LINCOLN — Cover crops can provide great fall and early winter forage for grazing before killing frosts stop growth. After the cover crop winter freezes, turns brown, and does not look “good” is it still good quality?
Oats and brassicas planted in late summer and early fall will change in quality from October through January, but it might be less than we would expect. With an oat and brassica mix the plants will likely die in the late fall after several hard-freezing temperature events. Growing oats will have 60 to 75% Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN) and have 12 to 20% Crude Protein (CP). Turnips and other brassicas will have a 70 to 80% TDN and 14 to 22% CP. This makes great grazing for any class of livestock.
A study at UNL looked at forage quality of stockpiled oats and brassicas progressing from fall growth into the winter. The mix was planted early September and late August in southern Nebraska. After the forage had died it was sampled again, in mid-January. The oats still had 15% CP and between 61 and 71% TDN. The entire brassica plants were 72% TDN and 14-24% CP and the leaves alone were 25% CP.
At this point in the year, planting a fall forage crop may not produce much due to the low number of growing degree days left. However, the point to consider is if there is some growth potential, stockpiling or deferring grazing will maximize production without sacrificing very much quality.
To review: Oats and brassicas maintain forage quality well into the winter. This allows to defer grazing to have more quantity and still high quality.
— Brad Schick, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
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