Using drought stressed soybeans for hay or silage

By Jason Hartschuh, Extension Field Specialist, Dairy Management and Precision Livestock, Ohio State University Extension

Long before soybeans were cultivated as oil seed crops, they were first domesticated and used in the United States primarily as a forage. Soybeans harvested as forage are high in protein and lower in fiber than grasses making them an excellent forage if harvested and stored properly. Soybeans harvested as a forage can have dry matter yields as high as 5 tons per acre but are often much lower when the soybeans are planted late as a rescue forage or transitioned to forage due to drought.

Soybean feed value from Hintz from the late 1980s showed that when soybeans were harvested at R7, crude protein values across 3 different varieties ranged from 18.1%-20.5%. The NDF values for the soybeans ranged from 39.5-42.2. Dry matter yield ranged from 3-3.6 tons per acre. Row spacing and seeding rate had little effect on yield or forage quality.… Continue reading