Based in Eden, New York, John Winchell has been involved in dairy cattle nutrition for over 25 years, with a focus on forage quality through data on harvest analytics and forage harvest timing. He is currently the global technical support for Alltech where he focuses on forage quality, storage management, inoculants, mycotoxins and tying these topics to on-farm nutrition support and troubleshooting. 

Timing is everything, was the message of John’s presentation at the Canadian Forage and Grassland Association’s (CFGA) 2024 conference in Guelph, Ontario in December. When it comes to producing high quality forage in large quantities there is a balance to be achieved, he told attendees. 
 
“It doesn’t matter if it’s beef cattle or dairy cattle; we know one thing, cows don’t lie...they’ll tell us about forage changes.” 

He said the secret to producing good forages is knowing when to harvest it. “Everything has a harvest window, you just have to know how to capture that and utilize it.” 

Weather is always the challenge, but one to which farmers can adapt. John said by focusing on heat units farmers can use data to fine-tune their harvest window, ensuring a higher quality crop. He looks at historical weather, crop history, forage inventory, the forage splits and forage samples for a farm, when he’s consulting with them.

When it comes to assessing a field for harvest, the best practice is to get into the field, split stems and look at where the actual quality is.  

He said his focus on heat days ties into digestibility of the forages. By harvesting forages at the right time, the quality of the forage is optimal for digestibility. However, the decision to harvest, or not harvest, shouldn’t be made by the calendar, because every year is different.

“Think about the leaves, think about dandelions, daffodils, everything comes out every year, at a similar time, but not the same time every year.” 

He said by looking at the degree days, farmers and producers can be more precise. He added by looking at plants with similar growing degree days, they can spot signs early. 
 
“When dandelions are at their fullest maturity, it matches (the maturity) of grasses,” he said. “It’s amazing how many things match up to when we should be harvesting our forages. When the dame’s rocket is blooming along side the road, the alfalfa is pretty close to ready.”

2024 conference recordings 
To hear all of this presentation, you can purchase access to it, and all of the recordings from the 2024 conference proceedings. Note, the recordings are available for free to those who registered for the 2024 conference. For more information, email [email protected]. 

Save the date for the CFGA’s 2025 conference 
The CFGA’s 16th Annual Conference will take place November 18 to 21 in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The conference is being organized in partnership with the CFGA provincial partner the  New Brunswick Soil and Crop Improvement Association (NBSCIA). The theme is  Greener Horizons: Technological Innovations in Forage and Grassland Management  and the event will include pre-conference workshops, two days of presentations and a not-to-be-missed post conference tour to several New Brunswick farms. More details coming soon.