Slow and Steady, but?
Hay crops grew slowly the last week, and many grasses showed burned tips from several frosty mornings in the previous week. Grasses averaged just under 12 inches while legumes were at 8 inches. This is 3 or 4 inches behind last year but similar to 2016, and 2020. Fiber content was consistent with the shorter heights with grasses averaging 40.6% NDF and legumes 31.5%. The rule of thumb is for NDF to advance about 1 point per day, so that puts estimated date at target NDF for grass and mixed legume grass fields at May 19, 3 or 4 days behind the long term average. BUT, with warm temperatures this week, we will keep a close watch on next weeks results.
For now, plant corn, get haying equipment ready and be prepared for a slightly delayed first cut harvest.
The Table below has each sample location, listed by Town and elevation, and lists the species sampled, average height, Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF), Neutral Detergent Fiber Digestibility (NDFD), and Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN). We have sampled grass, legume and mixed legume/grass fields across the county and at elevations from 1070 to 2100 feet. Look for locations with similar forage type and elevation to your farm.
We report several measures of forage quality. Different types and groups of cattle have different demands and each measure tells a slightly different story. If harvesting for dairy forage, we suggest harvesting based on NDF, for beef choose an appropriate TDN target or the animals you will be feeding.
NDF – Neutral Detergent Fiber
is a measure of the structural fiber in a feed sample. NDF correlates well with how much forage a cow can eat (gut fill). Earlier cut hay = lower NDF = higher dry matter intake = higher performance.
NDF goals for Dairy Cattle Forage: Grass hay and silage – 48 – 55%, MMG hay & silage – 40 – 50%, MML hay & silage – 38 – 45%, Legume hay & silage – 36 – 42%
NDFD – NDF Digestibility
As forage plants mature, the fiber percentage increases, and at the same time the digestibility of the fiber decreases. NDFD measures the digestibility of fiber by rumen fluid. We report 24hr NDFD as an indicator of forage digestibility. Higher digestibility = more energy available from a forage. Grasses inherently have a higher NDF digestibility than legumes.
TDN – Total Digestible Nutrients
The sum of the digestible fiber, protein, lipid, and carbohydrate components. TDN is a measure of energy available from forage and is related to digestible energy. TDN is useful for beef cow rations that are primarily forage. Higher TDN values indicate higher energy available, cattle groups with higher energy demands require higher TDN intakes.
TDN goals for Beef Cattle Forage: Growing Calf (2lb ADG) 70 – 72, Growing Yearling (2lb ADG) 64 – 66, Lactating Beef Cow 60 – 64, Mature Dry Cow 52 – 55
| Delaware County Scissor Cuts Results | May 3, 2022 | May 10, 2022 | |||||||||
| Farm | Town | Elev | Species | Ht | aNDFom | NDFD | TDN | Ht | aNDFom | NDFD | TDN |
| Darling | Andes | 1520 | Tall Fescue | 6 | 33.9 | 75 | 74 | 7 | 34.4 | 72 | 73 |
| Eisele | Andes | 1412 | Orchardgrass | 6 | 33.3 | 78 | 75 | 10 | 39.6 | 78 | 73 |
| Evans | Andes | 1820 | Orchardgrass | 11 | 43 | 73 | 70 | 12 | 43.7 | 73 | 70 |
| Gladstone | Andes | 1960 | Mixed grasses | 10 | 37.5 | 79 | 74 | 15 | 41.7 | 76 | 72 |
| Mattson | Colchester | 1090 | Alf(50%)/Tfesc | 5/5 | 33.4 | 64 | 72 | 8/8 | 35.2 | 65 | 72 |
| Frisbee | Delhi | 1380 | Tall Fescue | 7 | 38.8 | 71 | 74 | 11 | 42.3 | 72 | 71 |
| Mushkoday | Delhi | 1340 | Alf(90%)/Tim | 8/10 | 25.1 | 58 | 73 | 11/13 | 27.3 | 61 | 72 |
| Rama | Delhi | 1400 | Clov(30%)/Grass | 5/11 | 40.7 | 76 | 73 | 5/12 | 38.8 | 76 | 73 |
| Sherwood | Delhi | 1610 | Mixed grasses | 10 | 37.4 | 81 | 73 | 12 | 41.3 | 75 | 72 |
| Sullivan | Delhi | 1425 | Clov(35%)/Orch | 4/8 | 40.2 | 74 | 73 | 12 | 37.3 | 73 | 73 |
| Buel | Franklin | 1260 | Alf(50%)/Orch | 7/11 | 33.7 | 80 | 76 | 9/15 | 36.4 | 76 | 72 |
| Grant | Franklin | 1650 | Mixed grasses | 10 | 34.7 | 82 | 75 | 13 | 39.6 | 76 | 72 |
| Taggart | Franklin | 1720 | Mixed grasses | 8 | 42.2 | 73 | 71 | 13 | 42.7 | 66 | 73 |
| DiBenedetto | Halcott | 1730 | Orchardgrass | 10 | 42.2 | 76 | 73 | 15 | 39.7 | 79 | 72 |
| Hutson | Hamden | 1275 | Alfalfa | 5 | 24.9 | 58 | 75 | 7 | 24.9 | 61 | 75 |
| Moody | Hamden | 2100 | Orchardgrass | – | – | – | – | 9 | 37.9 | 72 | 73 |
| Reed | Hamden | 1740 | Ken. Bluegrass | 5 | 39.6 | 76 | 75 | 6 | 37.1 | 73 | 71 |
| Scobie | Hamden | 1740 | K. Bluegrass | – | – | – | – | 10 | 41.2 | 71 | 71 |
| Hillriegel | Hardenburgh | 1670 | Orchardgrass | 11 | 44 | 74 | 71 | 16 | 43 | 76 | 72 |
| Hager | Kortright | 2000 | Mixed grasses | 8 | 35.8 | 80 | 75 | 10 | 33.9 | 84 | 75 |
| Haynes | Kortright | 1900 | Orchardgrass | 9 | 37.6 | 78 | 73 | 11 | 40 | 77 | 71 |
| Keator | Meredith | 1600 | Tall Fescue | 8 | 41.8 | 66 | 70 | 10 | 38.2 | 75 | 75 |
| Elliot | Middletown | 2060 | Reed Canarygrass | 11 | 39.8 | 74 | 74 | 15 | 43.9 | 75 | 72 |
| Gray | Middletown | 1910 | Reed Canarygrass | 11 | 45 | 75 | 70 | 15 | 45.9 | 68 | 69 |
| Coombe | Neversink | 1420 | Tall Fescue | 8 | 47 | 70 | 71 | 9 | 42.1 | 71 | 71 |
| Krum | Neversink | 1730 | Ken. Bluegrass | 5 | 49.2 | 65 | 69 | 6 | 44.6 | 69 | 72 |
| Albano | Roxbury | 1950 | Mixed grasses | 7 | 38.5 | 74 | 74 | 10 | 38.9 | 76 | 71 |
| Gockel | Roxbury | 1890 | Mixed grasses | 10 | 41.4 | 76 | 71 | 14 | 42.5 | 76 | 71 |
| Kuhn | Roxbury | 1980 | Mixed grasses | 6 | 39.3 | 76 | 74 | 10 | 39.4 | 75 | 73 |
| Perry | Roxbury | 1830 | Orchardgrass | 9 | 51 | 64 | 67 | 13 | 47.6 | 64 | 69 |
| Johnson | Sidney | 1070 | Orchardgrass | 10 | 40.8 | 79 | 74 | 14 | 39.7 | 76 | 74 |
| Johnson | Sidney | 1070 | Alfalfa | 7 | 28.4 | 65 | 68 | 10 | 25.3 | 59 | 71 |
| Deysenroth | Stamford | 1510 | Mixed grasses | 6 | 37.2 | 77 | 75 | 9 | 37.3 | 78 | 71 |
| Hanselman | Stamford | 1488 | Alfalfa | 8 | 28.4 | 62 | 73 | 9 | 27.5 | 55 | 73 |
| Martin | Stamford | 1560 | Alf(65%)/Orch | 6/8 | 28.4 | 67 | 70 | 8/13 | 32.4 | 72 | 72 |
| Ryan | Stamford | 1800 | Mixed grasses | 5 | 41.7 | 71 | 72 | 7 | 46.4 | 71 | 69 |
| Trovato | Stamford | 2080 | Mixed grasses | 6 | 38.7 | 75 | 72 | 8 | 42.2 | 68 | 70 |
| LaTourette | Tompkins | 1210 | Clov(20%)/grass | 4/10 | 37.6 | 79 | 74 | 8/10 | 34.8 | 75 | 74 |
| Marsiglio | Walton | 1750 | Orchardgrass | 5 | 43.8 | 68 | 73 | 9 | 39.8 | 67 | 72 |
| Wickham,B | Walton | 1170 | Alf(30%)/Orch | 8/10 | 44.5 | 79 | 71 | 9/15 | 40.4 | 76 | 72 |
| Wickham,D | Walton | 1240 | Wclov(50%)/grass | 4/11 | 33.8 | 80 | 75 | 4/12 | 38.2 | 80 | 71 |
| Av Grass Ht | 8.4 | 11.4 | |||||||||
| Av Legume Ht | 5.9 | 8.0 | |||||||||