All posts by Christine O'Reilly, OMAFRA Forage & Grazing Specialist

Co-written by James Byrne, OMAFRA Beef Cattle Specialist Maximizing pasture yield requires management. One of the most important decisions a manager can make is to give their grass enough time to fully recover after being grazed. Pastures have fully recovered from a grazing event when the grass plants have 3-4 new leaves. At this stage they are palatable, nutritious, and have had time to store energy in their roots and lower stems to fuel regrowth the next time they are grazed. However, sometimes pastures do not recover from grazing as quickly as producers would like. Often this happens when there is a lack of sunlight, cold conditions or not enough rainfall. In these situations, grazing managers should look for ways…

Photo: It is impossible to tell by looking at frost-damaged sorghum-sudangrass what the prussic acid levels may be. Silage Corn In fields where rootworm Bt hybrids have been used for three or more consecutive years, resistance among corn rootworm populations is suspected. Producers can no longer rely solely on Bt rootworm hybrids for protection against rootworm injury. See the 2020 Canadian Bt Corn Trait Tablefor more information on which traits are present in your hybrid. The best management practice to reduce the resistant rootworm population is to rotate out of corn for at least one year. Producers are encouraged to replace corn for a minimum of one year, but ideally for the next two to three years. To replace silage corn…