even if Conservation Reserve Program land is released for haying, good quality hay could be short, and raising a high quality annual forage could be profitable for either feeding or for sale, say Duane Berglund, NDSU extension agronomist, and Kent McKay, area crop specialist at NDSU’s North Central Research Extension Center.

When planting in June, warm season forages will have a higher yield potential than cool season crops such as oats or barley, the specialists say. Warm season forage selections include millets, hybrid sudan-sorghum and sudangrass.

Hay millet will produce a hay crop in 50 to 60 days and can be planted as late as mid July. The optimum stage to cut for hay is a week to 10 days after heading.

Siberian millet will produce a hay crop in 50 to 55 days after seeding. Siberian millet has narrow leaves and has a finer stem than German millet, which will produce a hay crop in 60 days and usually produces higher tonnage than Siberian millet.

Annual forage trials at Dickinson, Carrington and Minot over the past 10 years indicate that German millet is the most consistent yielding annual forage that produces a good quality hay. If summer conditions are hot and dry or cool and wet, German millet tends to produce a consistent yield, while other annual forages vary more with weather conditions.

Hybrid sudan-sorghum and sudangrass will produce a hay crop in 60 to 70 days. They have excellent growth potential and are more drought tolerant than some other forages, like pearl millet. They have higher potential tonnage than hay millets and have a proven track record in western North Dakota. These forages should be seeded by mid June.

If seeding a cool season annual forage in June, research at Minot indicates that triticale or barley are better adapted to late planting than oats. Oat hay yield was drastically reduced when planting in June compared to mid May. Triticale and barley hay yields were also reduced, but not as significantly as oats.

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Source: Duane Berglund,(701) 231-8135, dberglun@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Kent McKay, (701) 857-7682, kmckay@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Gary Moran, (701) 231-7865, gmoran@ndsuext.nodak.edu