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Core Ideas• Nutritive value of late-summer-planted oats, radishes, and turnips is high in early fall.• Oats, radishes, and turnips maintain a high nutritive value through early winter.• Brassicas remain high in sulfur through the fall with potential for toxicity. AbstractThe change in nutritive value of late-summer-planted oats (Avena sativa L.) and brassicas (Brassica spp.) during the fall in the Midwestern US is not well documented. A mixture of 'Jerry' oats, 'daikon' oilseed radish (Raphanus sativus L.), and 'purple top' turnip (Brassica rapa ssp. rapa L.) was drill-seeded in late August/early September in southcentral Nebraska over two years. Forage was collected in early November, early December, and mid-January. The mean in vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) of radish (86%) and turnip (87%) tops were high and were greater than oats (75%). Within forage type, IVOMD did not decline from November to December, but due to a decline in total ethanol soluble carbohydrates in January, IVOMD decreased 10 percentage units for oats and 5 percentage units for brassica tops from December to January. However, these forages would still be considered high energy even in January. In both years, crude protein (CP) of all forages was high, with oats (16% CP) being less than both radish (27%) and turnip (24%) tops. Little change in CP occurred over the sampling period. Sulfur content of the brassicas was high in November (0.8-0.9% S) and remained above 0.5% S through January, suggesting that the potential for sulfur toxicity, if grazed alone, persists. Delayed grazing of these cool-season forage mixtures late into the fall and early winter is an option for cattle producers in the Midwestern US, as nutritive value remains appropriate for growing cattle or lactating beef cows.

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When utilizing annual forages, one challenge beef cattle producers may face is nitrate toxicity. To understand how often producers cope with and test for high nitrates in annual forages, an online survey was distributed through the “UNL Beefwatch” newsletter and participants of extension meetings in Kansas and Nebraska were encouraged to fill out the survey. Most respondents were from the Midwest (n = 107/115; 93%) and indicated that the issue of nitrate toxicity when feeding annual forages is important to them (70%). The majority of the respondents (85%) indicated that they utilize annual forages in three or more years out of five. Producers were more (P = 0.02) likely to test annual forages fed as hay (53%) than grazed (38%). However, there was a tendency (P = 0.09) for more producers to respond that they have had toxicity issues with annual forage pasture (34%) than with hay (24%). Producers were not more likely to test annual forage pasture (P = 0.28) or hay (P = 0.94) if they previously experienced a nitrate toxicity issue. A producer’s past experience with toxicity also did not impact the likelihood that they would graze (P = 0.31) or feed hay (P = 0.28) that tested high in nitrate in the future. The majority of producers responded that they “rarely” or “almost never” used the forage if a pasture (14%) or hay (36%) tested high. Though producers indicate concern about nitrate toxicity in annual forages, most have not experienced issues (62%) and those that have do not appear to make different management decisions based on that experience.