| | When crops used for greenfeed experience unsettled weather, and there may not be time to get the crop dry before it needs to be baled, yellowfeed is an option.
"Yellowfeed is a crop of greenfeed that is sprayed with a glyphosate product to shut the crop down, rather than cutting or swathing," says Russel Horvey, beef and forage specialist with Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Stettler. "The use of a glyphosate product to promote dry-down means that the crop can be left standing."
Depending on weather conditions, it takes about three weeks to dry down a standing crop sprayed with glyphosate. The advantages in leaving a crop standing rather than laying in a swath are that there can be more deterioration in a swath, and it takes longer to dry-down if any moisture is experienced because any moisture on the swath gets trapped there. When left standing, the open canopy can dry-down much more quickly.
If considering yellowfeed, producers should apply glyphosate at one litre per acre. Once sprayed, the crop will continue to develop for approximately three to four days, so producers should spray the crop three to four days before it gets to the stage preferred for putting it up. For example, if the late milk stage is preferred, spray at the early or mid-milk stage.There needs to be complete dry-down for yellowfeed just as with greenfeed, but the advantage of leaving the crop standing is that producers can go in with a swather and swath the crop right in front of the baler.
"There's been quite a lot of work done examining the quality of yellowfeed, and what is surprising to many is that it not only maintains its quality, yellowfeed actually improves in protein and energy for three or four days and then levels off there," says Horvey. "While there were initially concerns about shattering, it seems that the plants, having been sprayed before they are ready to shut down and drop their seed, tend to hold their parts. The standing crop stands up to a fair amount of wind and damage and the quality actually stays better than in a swath, especially if the swath gets rained on.
"For further information regarding yellowfeed and spraying glyphosate on greenfeed crops, call the Alberta Ag-Info Centre toll-free in Alberta at 310-FARM.
Contact: Russel Horvey (403) 742-7958 |
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