Managing Your Horse Pastures

by Joel Bagg, Forage Specialist, Jack Kyle, Pasture Specialist & Melanie Beech, OMAF and MRA Well managed horse pastures can contribute significant forage to the diet, while providing necessary horse health benefits, fulfilling the horse’s psychological need to graze, and minimizing the risk of poisonous weeds. Too often we see over-grazed horse pastures, filled with […]

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Forage Report – June 26, 2013

  Although there was a good window to make quality dry hay the week of June 17th, rainy weather continues to be challenging, and there is significant first-cut remaining to be made. Yields are good, but maturity is now quite advanced. Second-cut regrowth is excellent on early-cut haylage fields, and second-cut will begin shortly. Hay […]

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Forage Report – June 19, 2013

First-cut is still underway, with the first good opportunity to make dry hay without rain-damage the week of June 17th. Lots of propionate hay preservative and plastic wrap is being used. Some wet fields have been badly rutted. Yields are generally good, but maturity is advanced. Grasses are more mature relative to the alfalfa. Second-cut […]

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Soybean Aphids Starting Up

I have been hearing reports of soybean aphids starting to pop up on non-Cruiser soybeans in Ontario. It has been a few years since we’ve had to deal with them so I thought a refresher might be in order. Soybean aphids initially start to colonize in pockets of early planted fields. Several plants in these […]

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Take An Accurate Hay Sample

Hay sampling should be a very simple, basic task, but is often a weak link in forage quality evaluation. Samples are taken for laboratory analysis so that we can balance rations, achieve livestock performance and determine the market value of the hay . Think about what we are trying to accomplish when we take a hay […]

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Net Wrap Or Twine?

What’s better on large round bales – net wrap or twine? Of course, the question is largely a matter of personal preference.  Some of the suggested advantages of net wrap include faster baling, lower baling losses, better bale integrity during handling and transport, better water shedding ability and lower outdoor storage losses. The net wrap […]

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Bugs versus Slugs

I admit that scouting soys when just the cotyledons are out makes for tough pest injury diagnostics. It does take some years of experience to really get to know what you are looking at. Three pests that commonly feed on the cotyledons include seed corn maggot, bean leaf beetle and slugs. Occasionally, the feeding damage […]

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