By Jenny Rees
As the end of corn harvest nears, some producers will soon be turning their cattle into corn stalks or cover crops to graze. Before taking this step, take time to review the labels from in-season and fall-applied herbicides to ensure grazing is permitted at this time. Also check any restrictions on grazing cover crops planted into crop residues following application of those chemicals to a row crop.
If the label doesn’t specify any restrictions, grazing should be fine. If you want to be on the safe side, chemical representatives often recommend using the pre-harvest interval for the amount of time to wait before grazing stalks.
Some labels will specify that residue should not be grazed or baled and fed to livestock. In these cases it is likely studies were conducted to identify potential safety concerns. In other cases, the chemical company may not have conducted all the studies required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) due to high testing costs. If that’s the case, the EPA requires the strongest restrictive language be placed on the label.
For some producers another concern may be the amount of green volunteer soybeans they’re seeing due to harvest losses from weather-related soybean shattering. In these cases, be sure to check for any herbicide grazing restrictions from herbicides applied in-season to soybeans.
Extension Forage Specialist Bruce Anderson notes: “Soybeans can cause bloat, but the incidence is low. The young green plants may be more risky. Founder would be a possible problem with a sudden diet change and too many unsprouted beans in the diet could cause excess fat.” Anderson recommends feeding about 3 pounds of beans per cow.
“I’d try to limit the amount of grazing for a few days, maybe feeding a very palatable supplement like a ground forage/distillers mix and reduce the amount of this supplement each day for a week or so. And keep a dry, palatable hay always available free choice.”
Source: unl.edu