Summer Annuals Beat the Heat

Cover Crop Grazing Pasture Walk in Franklin County

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(Carlisle, PA) – Summer heat and reduced rainfall slows the growth of cool season pastures forcing graziers to compensate by adjusting grazing plans or using stored forage. Others find they can keep livestock on pasture longer by planting and grazing a multi-species summer annual cover crop. Summer annual cover crops can be used as part of a regular crop rotation or prior to converting to permanent pasture but require planning and infrastructure for successful implementation. The method, including benefits and necessary infrastructure, will be featured during a pasture walk hosted by Capital RC&D at the farm of Alan and Margaret Jaymes of Sylvan Angus, in Mercersburg, PA on July 13, 2021 from 9:30 AM to 12:00 PM.
 
Alan and Margaret Jaymes raise cow calf pairs on approximate 70 grazable acres. They planted a multi-species summer annual cover crop for the first time in 2020 as part of Capital RC&D’s cover crop grazing initiative. Alan installed perimeter fencing and waterlines before planting and grazing a winter wheat cover crop, which was followed by a multi-species summer annual mix in June. “I pastured the summer annual two separate times and was in the midst of the third when we got frost. So, four rotations when in normal times we wouldn’t have had anything” Jaymes noted, “it was a tremendous success and we’re doing the same again this year.” Alan will share detail about the project and their grazing operation during the July 13th pasture walk, including pasture management, cover crop and pasture species selection, fencing, and their gravity watering system with solar well pump.
Technical advisors and researchers will be onsite to share detail about ongoing research and address specific questions.
 
There is no charge for the pasture walk but registration is requested and can be made online at www.capitalrcd.org, by emailing [email protected], or by calling 717-241-4361- please leave a message for extension 15.
 
Capital RC&D’s Promoting Grazing and Cover Cropping by Developing Better Practice Information, Outreach and Cost-sharing project, a collaboration between researchers from Penn State University, grazing specialists from USDA-NRCS, grazing advisors from Capital RC&D, and researchers from USDA-ARS, that is funded through a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed grant.
 
For more information contact Cheryl Burns at Capital RC&D at 717-241-4361 or via email at [email protected].  

Cow calf pairs grazing multi-species summer annual cover crop at Sylvan Acres in Franklin County, PA. Photo courtesy of Alan and Margaret Jaymes

Multi-species summer annual cover crop at Sylvan Acres in Franklin County, PA. Photo courtesy of Alan and Margaret Jaymes