Cereal Forages: A tool in managing limited water resource,

*Dave Wichman, Peggy Lamb, Jim Berg, Martha Knox

Research Agronomist Central Ag Research Center (CARC)

Moccasin, Montana dwichman@montana.edu

What is a cereal forage? •  Annual grass species typically harvested for

grain, which also has forage value. Barley Einkorn Wheat Emmer Triticale Spelt Oats Corn/Grain Sorghum

Soil water management: low rainfall & limited soil depth = annual cropping.

•  Cereal forages are harvested earlier than grain. Reduces water use period by 3 to 4 weeks.

•  Leaves some soil water reserves for fall winter wheat. – Moccasin area receives about 1.7” in the June

25 to July 25 period.

1999 Winter Wheat Forage Yield

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2.5

05/24/99 06/11/99 06/23/99

Harvest Date

t/a d

ry m

atte

r

Maturity affect on quality

Harvest date effect on winter spelt & wheat forage. Harvest n NO3 Protein NDF ADF TDNdate ppm % % % %

24-May 18 2482 b 24.6 d 38.1 a 20.5 a 72.7 c11-Jun 18 2165 b 16.1 c 45.5 b 23.4 b 70.4 b24-Jun 18 1313 a 12.4 b 50.9 c 26.6 c 67.9 a

Heading 4 18 1196 a 11.3 a 52.7 c 27.3 c 67.3 a

Alfalfa 10%blm Std: 18 42 31 60Nitrate Toxic level : 3000 ppm or 0.30%

Species affect on Forage Quality 5 Loc. Average Barley often has the advantage

Species/Variety Protein ADF NDF % % % Triticale 12.7 30.1 56.2 88L003007 13.3 29.7 55.8 Pronghorn 12.1 30.6 56.6

Barley 13.9 26.9 51.6 Haybet 13.8 26.2 51.4 Westford 13.7 28.8 54.6 Oats 13.2 30.1 56.2 Otana 13.1 29.2 56.8 Celsia 13.3 29.1 56.7 LSD(0.05) 1.175 1.89 2.11

Nitrate concentration varies between species and varieties within species. composite of 3 2004 location only 2 locvariety species _ADF% _NDF% CP TDN RFV NITRATE Hays barley C1 28.2 49.6 11.5 62.4 114 0.073Haybet barley C2 27.7 49.8 11.8 62.9 115 0.050Logan barley C3 25.4 44.5* 10.8 66.0 137 0.027Westford barley C4 27.7 50.1 12.2 ns 63.1 114 0.088Harrington barley C5 26.6 49.5 10.5 65.0 118 0.042Bestford barley C6 27.9 51.5 11.4 63.1 111 0.058Moravian 37 barley C7 24.7* 45.5 11.4 66.4* 134 0.038Monico oat C8 28.0 52.8 11.3 62.8 108 0.145BZ 598-227 barley C9 26.8 49.3 10.9 63.4 116 0.033Valier barley C10 26.9 50.5 11.4 64.0 116 0.063Otana oat C11 29.9 52.8 11.4 60.9 106 0.117Maverick oat C12 29.7 54.5 11.2 61.3 102 0.108Paul oat C13 29.4 52.9 11.8 61.2 105 0.120Red 1 triticale C14 32.8 56.4 11.8 58.0 95 0.04391002005 triticale C15 31.7 53.1 11.5 58.9 102 0.03393ST59 wht X splt C16 29.7 51.4 11.8 61.2 108 0.025SK3P spelt C17 31.8 53.2 12.0 58.8 102 0.075Lucile emmer C18 31.1 54.2 12.0 59.1 100 0.045

Sulfur fertilzer effect on NO3-N content of cereal dry matter.

Variety Species 0 lbs S/ac 20 lbs S/ac ppm ppm

Haybet barley 6160 2840Otana oat 4845 4463SP3 awnless spelt 4015 2459Sunland triticale 5237 3627Fortuna wheat 3569 2819

4765 3241***Early harvest! Urea & ammonium sulfate fertilizers

Nitrate - N

2006 Spring cereal forage response to fertilizer with seed.Central Agricultural Research Center. Moccasin Montana

NPKS No PopUp Yield 10+10+10+5 fertilzer Difference

MT981427 1.943 1.439 0.504Bestford 1.857 1.169 0.688MF0506 1.866 1.298 0.569Haybet 1.854 1.261 0.593MT981397 1.799 1.394 0.405MT981384 1.750 1.305 0.445Stockford 1.718 1.289 0.428MF050501 1.715 1.516 0.199Westford 1.700 1.043 0.656Hays 1.694 1.330 0.364MF050505 1.687 1.265 0.422MF050507 1.642 1.257 0.384MF050502 1.569 1.424 0.145Red 1 trit 1.451 1.070 0.381Mean 1.732 1.29 0.442P value 0.134 0.109 0.003CV 1 10.13 13.64 33.320LSD(0.05 by t) 0.294 0.294 0.246Seeded: 10-Apr-06 NTRC on hayed w trit stubbleFertilizer: All plots received 45lbs N as urea top dress.

t/a

Table 2013 Multi-Location Winter cereal forage cultivar Forage Yield Summary.Central Agricultural Research Center. Moccasin, Montana.Moccasin Moccasin Sheridan Fort Ellis Winifred Havre 5 Loc.

Cultivar ID Crop-Fallow Re-Crop Fallow Fallow Fallow Fallow averaget/a t/a t/a t/a t/a t/a

12 WCF A 21 (P0059) 4.497 2.131 3.785 3.556 5.352 3.186 3.75112 WCF A 35 (11Adv10) 4.242 1.875 4.009 4.029 4.678 2.951 3.631110 WCF 57 4.381 1.863 3.595 4.588 4.535 3.141 3.684111 WCF 57 4.060 2.204 3.929 3.364 5.128 3.156 3.64012 WCF A 27 (P0086) 4.213 2.069 3.962 3.843 4.263 3.178 3.58810 PreWCF 60 4.135 1.961 3.742 3.832 4.911 3.408 3.66512 WCF A 41 (P1085) 3.989 1.929 3.964 4.230 4.401 2.732 3.54112 wcf A 18 (P0029) 3.885 2.106 3.961 3.724 4.764 3.908 3.72510 PreWcf 68 3.961 2.096 3.820 3.649 4.730 3.621 3.646Trical 102 4.168 1.761 3.115 4.375 4.333 3.418 3.52810 PreWcf 78 4.125 1.798 3.442 3.725 4.889 3.379 3.560Willow Creek 3.452 2.052 4.373 3.757 3.471 3.892 3.500M7F1232 3.697 1.872 3.528 4.318 3.531 3.527 3.412Newturk 3.640 1.773 3.380 4.128 3.872 2.932 3.287M7F1229 3.422 1.716 3.057 4.534 3.248 2.934 3.152Yellowstone 3.693 1.557 3.012 4.278 3.236 2.814 3.098Mean 3.972 1.923 3.667 3.996 4.334 3.261 3.525

Table 2013 Spring cereal forage cultivar performance on continuous crop.Exp 132370 Central Agricultural Research Center. Moccasin, Montana

CARC CARC NARC SREC SREC WARC 5 Loc Entry Head Type NTCC Fallow Fallow Fallow Irrigated Irrigated Average

t/a t/a t/a t/a t/a t/a t/aHockett 2 row awned 2.55 2.46 3.08 1.88 4.23 2.94 2.86Champion 2 row awned 2.84 2.60 2.88 1.92 3.88 3.40 2.92Haxby 2 row awned 2.78 2.64 3.01 1.64 4.12 3.45 2.94Hays 2 row hood 2.51 2.31 2.77 2.00 4.12 3.31 2.84Haybet 2 row hood 2.50 2.51 2.89 1.96 3.51 3.07 2.74Stockford 2 row hood 2.53 2.60 2.82 1.93 3.92 2.88 2.78Hays w/Cruiser 2 row hood 2.11 2.27 2.62 1.72 3.96 3.08 2.63Lavina 2 row hood 2.75 2.21 3.14 1.85 4.06 3.52 2.92MF050501 2 row hood 1.88 2.20 2.69 1.61 4.20 3.14 2.62Stampede panicle 1.92 1.67 3.75 1.59 3.34 2.45MT103023 2 row awned 2.70 3.00 3.46 1.96 4.36 3.99 3.24MT103024 2 row awned 2.64 3.03 3.78 1.59 4.25 2.99 3.05Mean 2.475 2.458 3.07 1.805 3.996 3.252 2.84P-value 0.10 0.00 0.00 0.56 0.08 0.56CV 1 17.0 8.4 11.4 16.5 9.4 18.47LSD (0.05 by t) 0.711 0.35 0.59 0.50 0.64 1.023

Cereal Forage vs Perennial Forages

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CC  Wntr  Cereal CC    Hooded  Barley  

Intemediate  wheatgrass

Dryland  Alfalfa

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CARC- Total dry matter production, t/a, over 11 Y.

Alfalfa vs Winter cereal forage ( t/a). Mean dry matter yields of variety trials.Loc. Alfalfa WCF Boz 2.60 3.60Hunt 1.65 4.62Kal 5.11 7.21Moc 0.85 2.79

Heads(spikes) Awn – Awnlette - Awnless

Awnless Early Winter Triticale

Standard winter wheat

Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you Are there any questions? Dave Wichman dwichman@montana.edu