| | There is no one 'best' method that all producers should use in their production and feeding choices. In a cow/calf business, feeding is the largest production cost. Many cow/calf managers are of the opinion that the biggest opportunity to lower the cost of producing a calf to market weight is to keep cows grazing for more than the average 150 to 200 grazing day season widely used.
"There are, however, times and places where grazing can be more expensive than some of the low cost alternate feeds. These are situations where factors such as high land ownership costs, low yield, high rent, short grazing season, high transportation costs and cheaper stored feeds, come into play," says Russel Horvey, beef/forage specialist with Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development's Ag-Info Centre, Stettler.
When it comes to winter annuals used for grazing, the most popular crops are fall rye, winter wheat and winter triticale. The more common annuals are oats and barley. There are also instances when heels of seed left over from seeding are mixed and seeded for grazing. In this case almost anything can make it into the mix for grazing, wheat, peas, canola, etc.
What are some of the pros and cons of some of the different annuals used for grazing?
"Of the winter cereals used for grazing, fall rye has an advantage of having a higher winter survival rate," says Horvey. "Fall rye will provide early spring grazing the second year more often than the other less winter-hardy winter cereals. Spring cereals, in the year of seeding, will actually produce more top growth, more quickly, than the winter cereals."
To get the best results growing annual forages, fertilizer rates should be increase by about 25 per cent. The burden of an extended growing season increases fertilizer requirements. These crops grow well into the fall, as opposed to a crop that ripens in August.
"Annual forages also have the potential for improved water use efficiency," says Horvey. "More of the moisture received during the growing season can be used for growth, assuming the plants are in a green, vegetative state throughout the growing season. This increased potential for growth, from the same amount of rainfall, means that the plants will require additional nutrients for additional growth."
Producers may also want to consider legume crops as grazing annual forages. Legume crops can be used to offset some of the nitrogen fertilizer requirements. Sweet clover is a legume worthy of consideration.
"When using sweet clover as the legume of choice keep in mind that it is a bi-annual that produces less vegetation the first year," says Horvey. "During its second year, it will require fairly heavy grazing or early cutting for feed, to prevent it from getting too coarse. Sweet clover also creates some weed control challenges for the two years this legume is in the stand."
Annuals at their most vegetative stage will be high in protein and low in fiber. Feeds high in protein and low in fiber can cause a condition in cattle called high blood urea. This condition can cause an acidic condition in the reproductive tract resulting in reduced conception rates. Putting out feeds lower in protein content and higher in fiber content can reduce the risk of this condition. This is another reason for seeding annuals such as oats or barley in with fall rye or other winter annuals that will be used for grazing. Allowing the annual cereals to elongate provides vegetation with more fiber and lower protein.
Contact:
Russel Horvey 1-866-882-7677
Alberta Ag-Info Centre 1-866-882-7677 |
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