Rain, rain, go away, we haven’t been able to harvest our hay…or plant our forages! If you’ve been singing this song, you are not alone. With this wet weather, farmers across the region have seen poor corn germination, challenging hay harvest windows, and field conditions making planting difficult.
While it has been tough going so far, the best part of the growing season is yet to come. There is still time to produce high quality and yielding forages this season! Your options include short season corn; warm season annual grasses like millet, sorghum, sudangrass, etc.; small grains like oats, triticale, etc.; and perennial hay and pasture — all have the potential to produce high quality forage for the winter months.
Our fact sheet on late season forage plantings describes some of the options available.
If you’re thinking about summer annuals, Heather and University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s Rick Kersbergen discussed strategies for planting, harvesting, and feeding these forages during an eOrganic webinar.
In addition, our livestock forages page contains factsheets and research reports on short season corn performance trials, summer annuals, and more!