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Scissors Cut Results 5/10/2022

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

Special thanks to Dairy One for providing sample analysis

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