Handling Flood Damaged Crops

Prepared by Paul Cerosaletti

Sent by Pete Carey and Joe Walsh

We urge you to document damage to fields and contact the Farm Service Agency in Liberty (845) 292-6471 to report crop damage. You are strongly encouraged to take photos of damage. Such information may be critical in federal emergency determinations and eligibility for such programs.

Silt deposited on forage poses several concerns for use of this feed as silage. We have researched these concerns and have detailed them below, in addition to options for handling this feed.

Stored Forage:

The primary concern is forage (primarily chopped silage and round bale silage that may have been exposed to flood waters (contamination with silt and bacteria) and torn bale wrap. For silage that has undergone fermentation already, dig into the silage or open bales up. Assess smell and color. If it looks and smells good it may be OK to feed. Experience has shown that some of this feed may be salvageable. Discard forage that is visibly contaminated with silt. Consider re-wrapping torn bales as soon as possible to avoid heating and spoilage. Feed torn bales up soon. Limiting the amount in the ration (mix with other good feeds) to lower the risk of causing animal health problems.

Standing Forage:

There is very little research regarding harvesting silt contaminated corn and haycrop for silage. The following concerns are potential scenarios based on what we know about fermentation of silages.

Corn and/or haycrop containing moderate to excessive amounts of silt is at higher risk for clostridial fermentation. Soil contamination is the primary source of clostridium bacteria. Silage that undergoes clostridial fermentation (as opposed the desired lactate fermentation):

• Is usually wet (usually less than 30% DM)
• Has a distinctly rank odor,
• Has a higher pH (over 5.0)
• May contain potentially deadly botulism toxins.

Such silage may also be at increased risk for mycotoxin contamination due to poor fermentation, and may also contain higher levels of coliform bacteria. Soil contaminated silage may also contain listeria bacteria (listeriosis).

Emergency Crop Options

Prepared by Paul Cerosaletti

First, we urge you to document damage to fields and contact the Farm Service Agency in Liberty (845-299-6471) to report crop damage. You are strongly encouraged to take photos of damage. Such information may be critical in federal emergency determinations and eligibility for such programs.

Haycrop situation:

• Bush hog, or move and remove silted haycrop and allow regrowth to occur. Additional nitrogen from manure or urea on grass will likely give a response as soil moisture is not limiting plant growth.
• Till haycrop under and plant emergency crop.

Corn Situation:

Corn can take some flooding. A field walk will likely tell you if your corn is likely to survive; If not consider emergency crop options

Emergency Crop Options:

• Sorghum-sudan grass and sudan grass:
• Some seed supplies have bolstered their supply in preparation for farmer demand from the flooding.
• These crops can be planted until late July (about the 3^rd week) and still get one harvest in September or early October (before frost).
• BMR (brown mid rib) types have much higher feed value than non BMR types, but consider non BMR types if BMR seed is not available. Non BMR types may have very good vigor and/or fast regrowth.
• Seed into a seed bed prepared as for legume/grass seeding. Seed at 60-70 lbs/acre rate. Plant with seeder or grain drill. Some have had success with broadcasting seed and then rolling. Don’t plant too deep (1/4 – ½ deep max). Make sure seed gets covered though, or birds will consume seed.
• After July 1, plan for at most 2 harvests, and more likely 1, as growth of these warm season grasses slows dramatically in September when nights get cool. In hot humid weather this crop can grow 3 inches per day.
• Planted at this time of year, plan on harvesting at 4-5 ft (for 2 cuttings) or if growth is slow, or into September, plan on one cutting at final height (usually 7-8 ft) for maximum tonnage (at this height quality will be lower, but BMR types will still have good fiber digestibility, actually better than late cut grass)
• Understand that these crops are high in water content and can be a challenge to get dry for even silage in September/October, depending on the weather. Best drying results have been with a mower-conditioner with crushing rolls (not tines).

Options:

The following are several options for dealing with silt contaminated crops based on discussions with Drs. Bill Stone and Larry Chase of Cornell University and Dr. Limin Kung, world renown silage fermentation specialist at the University of Delaware:

• Bush hog. May still need to remove chopped forage if it will leave too much trash for successive cuttings

o Note: Silt and seed will cause excessive wear in a field chopper. Bush hogging may be better option or cut and round bale to remove

· Till under and replant emergency crop. See Emergency Crops Options fact sheet.

· Harvest as dry hay

· WE DO NOT RECOMMEND HARVESTING SILTED HAYCROP AS SILAGE!!

o This crop will be at high risk for failed fermentation and in the worst case scenario can kill cows or make them severely sick.

• While we do not recommend harvesting as silage, for those that do:

o Harvest at a Dry Matter content between 35-40% DM (40-50% for baleage). This will limit chances for a clostridial fermentation. DO NOT HARVEST TOO WET OR TOO DRY!!! Check DM content!

o If forage is drier, chop finer (shorter length of cut).

o Store silt contaminated silage separately (ag bag, separate silo, baleage)

o Inoculate silage with a reputable lactic acid bacteria inoculant (guideline: the inoculant should provide at least 10⁵ (100,000) colony forming units, or cfu’s, per gram of forage). Considering using an inoculant that contains Lactobacillus buchneri in addition to another Lactobacillus bacterium, especially if forage is drier.

o Buffered proprionic acid preservatives may also be useful to limit mold and yeast growth, especially in drier silage, but may not reduce risk clostridial fermentation. Apply at rate of 3-4 lbs acid per ton of forage.

o Addition of molasses at the 40-80 lbs per ton of forage will aid fermentation, but may not be practical.

o If forage must be harvested on the wet side (<30% DM) consider adding an absorbent like dried beet pulp, citrus pulp, soyhulls or wheat midds. Stay away from straw or poor quality haycrop. Determine how much to add to get the forage up to 30%+ DM content. Call Cooperative Extension (845-292-6180) if you need help. Be sure to get a good distribution in the harvested forage for best results.

o Follow good harvest management; harvest quickly and pack well.

• If contaminated feeds must be fed, introduce them slowly in ration. Feed at a low rate.
• Feeding contaminated feed to smaller animals (heifers) may not be advisable as their bodyweight is less relative to toxin load.
• Sample contaminated forage before feeding.
• Consider feed additives to bind or absorb toxins. Talk with your feed rep.
• Can be harvested as chopped silage, baleage, or grazed (do not graze after a frost). Dry to at least 35% DM for silage;
• If taking more than one harvest, leave 6” of stubble for fastest regrowth.

• Oats/ Spring triticale

• These spring grains can be planted in mid-late August – early Sept. and still get a fall crop. These grains are a better option after the third week in July.
• Spring triticale may be more disease resistant in fall than oats.
• Seed into ground prepared as for a spring seeding and seed at 3 bushel per acre rate
• We recommend against using these crops as a companion crop for a summer seeding as they provide too much competition for the legume/grass seeding before winter.
• Field testing we have done in Delaware County has shown that these crops can produce very high quality forage in the fall, particularly fiber digestibility, rivaling or exceeding BMR corn or sorghum-sudangrass fiber digestibility.
• Understand that these crops are high in water content and can be a challenge to get dry for even silage in October, depending on the weather.
• Try to get forage as dry as possible (>35% DM for chopped silage, >40% DM for baleage) for best fermentation of small grains. Small grains have been associated with poor fermentation (particularly clostridial fermentation) when harvested too wet.

• Winter rye:

o Recent research conducted by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware County has demonstrated that winter rye produces very high quality forage, with very high digestibility. It’s also very hardy and grows when temperatures are very cool.

o Plant by the 3^rd week of August and you may be able to get a fall harvest. Fall yield will be better with spring oats or triticale.

o Winter rye will be ready to harvest the first 2 weeks of May the following year.

• Millet:
• Millet can be seeded in mid summer, but it is lower yielding than sorghum-sudan and sudangrass.
• Japanese German, Hungarian and Pearl millets are best suited for forage production. Japanese type grows very quickly.
• Plant a ½ - 1.0 bushel per acre rate. (30-45 lbs per acre)
• Is a very high water content crop