Project Site: Bill Fevang's Farm - High Prairie
Research Program Manager: Dr. Akim Omokanye
From: Peace Country Beef & Forage Association 2018 Annual Report
In the Peace Country, several new or alternative annual forage crops are now available to producers, however, evaluation of their adaptation and nutritional suitability for beef cattle are still needed. Preliminary trials and demonstrations done by PCBFA in the last few years have shown that many annual crops are suitable for inclusion in cocktail mixtures for forage production (grazing, silage or greenfeed) and to improve soil health. This year, we seeded a variety of annual forage-type legumes to evaluate for forage production (yield) and quality. The information provided from this trial is intended to familiarize livestock producers with the variety of annual forage legume feed options available.
Methods
The study site was at Bill Fevang’s farm in High Prairie. The site had canola the year before and it was sprayed with a pre-seed burnoff before seeding the cocktails in 2018. Soil tests from 0-6” showed an organic matter of 10.3%, a pH of 5.9, and an electrical conductivity of 1.0 dS/m. The soil had 27 lbs N/acre, 23 lbs P/ac, 496 lbs K/ac and 19 lbs S/ac. The annual forage legume types tested (8) and their seeding rates are provided below:
1. CDC Meadow peas (check) seeded @ 8.33 plants (155 lbs/acre)
2. Subterranean clover seeded @ 20 lbs/acre
3. Winner brand berseem clover seeded @ 15 lbs/acre
4. Laser brand Persian clover seeded @ 5 lbs/acre
5. Serradella seeded @ 3 lbs/acre
6. HO Crimson clover seeded @ 15 lbs/acre
7. Ebena common vetch seeded @ 20 lbs/acre
8. Lupins seeded @ 60 lbs/acre
· Seeding date: June 7
· Legumes were inoculated at seeding
· We applied only 50 P lbs/acre + 13 S lbs/acre.
· An in-crop herbicide weed control was done with Basagran Forte @ 0.8 L/acre