Our Web site searching found that oats, at milk stage, contain a mliky substance in seeds. To confirm that, here's what we found from the University of Florida extension on harvesting small grains for silage, taken from its Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/DS155:

"There are typically three stages of identifiable plant maturities at which small grains are harvested - boot, milk, and dough stages. The boot stage is the time when the head is enclosed by the sheath of the uppermost leaf. The milk stage is when the grain head releases a white liquidy substance when opened. The grain head continues to lay down carbohydrates so that its consistency becomes more dough-like thus the label 'dough stage'."

Have you tried the Organic Seed Database (http://seeds.omri.org/index.php?List=Suppliers)? You can put in the crop you're interested in buying and get a list of suppliers. There's also a handy resource button on the left-hand column on the Web site's home page that offers other sites to find organic seed. Good luck on your project!

If you’re looking for perennial crops to winter-graze, tall fescue is “the gold standard” in Missouri, says Rob Kallenbach, University of Missouri extension forage specialist. “Tall fescue is the one that can be stockpile grazed, where basically we accumulate forage growth from mid-August through the end of the growth cycle in autumn and we can graze it through winter,” he says.

Perennial ryegrass is his next choice. But this grass doesn’t have long-term persistence in the humid areas of the U.S. and doesn’t have as much growth as tall fescue in autumn. Orchardgrass, he adds, would be his third pick for late-autumn or winter grazing. “There are limitations to all of those in terms of forage quality, not so much on the protein side as on the energy side of the equation,” he adds.

“If you want higher quality, use some annual species,” Kallenbach says. The most widely used is winter rye or winter wheat. “Winter rye can be seeded for forage towards the tail end of August to the first of September in this environment. And if we would grow it in autumn and graze it through winter, its quality will be substantially over any of those perennial species that I mentioned.”

Wheat is another good annual grazing crop “We get a lot of winter pasture on wheat in the High Plains but it could be used in the more humid regions as well.” Annual ryegrss can be used from the Missouri River south, and in the entire southeastern U.S., triticale, a cross of rye and wheat, works, too, he says.

For information on stockpiling fall and winter pasture, download
www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/agr/agr162/agr162.pdf. To learn more on stockpiling tall fescue, visit
http://forages.oregonstate.edu/is/tfis/book.cfm?PageID=366&chapter=15§ion=0.

"I visited with several coworkers about this and our consensus is that there would be several problems," says Gerald Evers, a pasture management specialist with Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Texas A&M. "A bermudagrass trial in Uvalde, TX, had problems with rodents chewing the underground drip line seeking the moisture. When there is a break in the drip line one has to dig to find and repair it. Salt in the water could stop up the emitters. The 40" spacings are not a problem because bermudagrass roots can grow down to 6-10' deep if the soil is that deep. Because of the expense, we would suggest doing an acre or two to see how it works before doing a large area."

Feeding alfalfa hay and pasture to the average horse will most likely result in significant weight gain. However, forage (hay and/or pasture) should be the backbone of a horse’s diet, with at least two-thirds of the diet being some type of forage. Alfalfa is an excellent forage for most livestock, but the forage quality of good alfalfa hay and pasture exceeds the nutritional needs for most horses. The average adult horse (lightly worked or ridden) needs about 10% crude protein in its diet. The crude protein in most good-quality alfalfa hays and pastures vastly exceeds 10%. Although feeding excess protein to horses does not result in any short-term health problems, it can lead to strong-smelling urine (a concern if the horses are stalled in a barn) and can contribute to weight gain. If buying hay, hay with higher protein levels usually demands a higher price. Numerous horse owners are paying premiums for protein that is not needed by their animals.

Alfalfa hays and pastures also have higher digestible energy (DE) compared to grass hays and pastures. DE is used to balance the energy portion of a horse’s diet. Again, feeding alfalfa hay and pasture to the average horse will probably cause it to gain weight. Horse health problems tied to excessive weight gain include Cushings, metabolic syndrome, laminitis or founder, and insulin resistance. The potential for excessive weight gain is the major drawback for feeding a high quantity of alfalfa to horses. Mares that are lactating or in late-term gestation, or horses that are in an intensive training program, would most likely benefit from adding some alfalfa to their diets because of the increased energy.

Calcium (Ca) and Phosphorus (P) are critical to bone and tissue formation in horses. For the average adult horse, the Ca:P ratio should be between 3:1 to 1:1. A benefit of having alfalfa as part of your forage is that alfalfa hays and pastures tend to have higher calcium levels relative to phosphorus, and have higher Ca levels than most grass hays and pastures. It is important to have your forage and grain tested to ensure the Ca:P is adequate and never inverted, especially in young, growing foals.

Not only will horses gain weight on pastures with a high quantity of alfalfa, but there are also pasture management practices to consider. Horses are selective grazers and some research studies have shown that horses prefer alfalfa over grasses in a pasture. In a mixed grass – alfalfa pasture, horses will actually choose to continuously graze the alfalfa, while leaving the grasses. However, most varieties of alfalfa will not withstand continuous grazing and will be short-lived in a pasture. To extend the life of alfalfa in a pasture, choose a variety that is recommended for grazing and make sure to rest the pasture and allow regrowth.

Bottom line, alfalfa is an excellent forage, but should not be fed (as the sole forage or in high quantities) to the average adult horse because of the potential for excessive weight gain and the negative health effects tied to weight gain. Feeding alfalfa (not usually as the sole forage, but in higher quantities) can be useful for classes of horses that require additional energy, including lactating mares and horses in intensive training programs.

Krishona Martinson, PhD
Extension Educator
University of Minnesota Extension
763-767-3842
bjork026@umn.edu