Winter feeding is the biggest annual expense in a cattle operation. Any day you can let animals harvest grass and turn that grass into beef is a day saved from feeding expensive hay or purchased feed. One way to get a few more days of grazing is to plant a winter annual forage.
Winter annuals such as wheat, rye, and annual ryegrass can provide high quality forage during the fall, winter, and spring. For the earliest fall grazing, rye is often the best choice. It generally produces the most fall and early winter grazing of the winter annual grasses, and it is more cold-tolerant than other small grains.
In contrast, annual ryegrass usually produces forage later into the spring than the other winter annual grasses. To get the maximum amount of forage produced, a mixture of rye and annual ryegrass can provide early forage from the rye and then late forage from the annual ryegrass. Winter grazing will help keep the rye from being too competitive with the annual ryegrass.
If a single species is desired, wheat is often the best choice. It gives the best combination of winter and spring forage production. Wheat can be used for grazing or hay, and if harvested correctly, can provide an extremely high quality diet for livestock.
Adding crimson clover or arrowleaf clover to any of these species will decrease the amount of nitrogen that needs to be applied while also increasing the quality of the pasture. Plantings need to be done by mid-October for best results and to maximize days of grazing.
Grazing of winter annuals should begin when the forage is approximately 8-10 inches tall. The animals should be removed when plants are grazed down to about 3 inches. Dividing the pasture into multiple paddocks and rotating the cattle will prevent waste and allow you to get maximum grazing efficiency.
Winter annual grasses can also produce a high quality hay or haylage crop if they are harvested correctly. Because of their high moisture content and the difficulty in getting weather conditions for hay making during early spring, it is usually easier to make haylage than hay from these crops.
Small grain and ryegrass pastures provide high quality grazing during the fall, winter, and spring. The high nutrient content of these forages can provide excellent performance for your livestock. If you would like more information about winter annuals, feel free to contact the University of Tennessee Extension office at 615-735-2900.
