All of the meat and milk animals that consume forages are, in fact, designed to consume forages – not grains. So even though we do supplement ruminant animal diets with grain, these animals must still have forage as a major component of their diets. Normally when a grower or agronomist is asked why we fertilize forages, the answer will be to obtain higher yields. While that is important, what if we could actually increase the quality and digestibility while at the same time increasing yield? 

Our answer is yes – yes we can

We can, in fact, increase yields and at the same time increase the digestibility and energy content of forage crops. In our trials, here is what we are discovering:

  1. We increase the sugars, protein, and palatibility in grass hays, and the actual Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDFD) digestibility also improves substantially.
  2. On alfalfa we routinely achieve an increase in protein, lower lignin, higher water soluable carbohydrates (sugars), significantly higher Relative Feed Value (RFV) and Relative Forage Quality (RFQ) numbers, higher NDFD tests, and more extractable net energy.
  3. On permanent grass pastures we see strong yield and quality responses to low and economical rates of High NRG-N, Pro-Germinator, Sure-K, and fertiRain.
  4. We do not yet have enough data to determine if AgroLiquid nutrients have similar effects on corn and sorghum silages.  More silage trials are planned in 2018.

An AgroLiquid program on a beef cow/calf operation will result in better cow condition and faster rate of gain on the calves. Oklahoma rancher Bert Hutson turns cattle out on grazing wheat, and he says the AgroLiquid crop nutrient program he employs causes his wheat crop to emerge sooner and it has a larger root mass, which means he can turn his animals out earlier than his neighbors. “When we use AgroLiquid, we see a 2.7- to 3-pound gain per animal per day,” Hutson says. 

Properly managing pasture and forage can be one of the most controllable, yet overlooked, aspects in maintaining herd health. Healthy plants are not only beneficial for proper nutrition, protein consumption and weight gain, they are also more weed and pest resistant than stressed plants. Properly managed forage can reduce input costs while increasing weight gain and production.

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The problem with achieving a healthy, vigorous forage crop for beef cattle is providing a steady amount of nitrogen when the plants need it, while not causing a growth spurt, which can result in grass tetany and bloat. When growing rapidly, lush plants may be low in magnesium or high in protein, nitrogen and potassium. These factors can be detrimental to total digestion and absorption of nutrients in cattle.

One significant factor we are learning in our many trials is that when individual AgroLiquid products replace the comparable commodity fertilizer product, it will, in most situations, improve the forage quality. For example, if Pro-Germinator® replaces 11-52-0 on a grass pasture, the quality of the grass will be better. Likewise if Sure-K® replaces or reduces dry potash, the forage treated with Sure-K will have better quality.  Where High NRG-N has replaced urea or UAN, the resulting grass pasture or hay will have higher quality, a larger root mass, and more consistent growth. 

Can an AgroLiquid program entirely replace a commodity dry program? Yes it can – but you may not always want to. For example, when we have tested yield and quality results where Sure-K is used as a supplemental foliar treatment following a top-dress application of dry potash, we usually see a significant increase in yield and quality versus the dry potash alone. So where soil test K is low, we can use dry potash and Sure-K to the grower’s advantage. On the high pH soils of the Central Plains, however, Pro-Germinator clearly performs better than 11-52-0, achieving both higher yields and improved forage quality, and should be recommended as full replacement for the dry.

Dan Peterson is the field agronomy manager for AgroLiquid.