Spring pastures can bring bloat

Spring time is here and pastures are growing quickly. With this new lush growth also comes an increased concern for bloat. Bloat typically occurs on young fast growing pastures that have more than 50 percent legumes (clover, alfalfa, etc.). Bloat is simply a condition brought on due to excess protein in the rumen which creates foam that will not allow gasses to escape the rumen. This condition leads to excess pressure in the cattle's rumen and in worst cases can lead to death. Bloat can be a major problem on lush spring pastures, however it can be managed.

The first step in managing bloat is to identify your pastures containing more than 50 percent legumes. These pastures will contain high protein levels especially in the spring when all of the growth is new and lush. Identify your pastures that are most likely to be a problem and use extra caution when animals are on those pastures. If all of your pastures contain high portions of legumes you want to take special care to give animals time to get used to the pastures early in the spring.

Management strategies such as feeding grass hay prior to the grazing period and not allowing access to pastures when excess moisture is present due to rain or heavy dew will help minimize the occurrence of bloat. Over eating frequently occurs when hungry cattle are turned onto fresh pastures with high percentage of legumes. Bloat is probable if these animals have not been accustomed to the legume mixture. Feeding grass hay prior to grazing allows the cattle to fill the rumen with a lower protein feed and will decrease the occurrence of over eating and thus minimizes the risk of bloat. Continue to feed hay prior to grazing for 5-6 days. During this time decrease the amount of hay fed until they are dependent totally on the pasture.

Poloxalene is another management option for those dealing with high percentage legume pastures. This chemical reacts in the rumen and decreases the instance of foam and allows excess gasses to escape naturally. This chemical is most easily fed in a molasses, salt, and poloxalene block mix. Allow one block for every 5-6 cattle and keep them in places where cattle typically gather. You may also be able to add poloxalene into any grain mixes you may be feeding. You should feed half a pound of poloxalene per animal.

Finally, the best management strategy will be to check your cattle frequently, about twice a day. This will allow you to observe any problems that may exist. The first visual sign of bloat is a notable increase in the fullness of the left side of the animal. If a cow is struggling with bloat you may be able to alleviate the symptoms by inserting a hose into the rumen to allow gasses to escape. Additionally there are oral products on the market that can be fed to aid in recovery. Consult your veterinarian about these products. If neither of these options work, you may want to attempt to use a trocar or cantula to relieve the pressure in the rumen; however, these should be the last resorts and should be observed by a veterinarian.

Using these steps you should be able to effectively manage bloat in your cattle without instances of emergency management. If questions or concerns still exist call myself or your local extension agent to assist you in your specific situation.

Weather, IPM, Soil and more…

As spring is kicking off a lot is starting up in the Agronomy program too. I have installed a new weather station at the office and hopefully it will be up online soon to get real-time local data to you. This is especially important with the calculation of degree days for some of our IPM efforts. The station also tracts soil temperature and moisture at 3 inches and 1 foot as well as leaf wetness. I believe this will be a great asset to our local farmers as well as research efforts to have good, consistent, local data.
We have also started our IPM network that has 8 sites throughout the county trapping for cutworm moths and armyworm moths. So far we have had no activity in the traps, which is to be expected, but as we continue to warm we should start some catches. I'll keep you up to date on where the catches are and if we reach the economic threshold. I'll also be posting information on how to react to the levels of pressure I'm seeing.
As soils continue to warm we know planting season is near. Soil temperatures at the office are averaging about 51 degrees at 3 inches. What I have observed so far in the field has been anywhere from 49 to 52 degrees (the field temperatures were taken in the afternoon).
Overall everything seems to be coming together nicely for us. Hopefully we will stay away from extremely wet soil conditions so we can start this growing season of with a timely corn planting. This week looks like lots of sunny weather to catch up on alfalfa planting and get manure hauled if need be.

Your help is needed…

Due to a major oversight on my part the cover crop flyer was sent out without specific instruction on how to get to the cover crop plot. Please find the directions below. Also if you know of anyone who may be interested in this and does check this blog please share this information with them.

Directions to plot/field day:

Take I-81 to exit 17.

Go east on Walker Rd (left if from north, right if from south).

Continue about ½ mile and plot will be on your right.

Signs will be marking the way from the exit 17.

Sorry for any confusion this has caused.

Thanks,
Jonathan Rotz

Spring has sprung…

With temperatures over the weekend in the 70's it is certainly feeling more and more like spring. Additionally, all of the small grains, cover crops and perennial forages have taken off. With a little more moisture today things are definitely ready to grow. Now is a great time to be top dressing your small grain fields as well as putting spring nitrogen on pastures and hay fields. Obviously you want to make sure you fields are fit for traffic and haven't gotten too wet lately.

This time of year is also a great time to take an estimate of weed pressure in your winter grain and perennial stands. Make sure you scout not only for weed pressure but types of weeds as well so you can make the best herbicide selection possible.

On another note you can see how my test plots are coming where we are looking into inter cropping rye and radish to allow corn planting in between the rye rows. This will hopefully allow early planting of corn into this live cover crop. If this works the theory is that some of our corn pests such as slugs may be more willing to feed on the rye undercover then venture into the sun to injure the corn. I'll keep you up to date on this as well as the other research I have a going on around the county.

IPM Network Established

This year I will again be capturing moths to attempt to follow and predict activity. This spring I will be trapping Black Cutworm Moth as well as Armyworm. Many times blanket applications of insecticide are put down to act as an insurance against early season pests such as black cutworm, but is this really needed and thus economical. Last year my site in Franklin County never reached the threshold level of moths to feel that we had enough pressure to worry with cutworms. I also didn't hear of any issues with cutworms locally, but that doesn't mean they didn't happen. The question arose from this study last year, how irregular can these moth patterns be over large areas? In other words, if I scout one area of the county do I really get a full picture of the pressure? Well with the hope to answer this question this year I'll have 8 trapping sites across the county. These sites will be located in State Line, Mercersburg, Mont Alto, Chambersburg, St. Thomas, Shippensburg, Path Valley and Pleasant Hall Areas. Hopefully we will see uniformity in numbers and times of catches with these traps. I will also be updating you on what the pressure is like via this blog. Hopefully we can get great data off of this and start minimizing our reliance on 'insurance sprays.' This will save on our bottom line as well as possibly preserve beneficial insects that can help us control some of our pest populations.

Preparing for Spring…

Even I have to get ready for spring and in all the meetings of the season that can be a little dificult, however you can help by taking an minute and seeing if you would be willing in participating in any of the following research/demonstration plots this next year. If so please get in contact with me.

· Conservation Innovations (10 acres minimum): This grant will work with farmers who want to try manure injection, cover crops, non-traditional cover crops, and the roller crimper. Ten acres will be used with 5 acres being traditional practice and 5 being the innovative practice.
· Corn Grain Hybrid Trial: Penn State is looking for a cooperator for a corn grain hybrid trial. This trial will have both conventional and modified corn so a conventional spray program will need to be used. All grain from the plot is given to the cooperator.
· Compaction Study: Ten farms on Hagerstown soils are needed. Two soybean fields will be needed per farm. Soil compaction will be surveyed prior to planting. Four farms will be used then to determine yield benefits of sub-soiling (dependent on grant approval).
· Soybean Rust/Aphid Monitoring: Small plot needed for scouting rust and aphids (approx 60x100). Full season beans without seed treatment (in plot the rest of the field can have treated seeds) are needed. This is a non-destructive experiment.
· IPM Trapping Network: Cooperators needed (3) in Path Valley, Waynesboro, and Mercersburg areas. Trapping supplies will be supplied and set up. Traps will need to be checked at least weekly, dead moths collected, and numbers phoned or e-mailed to the extension office.
Demonstration Needs:
· Herbicide Plots: Small plots in corn and soybeans with various spray treatments (single and multiple pass). We will spray the plots and hold a field day at the farm. Footpaths will likely be cut into plots for rating plots and field day.
· Cover Crop Plots: Plots will be established in fall 2010 (typically look for silage ground or fallow wheat) and a fall and spring cover crop walk will be held.

Could it be?

As we continue to deal with piles of snow and drifting roadways it seems that spring is far off, however some have already started thinking of it. A report that came out a while ago on AOL news was talking about long range forecasting models and what they are showing for this spring. The long range forecast shows that much of the nation and almost all of Pennsylvania may be looking at below average temperatures with above average rain fall. This could mean another wet spring that is hard to prep our fields as well as plant? Of course I'm not too worried about this at this time. It seems like it is a long stretch for most forecasters to get tomorrow's weather right, let alone a few months out. Never the less it does make us think that we may want to take a little extra time to think out a sound strategy for spring time. Make a game plan that is flexible yet can outline steps needed for each field, such as manure, burn down, tillage, etc. Take some time now to do your maintenance on machinery to make sure it is ready to go as soon as your soil is fit. All of these steps will help you to be ready for warm soils and dry weather and more likely to get timely planted crops.