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Considerable clouds this evening. Some decrease in clouds late. Low 76F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.

Unfortunately, some of our summer crops planted with intentions of a grain harvest have not turned out as planned. Due to prolonged heat and drought going into the crop’s reproductive stages, certain corn, grain sorghum and soybean crops were not able to pollinate and set enough seed to cover the cost of producing the grain crop.

These farmers are forced to explore other options if taking these crops to harvest isn’t justifiable. The options I’ve discussed with these farmers include using the crop as a forage, crop destruction or simply do nothing for now. A farmer can harvest the crop as a forage by a few ways, either grazed, hayed or ensiled. Both herbicide application and tillage are standard options to terminate the crop, and both have their fit with pros and cons.

First and foremost, my first advise to farmers is to contact their crop insurance provider and have their crop inspected by a crop adjuster if they plan to terminate the crop. The grain yield estimates might be higher than the farmer expected. Each crop adjusting agency has their methods of yield estimation, but they all are just a current snapshot at that moment in time. Farmer’s intuition on if the yield is going to continue to worsen or get better are not part of the equation. If the estimate is high, the return this crop might be less, but long-term it can be beneficial to keeping the APH (actual production history) higher.

When deciding to make a forage crop out of a cash crop, there are a few questions farmers need to ask themselves. First, what pesticides (herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc.) have been used on the crop? Second, how much fertilizer has been applied? Third, how is this going to affect their cropping systems? Fourth, what’s the market?

It is good to know what pesticides have been applied to the crop. This is mainly to double check to see if any of those products have a haying, grazing or forage harvesting waiting period listed on the label. This is referred to as the “pre-harvest interval” or PHI on the product label. The PHI must be followed because the label is the law. Some products can be harmful or fatal for livestock that consume the forage. Residual amounts of certain products could also be retained in meat and cause potential harm to humans.

One of the risks of haying corn or grain sorghum is nitrate and prussic acid poisoning. While applying nitrogen doesn’t guarantee having a nitrate issue in the forage, it does pose more risk. Certain plant species like sorghums (haygrazer, sorghum-sudan, johnson grass, etc.) and some weeds (Pigweeds, kochia, lambsquarter) naturally accumulate more nitrates. If the grain sorghum or corn crop had been fertilized with nitrogen, I strongly suggest getting the forage tested.

All OSU Extension offices can handle both an acid drop (diphenylamine) test or submit an actual sample to the Soil, Water, and Forage Analytical Laboratory (SWAFL) on campus. The acid test is free, and results are instant, but the test is only qualitative resulting in a yes or no. Sending a sample to SWAFL will result in figuring out the actual amount of nitrates in the forage and only costs $6.

Since nitrates can fluctuate, it is good to take a sample after the crop has been at least swathed and best if done after it is baled. The level of nitrates will not change in hay but can be reduced up to 20-50% in silage if done correctly. OSU Extension educators also can perform a prussic acid test. Prussic acid poisoning is a main concern if grazing. Sun-curing of hay will reduce prussic acid poisoning, especially if the hay is conditioned or crimped.

Brain Arnall, OSU precision nutrient specialist, recently published a blog post on OSUNPK.com discussing the nutrient value of different crops and forages. Anytime something is removed from a field, either grain or plant matter, it is essentially removing nutrients with it. The value of the macro (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) and secondary nutrients being removed can add up to $54 to $90 per ton of forage. Haying a failed crop will help offset investment in that cash crop, but may not cover the true value of the crop when more fertilizer will be needed for the next crop.

Haying crops like soybeans can provide a good quality forage with crude protein in the range of 14 to 21% and total digestible nutrients as high as 60. Soybeans can be more difficult to hay and often gets compared to haying alfalfa. The leaves are brittle and hard to retain once dried. Raking a dry windrow will result in a significant loss of leaves and coarse stems will be left. If raking is needed to make a desirable windrow for the baler, it is recommended to do so within a day of swathing.

Deciding what to do with a field in no-till has some challenges. Most air seeders can actually handle going through standing crops like corn. If the corn is tall enough, the front tool bar likely will knock over the stalks and pose little risk of snagging hoses or wiring. Shorter plants like grain sorghum might cause more issues. Vertical tilling a large amount of crop material can help manage residue to flow through seeding equipment, but also can cause issues with reduced seed-to-soil contact. Burning is another option, albeit less popular especially if the farmer wants to keep the soil covered with some crop residue for soil moisture retention and weed prevention. Burning also can reduce soil organic matter content.

Bushong is Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service northwest area agronomy specialist.

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