Iowa Beef Center and Kirkwood Community College to host forage field day
Project focuses on interseeding Sudangrass into perennial pasture
8/20/24
Calves grazing in Sudangrass.
AMES, Iowa — An ongoing research project with the Iowa Beef Center focuses on interseeding Sudangrass into poor stands of perennial pastures as an effort to boost forage productivity. IBC will host a field day to present current findings on Sept. 12 at the Kirkwood Community College’s Tippie Beef Center in Cedar Rapids.
Iowa Beef Center program specialist Beth Reynolds said, “This field day will feature research plots where Sudangrass was interseeded into calving paddocks this spring. This is the second year of a three-year project, and the results will be shared with attendees.”
In addition to growing additional forage, the Sudangrass can capture valuable nutrients that are more prone to runoff in areas with a greater proportion of bare ground.
“Some growth was realized by this warm season annual during the significant drought in 2023, and this growing season has seen significantly more growth," Reynolds said. "Weed control, specifically strategies to eliminate Canada thistle in overgrazed spring feeding areas, will also be discussed.”
The Tippie Beef Center is located at at 801 76th Ave Dr SW, Cedar Rapids, where the program will run from 1 to 3 p.m.
This research is funded by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship's State Soil Conservation & Water Quality Committee with the objectives of demonstrating the viability of interseeding Sudangrass into existing perennial pasture in the Iowa climate and the impact interseeding a summer annual has on the perennial stand.
After being grazed hard in the spring, the plot areas were interseeded without fertilizer inputs. Plots are then grazed when the forage quantity is adequate. Forage samples are collected before each grazing period to track yields of the summer annual, perennial pasture grass, and weeds. Fall soil samples are taken as well to track changes.
For more information or to RSVP, contact Reynolds by email or call the Iowa Beef Center line at 515-294-BEEF (2333).
(This article was written by IBC communications intern Dacia Schoulte.)
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The Iowa Beef Center at Iowa State University was established in 1996 with the goal of supporting the growth and vitality of the state’s beef cattle industry. It comprises faculty and staff from Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and College of Veterinary Medicine, and works to develop and deliver the latest research-based information regarding the beef cattle industry. For more information about IBC, visit www.iowabeefcenter.org.
Contact:
Beth Reynolds, ISU Extension and Outreach program specialist, 515-294-9881, bethr@iastate.edu
