Maryland Forages

08/28/2026

08/17/2026

Not a bad way to start the week- rotated everyone to a fresh paddock this morning! We are still grazing the summer annuals here at WMREC, started in early July and are working through our second rotation across the field. The last time this section was grazed was probably about three and a half weeks ago.

08/17/2026

A very important point to remember when working with cover crops!

🌱 What’s Your Cover Crop Goal?

Before you buy your cover crop seed, ask yourself: What do I actually want this cover crop to do?

Is your goal to:
🌿 Suppress weeds?
💧 Reduce erosion and keep soil covered?
🧪 Scavenge leftover nutrients?
🫘 Fix nitrogen?
🌱 Build soil health?
🐄 Provide grazing or forage?
🚜 Improve soil structure and trafficability?

Your goal should drive which species you choose—and how much of each species you plant.

And remember: more species doesn't automatically mean a better mix. Some species are much more competitive than others and can dominate a mixture if planted at their full solo-crop rate.

According to the Penn State Agronomy Guide, starting points for competitive species in a 2–3 species mixture include:

🌱 Forage radish: 2–3 lb/A
🌱 Canola: 3–4 lb/A
🌾 Sorghum-sudangrass: 15–20 lb
🌾 Oats: 20–30 lb/A

Legumes tend to be weaker competitors, so they can generally be kept closer to their full sole-crop seeding rate to help ensure establishment. These are starting points, not hard-and-fast rules—planting date, conditions, species combinations, and your goals all matter.

The bottom line: Have a goal in mind BEFORE you buy your seed. Build the mix around the goal—not the other way around.

👇 What’s your #1 cover cropping goal? Drop it in the comments!

https://extension.psu.edu/making-the-most-of-mixtures-considerations-for-winter-cover-crops?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Photo Credit: Stephen Campbell, Penn State Extension

08/05/2026

We are looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow night at Plow and Stars Farm for this pasture walk! Join us for discussion on a wide range of topics including multi-species grazing, virtual fencing, crop to pasture conversion, and silvopasture.

Join Future Harvest, the Million Acre Challenge, and for a twilight pasture tour at Plow and Stars Farm! 🌱🐄 ⁠
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Learn about multi-species grazing, virtual fencing, transitioning grain fields to regenerative agriculture, and silvopasture systems. Participants will also see a demonstration of the Maryland Soil Health Card and learn how to assess key indicators of soil health in the field.⁠
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🌾 We hope to see you there!

07/28/2026

We have more upcoming events happening over the next few months! Don't forget to sign up to join us, there will be lots of interesting things to see on the agenda, including multi-species grazing, soil health, virtual fencing systems, silvopasture, and addressing common pasture problems. Check out the links below for more information and stay tuned for additional opportunities.

August 6 at 5 PM - Pasture Walk at Plow and Stars Farm (Poolesville, MD): https://go.umd.edu/pwaugust

August 17 at 5 PM - Pasture Diagnostic Clinic at the Mill of Salisbury (Salisbury, MD): https://go.umd.edu/pastureclinic

September 21 at 5 PM - Pasture Walk at Grazy Days Farm (Union Bridge, MD): https://go.umd.edu/pwseptember

07/27/2026

An interesting study that compared GPS collars against solar-powered ear tag technologies for animal tracking.

Interested in seeing some virtual fencing collars in action? Join us at our August Pasture Walk to learn more! More info at https://go.umd.edu/pwaugust

WEEKLY RESEARCH SHARE

In a previous post, I showed a picture of a sheep wearing a GPS collar. Some people might consider these collars burdensome to the animal. Even if they're not, public perception may disagree, and there are other issues at play. Ear tags would be a better option for sheep and goats, especially when you consider wool growth and growth of young animals. A study comparing GPS collars and ear tags was recently published.

Title
The good, the bad, and the ugly: Comparison of GPS collar and solar-powered ear tag technologies for animal tracking

Highlights
• GPS performance was largely unaffected by canopy cover.
• Performance was generally consistent across manufacturers.
• Fix success was high for devices using LoRaWAN across levels of canopy cover.
• Accuracy and precision differed among devices using LoRaWAN.
• Efficacy of GPS ear tags can be comparable to GPS collars.

Abstract
Animal-borne global positioning system (GPS) technology is advancing rapidly, providing new opportunities to study animal ecology and improve livestock management. Evaluation of emerging GPS technologies is needed, particularly those incorporating autonomous solar charging and satellite, cellular, and Long-Range Wide-Area Network (LoRaWAN) data transmission. We quantified and compared the performance of GPS neck collars and solar-powered GPS ear tags using stationary trials conducted under varying canopy cover conditions. Using a crossover design, we evaluated fix acquisition probability (Pacq), horizontal error (HE), circular error probable (CEP), and, when applicable, battery longevity for 10 GPS devices (7 collars and 3 ear tags) produced by 9 manufacturers. GPS performance was generally consistent across manufacturers and device types and showed limited sensitivity to canopy cover. Devices using LoRaWAN maintained high Pacq (0.92–0.99) across canopy conditions, though HE (2.94–19.70 m) and 95% CEP (7.07–77.83 m) varied substantially among devices. Track Tag and 701x ear tags exhibited high Pacq, low HE and CEP, and sustained functionality throughout the study, indicating potential for wildlife and livestock monitoring. A minimum of 84 locations was sufficient for centroid variation to reliably represent HE. Horizontal error was centered on a device-specific centroid rather than the true location, resulting in systematic bias ranging from 0.96 to 3.50 m, except for one device (11.52 m). Overall, GPS ear tags achieved performance metrics comparable to traditional collars. These results can inform technology selection, though extrapolation beyond stationary conditions should be made cautiously, as GPS performance is often optimized under static deployments.

Source: Smart Agricultural Technology, March 2026

https://nri.tamu.edu/media/aqslfmny/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-comparison-of-gps-collar-and-solar-powered-ear-tag-technologies-for-animal-tracking.pdf

07/24/2026

For those interested in cover crops - check out the upcoming Cover Crop Showcase happening Wednesday August 19th, 2026, from 9am to 1pm. This is a free event, and lunch is included. Join to learn about cover crop planning and management, pest management in cover crops, and the latest results from the Maryland "planting green" research trials. More info at https://go.umd.edu/covercropshowcase

Join University of Maryland Extension, Future Harvest, and Million Acre Challenge for a Cover Crop Showcase.
Wednesday August 19th, 2026, from 9am to 1pm.
This is a free event, and lunch is included.

Learn about cover crop planning and management, pest management in cover crops, and the latest results from the Maryland "planting green" research trials.

07/23/2026

Did you receive our most recent Forage Focus email? Lots of good info on building resilience into our forage systems, along with new sections for research updates and a monthly photo recap!

You can find the July issue at https://mailchi.mp/3d80687725b3/maryland-forage-focus-july-2026 and if you don't get the emails you can sign up to receive them at https://go.umd.edu/forageemails

This month our discussion is focused on resilience within our forage systems. Are your forages staying productive through periods of drought, heat, and summer storms? Have your livestock continued to perform well through the intense summer heat? Are there ways you could improve your system to better...

07/17/2026

Animals at the research station have been moving through our summer annuals over the last few weeks, we have been moving them faster across this field but these fast-growing forages are still starting to get a little ahead of us! We are definitely not complaining about having all of this high quality forage growth to use for grazing during the heat of the summer though, and the perennial pastures are having a nice long rest period.