New Forages Highlight Beef Cattle-Forage Field Day

WINFIELD, Ala.—Sand Mountain bahiagrass is not yet a released variety, but it is already drawing the attention of Alabama cattlemen, according to Auburn University researcher Edzard van Santen. Speaking at an Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station field day, van Santen told about 75 northwest Alabama cattlemen in attendance that the new variety appears to be more cold hardy than such popular varieties as Argentine and Pensacola.

Sand Mountain bahiagrass is unusual in that it was not developed in a greenhouse or through an intensive breeding program. Instead, it was found growing at the Sand Mountain Substation in Crossville. Researchers began looking at it, when it survived cold weather that killed most of the bahiagrass varieties in a nearby test, according to van Santen, who is an assistant professor of agronomy and soils at Auburn.

When asked to compare bahiagrass and coastal bermudagrass, Wallace Griffey, superintendent of the Upper Coastal Plain Substation, site of the meeting, said, "The bahiagrass here is ready to graze now. I doubt you could find the Coastal bermudagrass, and certainly it's not ready for grazing." Among the bahiagrass varieties in the test, several growers showed particular interest in the Sand Mountain variety.

Another potential new forage, tropical corn, performed well the past two years when cut for silage, according to Charles Mitchell, an associate professor of agronomy and soils at Auburn. Though it was initially grown at the Upper Coastal Plain Substation as a grain crop, drought and insect damage, plus the lack of availability of good grain producing varieties, resulted in its use for silage. Though its value as a grain crop remains in doubt, tropical corn may fit some special niches, such as in dairy operations, where high quality silage is needed in the late summer and early fall, according to Mitchell.

Auburn researcher David Bransby reviewed some research-proven techniques for managing fungus-infected tall fescue. He said that heavy grazing has proven to reduce the severity of fescue toxicosis in beef cattle. By grazing infected tall fescue heavily, cattle prevent development of seedheads, where the highest levels of toxins are found in fescue plants. He noted that creep feeding steers being finished on infected fescue pastures has proven economically beneficial. Bransby also pointed out that heavy nitrogen fertilization tends to increase fescue toxicity, because when fescue plants grow faster, the toxins likewise develop more rapidly.

John Hough, an assistant professor of animal and dairy sciences at Auburn, gave the cattlemen some preliminary results of an ongoing test to evaluate the accuracy of the relationship between the scrotal circumference, or testicle size, of bulls and the production of their offsprings. He noted that heifers from bulls with larger scrotal circumference went into estrous cycles 62 days earlier than heifers from bulls with smaller scrotal circumference. He noted that offspring from bulls with small, middle or large scrotal circumference showed no significant growth differences. "This is exactly what we expected, because scrotal circumference should not effect growth, but should effect sexual maturity of both male and female offspring," Hough said.

Randall Rawls, assistant superintendent of the Upper Coastal Plain Substation, showed the cattlemen a small grain variety test. He noted that complete results from the statewide small grain variety test are available from the Department of Research Information at Auburn.

During opening remarks, David Teem, associate director of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, noted that outlying research units, such as the 735-acre Upper Coastal Plain Substation, play a vital role in Auburn's statewide agricultural research program. He noted Auburn's system of outlying research facilities, called "substations," of the Main Agricultural Experiment Station at Auburn allow researchers to conduct projects geared to solve production problems to soil types and climatic conditions of specific areas of the state.

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By:
Roy Roberson

1991