Benefiting From Forages on Your Farm Shorten stand length Rotate around farm Try cover crops if you don’t have livestock

Average forage stand length in Manitoba is 6.5 years. Is this too long? Reasons for forage termination: Low yield (winter kill, drought, weeds) Pocket gophers Only 11.6% for rotation benefit

Average forage stand length in Manitoba is 6.5 years. Is this too long? Reasons for forage termination: Low yield (winter kill, drought, weeds) Pocket gophers Only 11.6% for rotation benefit Kelner, 1994 Ominski, 1999 Winnipeg Research indicates that the ideal length of alfalfa stand to obtain N benefits and weed suppression is 2 years under good moisture 3 years under drier conditions

The goal should be to shorten forage stands and rotate them around the farm to obtain maximum rotational benefits.

Instead of a 6 year forage stand… For example…

Try a 3 year forage stand so benefits reach rest of farm twice as fast. For example…

Forage benefits without livestock What if I don’t have livestock?

Steinbach461 GDD104 mm Morden662 GDD87 mm Arborg291 GDD84 mm Portage532 GDD99 mm Brandon446 GDD77 mm Dauphin376 GDD70 mm Pierson513 GDD69 mm Ninette484 GDD76 mm Glenlea536 GDD133 mm Heat accumulation and precipitation for various locations in Manitoba after winter wheat harvest.

In double cropping, a grain crop and legume are grown in succession in the same field without overlapping. E.g. chickling vetch and black lentil can be double cropped after winter wheat and fall rye are harvested.

In relay cropping, a legume crop, or relay crop, is seeded directly into the established first crop. E.g. alfalfa and red clover can be sown as relay crops into winter wheat and fall rye in the spring after they are established.

Relay cropping red clover in winter wheat – before harvest

Relay cropping red clover in winter wheat – after harvest Late-season N fixation and weed suppression

The above image shows black medic, a self-seeding legume, regenerating under a flax crop. As the flax continues to grow, black medic forms a low-growing living mulch under the crop canopy. After the flax is harvested, the black medic continues to grow and set seed until the first killing frost.

Herbicide can be applied to medics to get the crop established. Once the crop is established, medics will re-grow from seed in the soil.

Other medics, such as snail medic shown here, are being evaluated at the University of Manitoba for their potential as a self-regenerating cover crop.

Forage Seed Crops Examples: alfalfa. Red clover, bird’s foot trefoil, timothy, annual or perennial ryegrasses, tall fescue

Conclusions -Forage benefits many!! -Need active program to rotate forages around farm -Cover crop systems?

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