Lower hay yields and a shorter grazing season caused by dry weather last year are prompting more producers to consider annual cereals as an option for green feed or grazing.
Lorne Klein, Regional Forage Specialist with Saskatchewan's Ministry of Agriculture, says most producers are normally growing a crop dominated by spring cereals like oats, barley and millet.
"If you're growing those crops basically there are two options," he says. "One is you can graze it repeatably during the season, or you can allow to grow up to that soft doe stage and then cut it either for bailing for grain feed or sillage or you could even cut it for swath grazing midway through the summer."
Klein adds allowing the crop to grow to the soft dough stage and then cutting it will give a higher tonnage per acre over repeated grazing.
He says cutting will yield a higher tonnage per acre than grazing.
"Under the absolute best case scenario of multiple clippings you'll be looking at 60 percent of 50 percent but with the realities of grazing it, your going to be easily less than half of what the grain field yield would have been."
Source : Steinbachonline