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Forage sorghum is an alternative source for biofuel feedstock production and may also provide forage for livestock operations. Introducing biofuel feedstock as a dual-use forage to livestock operations has the potential to increase the adoption of biofuel feedstock production. However, additional technical agronomic information focusing on tillage, row arrangement, and harvest date for forage sorghum planted into pasturelands intended for dual use is needed. Three tillage treatments, disking and rototilling (RT), chisel plow (CP), and no tillage (NT), and two row arrangement treatments, single-row planting with 76.2 cm rows and twin rows of 17.8 cm on 76.2 cm centers, were tested for effects on forage sorghum yield in a 3-cut system. This study tested two sites in Booneville, AR, from 2010 to 2012. Several interactions with year were detected, likely due to large precipitation differences within and among years. The year greatly affected the yield, with greater (p < 0.05) yields in year 1 compared to years 2 and 3 in both locations. No till resulted in lower yields in some years and harvest dates, though no clear trend was detected among tillage treatments over years. Twin rows generally did not improve yield, except for the third harvest date at one location. No strong trends for tillage or row arrangement effects were observed in this study. Inconsistencies may have resulted from the strong influence of year or interactions of multiple factors, which may challenge producers interested in utilizing forage sorghum for biofuels and livestock feed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The decision to provide energy and protein sources to beef cows, offering low- or medium-quality forages, is critical to producers in terms of economics and animal production, particularly during gestation and lactation stages. While corn has been the predominant energy supplement, co-products of corn have increasingly been incorporated as energy supplements in forage-based diets because of lower cost. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of level of hominy feed supplementation on intake, digestibility, ruminal fermentation characteristics, and in situ dry matter disappearance of bermudagrass hay in lactating beef cows. Treatments were low hominy feed fed at 0.25% of body weight, medium hominy feed fed at 0.50% of body weight, low ground corn fed at 0.25% of body weight, medium ground corn fed at 0.50% of body weight, and no supplement (control). Hay dry-matter intake was not affected by supplementation and total dry-matter intake was greater with medium rates of supplementation. Supplementation did not affect ruminal parameters and did not affect dry matter disappearance of forages. Therefore, hominy feed can be used as an alternative feed to corn as an energy supplement without causing negative effects on measurements that are potential indicators of animal performance. Hominy feed (HF) has been evaluated in feedlot and dairy rations but has not been evaluated as a supplemental energy source for lactating beef cows. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of level of HF supplementation on intake, digestibility, ruminal fermentation characteristics, and in situ dry matter (DM) disappearance of bermudagrass hay. Five ruminally cannulated lactating beef cows (body weight (BW) = 596 kg, SE = 13.9) were used in an experiment with a 5 × 5 Latin square design. Treatments were a bermudagrass hay-basal diet with low HF (LH; 0.25% BW), medium HF (MH; 0.50% BW), low ground corn (LC; 0.25% BW), medium ground corn (MC; 0.50% BW) and no supplement (CON). Cows were housed individually, and supplements were offered at 0800 daily. Hay was offered to maintain 10% refusal. Periods were 16–d, with 10 d for adaptation. Ruminal fluid was sampled on d 14 of each period for measurement of pH, volatile fatty acids, and rumen ammonia-N. An in situ degradation experiment for bermudagrass hay was completed for each diet. Hay dry-matter intake (DMI % BW) was not affected (p = 0.14) by supplement, but total DMI (DMI % BW) was greater (p ≤ 0.05) in MH and MC compared to LH and CON. Digestible DMI % BW was greater (p = 0.05) in MH compared to LC, MC was intermediate, and LH and CON were lesser (p ≤ 0.01) than all other diets. Dry-matter fill, passage rate, and retention time did not differ by diet (p ≥ 0.31). A diet × time interaction was observed for ammonia-N (p = 0.0002), and propionate (p = 0.02) time effects were observed for other parameters, but no diet effects. Bermudagrass hay's potentially degradable fraction was greater (p ≤ 0.05) in LH than MH and CON, but effective DM degradability was not different (p = 0.39) among diets. Overall, no diets reduced hay intake or disappearance compared to CON; therefore, no negative associative effects were observed from any of the supplements at the levels offered in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tall fescue toxicosis is caused by ergot alkaloids produced by the fungus Neotyphodium coenophialum that resides within the majority of the tall fescue plants in the Southeastern and lower Midwestern US. Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) toxicosis is estimated to cost livestock producers over $1 billion dollars annually through reduced growth and reproductive performance. Improvements in performance by cattle grazing toxic tall fescue can have substantial economic advantages for livestock producers throughout the tall fescue region. Numerous methods to mitigate tall fescue toxicosis have been tried over the past 60+ years, but a practical solution to this problem has not been discovered to date. Forages used to dilute fescue include clovers which will not compete on much of the marginal sites that tall fescue predominates. As mentioned above, clovers have been used to dilute toxic fescue and have shown to be a good mitigation strategy if the clovers persist. Red clover extract (RCE) has shown promise in the mitigation of symptoms related to tall fescue toxicosis, but effective dosages have not yet been determined to date. Dorper ewe and wether lambs (n = 30, 34 ± 0.97 kg initial BW) were weighed and assigned randomly to one of five diets in a 2-period study. Diets consisted of a positive control of non-toxic tall fescue seed with no RCE (CONT), a negative control of toxic tall fescue seed with no RCE (E+0) and toxic tall fescue seed with RCE supplemented at 0.33 (E+33), 0.67 (E+67), and 1 (E+100) percent of the diet. Fescue seed was mixed with liquid molasses to ensure consumption, and seed, DDGS and RCE was offered at approximately 0800 and 1600 h, and bermudagrass hay was offered for ad libitum consumption. Lambs were housed in individual 1 × 1.5 m pens in an enclosed building where temperature was maintained at 27° C (80° F). The animal had an ad libitum access to water. Each period consisted of a 14-day adaptation period followed by 7 d of total fecal and urine collection. Diets were offered for ad libitum consumption during the first 12 days of each period and then held constant during the remaining 9 days. Dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM) intake was greater (P < 0.05) from CONT than all other treatments and E+33 was greater (P < 0.05) than E+10 and E+67. Digestibility of DM and OM were greater (P < 0.05) from CONT than all other treatments. By contrast, the diets did not influence (P > 0.05) nitrogen balance, urinary nitrogen losses, fecal nitrogen losses and nitrogen retained. Overall, results demonstrated that RCE inclusion into the diet of toxic tall fescue did not significantly change growth and performance parameters in sheep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical signs of photosensitivity in cattle can occur sporadically and unpredictably. It is believed that cases of photosensitivity may be underreported, causing inaccurate and inflated reports of mortality. Additionally, because secondary photosensitization in grazing cattle occurs with liver damage or dysfunction, photosensitivity can have many potential or associated causes. This case links a previous occurrence of coccidiosis to an outbreak of photosensitivity in grazing Holstein steers. Grazing management staff first observed clinical signs of photosensitivity 17 days after an outbreak of coccidiosis and subsequent turnout to spring pastures. Clinical signs were observed in 25% of the population. The severity of photosensitivity was variable and ranged from blistered skin on the muzzle to sloughing of unpigmented epidermis and thinly haired regions. Severely affected cattle were removed from pasture, housed under shade, monitored for infection, and recovered without treatment. Mild cases remained on pasture and recovered without treatment. Photosensitivity did not reoccur in the cattle that remained on pasture or in mildly affected cattle returned to pasture. Photosensitivity did not appear to be associated with pasture weeds, a specific forage species, or variable or extreme weather conditions that could have resulted in mycotoxin production. The occurrence appears to have been a result of a previous and concurrent coccidiosis outbreak that caused secondary photosensitization through hepatic lipidosis caused by anorexia and dehydration associated with the severe coccidiosis. Although clinical signs appeared suddenly, cattle recovered quickly and without treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The southeastern US covers a number of the USDA plant hardiness zones and is therefore quite versatile in the forages that can be grazed. Many of these forages have excellent nutritional values if utilized at the proper growth stage. Generally speaking, forage nutritional value is greater from cool-season vs warmseason forages and annual vs perennial forages and declines with forage maturity. However, these nutritional differences may be offset by other factors such as greater persistence, earlier grazing or harvest, a longer growing season, adaptation to adverse environments, etc. Therefore, when evaluating forages to improve the nutritional opportunities for grazing livestock, numerous factors should be included in addition to forage chemical composition. These factors include ease and cost of establishment, longevity, productivity, palatability, adaptability to a range of soil types and environments, tolerance to grazing, and compatibility with other plants in the ecosystem either concurrently or in subsequent growing seasons. Additionally, long-term sustainability and environmental benefits should be considered. Without considering a number of these and simply focusing on nutritional values, information and recommendations may be quite misleading and result in disappointment and ultimately a loss of trust by producers. Therefore, collaboration among disciplines and agencies and the ability to monitor key factors listed above over an extended timeframe will be required. Longer-scale studies, even when evaluating annual forages, across a range of weather conditions and seasons, will provide needed information that will ultimately help producers reduce risk. Therefore, we will discuss the necessary information required to allow us to make more useful recommendations for nutritional improvement for pastures in the southeast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pastures in the southeastern United States are dominated primarily by warm season perennials such as bermudagrass which can be low in energy. Assessment of stocker cattle performance on bermudagrass pastures overseeded with alternative warm-season forages, such as sorghum Sudan grass and cowpea, are scarce. A study was conducted during the summer of 2021 with crossbred steers (n = 72; 305 ± 2.8 kg initial BW) to investigate growth performance when grazing sorghum Sudan grass and sorghum Sudan grass intercropped with cowpea as alternatives to bermudagrass. The experiment was a randomized complete block design with 3 treatments and 3 replicates (2 ha each) per treatment. Treatments were bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers) (CON), CON overseeded with brown mid-rib sorghum Sudan grass (Sorghum bicolor L.) (SS), and SS with cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) (SSCP) planted in alternate planting passes. Forage samples were collected from 3, 0.25m2 quadrats placed randomly in the next available paddock just prior to grazing. The SSCP pastures had 3 additional randomly placed quadrats, 3 in SS and 3 in CP. Forage crude protein and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) did not differ (P >0.96 and 0.19, respectively) among treatments and averaged 9.1% and 65.6%. Pre-grazing forage mass was greater in SS and SSCP (P< 0.01) averaging 4,925, 3,460, and 1,590, in SS, SSCP, and CON, respectively. Animal gains were 1.04 in SSCP and 0.96 in SS, greater than 0.78 in CON (P< 0.01). Grazing days were greatest (P< 0.01) in CON (91 d) followed by SS (68 d), with the fewest grazing days in SSCP (60 d). Despite differences in grazing days, gain per ha, did not differ (P=0.39) among treatments, and averaged 261 kg/ha. Although SSCP and SS had fewer grazing days, gain per ha were similar among treatments due to greater ADG on SS and SSCP pastures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]