Jim Russell, local forage producer, examines some soybean hay that he has had trucked-in to his
farm, to help supply his regular customers with forage for the their livestock. "This is the worst I've
ever seen forage conditions in Hopkins County," expressed Russell.
"Ask the Expert!"
Local Forage Producer
"Tapped" By Arkansas Farm Bureau
by: Bobby McDonald
During critical times folks start looking for answers, and Arkansas Farm Bureau staff came to Hopkins County for possible solutions to the critical hay and forage shortages that exist during this year's drouth. Noted Hopkins County forage producer, Jim Russell, was the guest speaker at last weekend's Arkansas Young Farmer & Rancher Convention in Hot Springs. Jim and his wife, Carolyn, traveled to Arkansas, where he was the featured speaker on forages and forage production.
When asked about what he told them, Russell stated, "I told them this was the worst drouth conditions that I had ever seen in my lifetime and that I certainly didn't have all the answers!"
"I also advised them that the most critical thing to have in an outstanding forage program was rain, and I had definitely learned that the hard way," expressed Russell. "We've received about 3/10th of an inch of rain on our farm in the past 60 days, and you can't make quality forage under those conditions!"
Russell stated that he had received only one "light" cutting on his coastal bermudagrass meadows and Tipton-44 meadows. And, he has cut his Tipton-85 twice, receiving only partial cuttings each time. "The Tipton-85 has withstood the drouth conditions much better than the other grasses, and is the only thing that is 'green' on our farm," advised Russell. "But, you can't grow any kind of forage under these current conditions."
Russell is "scrambling" to purchase soybean hay, alfalfa, and other forages to offer his regular customers some kind of forage for the winter. However, he states that the freight and trucking costs makes any kind of forage that has to be trucked to Hopkins County, high. "With over three dollars a gallon for diesel fuel, you can purchase hay in another area of the country at a reasonable rate and by the time you get it trucked here, you have some mighty expensive feed," explained Russell. "Folks will be feeding many things to livestock this winter that they've never fed before!"
"I advise my customers and I explained to the group in Arkansas that during these critical times you must figure closely to see what will give you the most nutrition for the dollar," further stated Russell. "Milo stalks are going for as high as $45.00 a big round roll, in the field, and we all know that there is little feed value to them. Then, alfalfa is going for almost $200.00 a ton, but is the greater value, when you can replace much of your protein needs with the quality forage."
Russell denoted that the Tipton-85, on the left in the above picture has withstood the drouth conditions
better than other grasses on his farm, this summer.
When asked about the loss of many of the grass stands on local farms being lost to the drouth, Russell advised that he didn't think he had lost much, but if we didn't receive some rain soon, sprigs might be lost. "Bermudagrass and its hybrids have deep root systems, so for now the plants are staying alive, but without some kind of moisture quickly, we're going to see some loss," affirmed Russell. "This is the worst I've ever seen it, with two years in a row of practically no summer moisture in Hopkins County."
On a more cheerful note, Russell did express that they actually saw some "puddles" in the road, as they made their trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas, "so it hasn't forgotten how to rain!" Russell expressed his thanks to the Arkansas Farm Bureau for their nice hospitality, as he and Carolyn enjoyed a weekend away from the farm!
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