Forages

Forage crops are crops on which animals graze independently – they are grown specifically to be grazed by livestock or conserved as hay or silage.

Use Penn State Extension’s comprehensive range of resources to increase your knowledge of forage crops and pasture management. Increase your expertise in various forage crops such as alfalfa, wheat, sorghum, hay, and more. Learn how forage crops can improve soil quality and how to manage pests and diseases.

What Are Forage Crops?

When it comes to feeding livestock, farmers have two options to choose from, one of which is forage crops. Forage crops provide feed for grazing animals or you can harvest them for feeding.

Forage crops can also have a purpose alongside animal feed, as they can aid in land conservation, reduce the weed population, and prevent soil erosion. Forages play an important role in sustainable agriculture, as well.

There are many different species of forage crops to choose from, but we can categorize them into the following main types.

Annual Forage Crops

Producers generally use annual forage crops for mid- to late- summer forage production. They include sudangrass, forage sorghums, sudangrass-sorghum hybrids, millets, oats, spring triticales, winter wheat, barley, and rye.

Perennial Legumes Forage Crops

Legumes grown for forages have taproots and broad, compound leaves arranged alternatively on the stem. Legumes produce higher quantities of protein than grasses. Perennial legumes include alfalfa, birdsfoot trefoil, cicer milkvetch, kura clover, white clover, sweet clover, alsike clover, and red clover.

Perennial Grasses

Perennial grasses have long, slender leaves. Their roots are very fibrous, which helps bind the soil together and reduce erosion. Perennial grasses include timothy, smooth bromegrass, meadow bromegrass, orchardgrass, reed canarygrass, tall fescue, meadow fescue, perennial ryegrass, and Kentucky bluegrass.

Forage Brassica Crops

You can grow brassica crops in many different locations, including soils that may not be suitable for other forage crops. Brassica species include fodder kale, fodder rape, swede, and turnip.

The other option for livestock farmers is to use fodder crops. They plant fodder crops with the specific intention of providing livestock feed and regulate the nutrient intake.

Fodder crops include some grasses but are typically cereal crops such as oats, wheat, and corn. One advantage of fodder crops is that they can survive with less water, making them perfect for drought conditions or in arid areas. They are, however, better suited as livestock feed for smaller animals such as goats, poultry, and pigs.

How to Choose Forage Crops

You want to choose crops that are best suited to your needs. There are several important factors that can influence your decision. The performance of forage crops varies, depending on environmental conditions and location. There are, for example, perennial forages common to the Mid-Atlantic region. There’s also the issue that no single forage crop or variety performs well in all conditions.

The Penn State Agronomy Guide is a good source of information on crop and soil management, including varieties of crops.

The first factor to consider is whether a forage crop is suitable for your needs. Are you planting it for pasture or hay? You also need to consider the expected longevity of the planting site. You might need annual forage crops that can be used to supplement feedstocks.

Other factors that can affect the suitability of a forage species include tolerance to drought, soil drainage, fertilizer nutrient requirements, the pH level of the soil, deer-resistance, and whether you plan to harvest and store the crops or graze them. Forages such as brassica crops can be used to extend the grazing season.

Pasture Planning and Management

Pasture planning and management play an important role in forage crop production. There are several common components if you want to successfully manage your forage systems; one of the most important is sampling, recording, and using all the information available to better manage your operations.

You should have a plan for what your grazing systems will look like. Different forage crops are more suitable for certain times of the year. A spring pasture management plan might include overseeding legumes to reduce dependence on expensive fertilizers. In the fall, careful management of pastures is essential for the over-wintering of forages. Livestock producers can extend the grazing season with careful use of diverse forage crops.

Weeds can be a problem when growing forage crops. Being able to identify them and know how to manage them is a vital skill to learn.

Penn State Extension’s Forage Management Calendar provides forage management recommendations for each month of the year.

Forage Harvest, Haylage, and Silage

Forage harvesting begins with the cutting of fresh forage. Mowers, mower-conditioners, or windrowers are generally used. The speed of harvesting has a huge effect on the time spent and the cost of the operation. Forage producers are continually looking for ways to speed up the process, including the time it takes to dry down forage crops such as hay.

There are several different ways to store harvested forage crops. Dry matter can be in bales of different shapes and sizes, or you can store it as silage. Careful planning is necessary to efficiently produce, harvest, and store silage.

Being able to produce high-quality forage crops is fundamental for livestock producers. It’s possible to check the quality of your forage crops and scientists are continually refining the forage testing and analysis process.

In this section, find all the necessary information for selecting, growing, and harvesting forage crops, as well as advice on forage pest and disease, soil management, and more.