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Stockpiling Forages
What is stockpiling?
Stockpiling is forage that is allowed to accumulate for grazing at a later time. It is not just closing a gate on an overgrown pasture. If they don’t want it now, then they will not eat it later. The main goal of stockpiling is to provide a good quality forage product in grazeable form, when other options are limited.
What can I stockpile and when?
The most successful forages to stockpile are Tall Fescue and Bermudagrass. Timing is incredibly important to stockpiling success. The earlier in the season you begin to stockpile the more mature the forage will be at the onset of dormancy. Stockpiling at the correct time will result in increased dry matter digestibility and increased animal performance. The candidate species for stockpiling in Alabama are:
Tall Fescue (cool-season perennials) – Begin stockpiling in early to mid-September
Bermudagrass (warm-season perennials) – Begin stockpiling 4 to 6 weeks before the first anticipated frost for your area.
Steps to Stockpiling
- Choose the area you are going to stockpile. Take the last cutting of hay or graze the area to a 2-3-inch stubble height.
- Treat the area as you would your last cutting of hay. Apply N to allow high quality forage to accumulate. If grazing, remove the livestock from the area.
- Close the gate! Defer grazing until the standing hay is needed later in the season.
How to utilize your stockpile:
- Measure your forage dry matter and calculate daily allocation for your number of livestock.
- Collect forage samples for analysis to determine proper supplementation.
- When grazing is initiated, think about grazing efficiency. How much forage is being used vs. trampled.Frontal grazing allows for the highest utilization of available forage.
- Only let them have small strips (no more than 2-3 days worth) at a time.
- Assume each 1200 lb. cow will need ~35-40 lbs. of stockpile/day
- Provide access to water, and supply minerals, ionophores, and additional supplemenst as needed.
