UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- It's too late to help in 2002, but results of a three-year study on forage systems by a Penn State beef cattle expert should help farmers save money on livestock feed and help protect them from the effects of drought.

During this sizzling summer when a dearth of rain and searing heat have parched much of Pennsylvania's agricultural landscape -- resulting in crop losses approaching 100 percent in places -- the findings are especially timely. According to John Comerford, associate professor of dairy and animal science, many beef cattle farmers are out of grass because of the drought. "They are using feed stored for winter now," he says, "and they are facing the prospect of buying feed to get through the winter."

The results of Comerford's research represent a departure from tradition for many Pennsylvania farmers. "Historically, beef cattle farmers had fenced pastures and they just turned the cows out into them to graze," Comerford explains. "From our work with rotational grazing systems and pasture management, we know that is not the best way to use pasture."

Perhaps the biggest weakness with the old way of managing -- or actually not managing -- pastures and forage is that farmers are very dependent on weather. And in years like this one -- when severe drought grips the state -- the grass is mostly gone by mid-summer. Comerford's research shows farmers how to take advantage of growth periods and capture rainfall in ungrazed, uncut pastures.

"Normal grazing periods for continuous grazing systems in this region are 170 to 180 days," Comerford says. "But in very dry years such as this one, cows only can get their own feed for closer to 140 days."

Comerford's research, an evaluation of three grazing systems for beef cows, was carried out in two locations from 1996 to 1998, with 45 acres in each location. Cows were fed grasses (such as fescue, sudangrass and orchard grass), corn stalks, small grains and alfalfa -- alone, and in various combinations.

"When we rely on one kind of grass for forage we are vulnerable to the weather because the growth of the grass is sensitive to rainfall," he says. "When we take advantage of different kinds of forage, such as legumes, corn and stockpiled grass, grazing becomes less sensitive to rainfall amounts.

"The study showed that beef cattle are not picky about the forage they graze," Comerford says. "There just has to be enough of it on a daily basis. The most cost-effective grazing system will have a combination of several types of forage, including cool season perennials, stockpiled grass, alfalfa-plus-grass pastures and corn stalks."

In the absence of ice or deep snow cover, a grazing system can be designed that will allow grazing every day of the year, according to Comerford. But that depends on the size of the land base, and extensive hay production will be needed.

"A system of only cool-season perennial grasses will have the highest long-term net returns, but the high sensitivity to rainfall, and the costs of owning haying equipment, storage and feeding losses, feeding equipment and facilities, and labor for providing harvested feed may negate much of this advantage."

Comerford had a good idea what any one of the forage varieties would offer farmers individually. "What we tried to do in this study, for the first time in this region to the best of my knowledge, was look at them in various combinations and look at the cost of each," he says. "What we have done is put a dollars value to forage, and that's not readily available elsewhere."

The cost per acre of providing forage for grazing was least for alfalfa plus grass ($11.63), orchardgrass ($14.99) and corn stalks ($15). The greatest net returns per acre were from the treatment of cool season perennial grasses only ($66.58) with most of the value coming from the sale of hay, followed by the treatment alfalfa plus orchard grass and fescue ($29.97) and the treatment of a combination of corn stalks in fields that are strip grazed after harvest as dry ear corn, small grains followed by rape, sudangrass and orchard grass (-$12.61).

The cost per acre for providing forage for grazing was greatest for sudangrass ($200.71), rape ($110.54) and small grains ($105.66).

For more information about Comerford's research into the best mix of forage varieties, contact him at 814-863-3661 or e-mail jxc16@psu.edu.

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EDITORS: Contact John Comerford at 814-863-3661 or e-mail jxc16@psu.edu.

Contact: Jeff Mulhollem jjm29@psu.edu 814-863-2719 814-863-9877 fax #250