Funded by Results Driven Agriculture Research (RDAR)
Introduction
In the Peace region producers depend on various annual and perennial forages to feed their livestock. Over the years, diverse annual crop mixtures, commonly known as cocktails are gaining more attention due to its ability to provide increased forage yield. In addition, diverse cocktail could also improve water and soil quality, increase nutrient cycling, and improve moisture conservation and crop productivity. Many commercial cocktails exist on the market while producers have been able to come up with cocktails for specific needs including silage on their farms. The objective of this study was to compare forage yield and quality of different cocktails that producers use for livestock feed in the Peace.
Methods
This study was carried out at Debolt on farm site (RGE Rd #740).
Experimental design: The study used a randomized complete block design with four replications. A total of 14 treatments were used comprising 6 multispecies cocktail samples from producers (Allan McLachlan, Garry These, Clay Armstrong, John Prince, and Garth Shaw), 5 common commercial cocktails, and 3 cereal monocrops as control. The breakdown of treatments are as follows:
Producer cocktail 1 (Clay Armstrong): Haymaker oats, Amarillo peas, Berseem clover, Tetra brand annual ryegrass, Hairy vetch.
Producer cocktail 2 (Allan McLachlan): Morgan oats, Hairy vetch, Horizon peas, Proso millet, Phacelia, Hercules turnip, and Inke marrowstem kale.
Producer cocktail 3 (Garth Shaw): Hairy vetch, Hercules turnip, Forage turnip, Collards, Kale, Berseem clover, Phacelia, Haymaker oats, and Maverick barley.
Producer cocktail 4 (John Prince swath grazing): Crimson clover, Italian ryegrass, Hairy vetch, Hunter leaf turnip, Graza forage radish, Winifred Goliath, Maverick barley, and Goldeneye peas.
Producer cocktail 5 (John Prince Ultimate mix): Maverick barley, Goliath forage rape, Green globe turnip, Hunter leaf turnip, and Goldeneye peas.
Producer cocktail 6 (Gary These): Horizon peas, Maverick barley, Haymaker oats, Hairy vetch, and Hercules turnip.
Commercial cocktail 1 (Imperial Seed TG extend): Melquatro Italian ryegrass, Japanese millet, Ebena brand common vetch, Goldeneye german millet, Finito turnip rape, Akela brand forage rape, Ho brand crimson clover, Winner brand berseem clover, Pearl millet, Goldeneye peas, and Haymaker oats.
Commercial cocktail 2 (Pickseed): Forage kale, Firkin Italian ryegrass, Crimson clover, Tillage radish, Crown millet, Purple top forage, Hairy vetch, Goldeneye peas, and Maverick barley.
Commercial cocktail 3 (Performance seed): Nabucco Italian ryegrass, Spring green festulolium, Premiere forage kale, Impact forage brassica, Frosty berseem clover, Purple bounty hairy vetch, Fixation balsana clover, Goldeneye peas, and Haymaker oats.
Commercial cocktail 4 (Imperial Seed 2 extend): Sorghum Sudangrass, Japanese millet, Winner brand berseem clover, and Forage collards.
Commercial cocktail 5 (Warm-season cocktail): Proso millet, Sorghum Sudangrass, Pearl millet, and DL delicious peas.
CDC Maverick barley monocrops (control 1)
CDC Haymaker oats monocrops (control 2)
AAC Awesome wheat (control 3)
The site was seeded using a Fabro plot drill with disc-type openers on 9″ row spacing at a depth 1″ depth with a soil temperature of 12.6 degrees Celsius. Six rows of 8-meter-long were sown per plot. The cocktail was subsequently harvested on August 13, 2022 and analyzed for forage productivity and quality.
Our findings
Forage moisture
The forage moisture content at harvest was significant for all forage treatments. At harvest, moisture for producer cocktails was between 74 – 77% while commercial cocktails ranged between 55.4 – 78% (Table 41). Overall, all treatments had moisture content (>50%). The high moisture content observed in some cocktails would make preservation as hay crops impractical in this region, which has a very small window of opportunity to dry down harvested crops in early fall. However, cocktails could better be suitable for direct grazing or silage making which requires a substantial amount of moisture in forage (approximately 65-70%).
Dry matter yield
The CDC Maverick barley had the highest forage yield of 5,873 lb/ac while commercial cocktail 4 (Imperial seed 2 TG extend) recorded the lowest of 1,939 lb/ac (Figure 6). This was approximately 3,934 lb/ac more than the commercial cocktail 4. Forage yield for producer cocktails ranged from 4,431 lb/ac for producer mix 4 (John prince swath grazing) to 2,890 lb/ac for producer mix 3 (Garth Shaw). In commercial cocktails, a significantly higher yield of 4,217 lb/ac was noted in commercial cocktail 2 (Pick seed) while commercial cocktail 4 (Imperial seed 2) had the lowest of 1,939 lb/ac (Figure 7). Overall, except for CDC Haymaker oat, monocrops were higher in yield than both commercial and producer cocktails. Alternatively, producer cocktails were generally better than commercial cocktails.
Crude protein (CP)
CP content was highest in commercial cocktail 4 (22.3%), followed by commercial cocktail 1 (15.4%). The lowest CP was recorded in CDC Maverick barley (10.4%), producer cocktail 4 (11.7%), CDC Haymaker oats (12.1%), and AAC Awesome wheat (12.6%). Overall, producer cocktail 1 (14.8%), producer cocktail 2 (14.2%), producer cocktail 3 (14.8%), commercial cocktail 1 (15.4%), commercial cocktail 3 (15.5%), and commercial cocktail 5 were above the average CP content of 13.9% (Table 41). Generally, producer cocktails were superior in CP to both commercial cocktails and monocrops. However, all treatments herein had adequate CP contents to meet the requirements of all classes of cattle.
Total digestible nutrients (TDN)
Energy levels within cocktails ranged between 64.3% for commercial cocktail 1 to 68.7% for commercial cocktail 5. All commercial and producer cocktails were above 64.0 % of TDN (Table 41). However, commercial cocktails were generally better in %TDN than both producer cocktails and monocrops. Using the rule of thumb for beef cow energy requirement (55-60-65), cocktails could meet the needs of cows in mid-gestation (55%), during mid-gestation (60%), and after calving (65%). Only producer cocktail 1, commercial cocktail 1, commercial cocktails 3, and 4, and CDC Haymaker oat could not meet the requirement for calves.
Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF)
NDF was significantly different among treatments ranging from 37.4% for commercial cocktail 4 to 53.1% for CDC Haymaker oats. Commercial cocktail 4 (37.4%) and producer cocktail 5 (40.9%) had better NDF, an indication of better uptake and consumption by cattle. Conversely, ADF was low for all treatments ranging from 27.2% for commercial cocktail 4 to 32.0% for CDC Haymaker oat. Here, producer cocktail 4 (29.1%), commercial cocktail 5 (29.3%), and producer cocktails 3 and 4 (29.8%, each) were the best performers (Table 41). This indicates a better digestibility over the other treatments.
Relative feed value (RFV)
The RFV was highest in commercial cocktail 4 (170) and commercial cocktail 5 (152) but lowest in CDC Haymaker oat (112). With the exception of CDC Haymaker oat (112), all treatments in this study were above 120. However, both commercial and producer cocktails had better RFV compared to monocrops (Table 41). Overall, producer cocktails ranked as 1st, commercial cocktails 2nd, and monocrops 3rd. The result for all treatments indicates higher expected consumption and digestibility of cocktails treatments.
Minerals
Calcium (Ca): content varied from 0.2% for AAC Awesome wheat to 1.5% for commercial cocktail 5. Notably, Ca contents was higher in both commercial and producer cocktails compared to monocrops (Table 42). This result indicated that all treatments, but AAC Awesome wheat met the Ca requirements in diets for lactating cows (0.31%), dry cows (0.18%), and calves (0.58%).
Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K): P ranged between 0.20 and 0.10%. Except for producer cocktail 4, 5, and 6, commercial cocktail 2 and CDC Haymaker oat, all treatments recorded P values of 0.2%. Generally, commercial cocktails had better levels of P compared to both producer and cocktails and producer cocktails (Table 42). Nevertheless, treatments could meet P requirement for lactating and dry cows (0.16%) but not growing calves (0.26%). Furthermore, K contents varied between 1.3% for producer cocktail 5, commercial cocktail 5 and CDC Maverick barley (1.3% each) to 2.1% for commercial cocktail 4. All tested treatments were adequate to meet the K requirements for both lactating cows (0.60%) and growing calves (0.70%).
Magnesium (Mg), Sodium (Na), Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), Manganese (Mn): Magnesium was generally higher in all forage crops tested ranging between 0.2% to 0.4%. Sodium on the other hand was better except for commercial cocktail 5 (0.1 ppm). Fe, Mn, and Zn were comparatively at optimum level requirement in forage treatments. The study also showed considerably higher Fe in both producer and commercial cocktails compared to monocrops, while similar trends was observed for Zn and Mn. These were adequate for all classes of cattle.
Conclusion
The CDC Maverick barley, AAC Awesome wheat, producer cocktail 4 (John Prince swath grazing) and 2 (Allan McLachlan) produced >4,400 lb DM yield/acre making them the highest producing treatments. Commercial cocktails 1 and 4 were superior in CP contents to all cocktail treatments in particular monocrops. CP contents were adequate to meet the requirement of all classes of cattle. In addition, energy levels in all treatments were sufficient to meet the needs of cattle except for producer cocktail 1, commercial cocktail 1, commercial cocktails 3, and 4, and CDC Haymaker oat which could not meet the needs for growing calves. Minerals were variable in treatments tested, hence it is recommended that free choice minerals be supplied through feeding in their right proportions to ensure better absorption and utilization by cattle.
P value = 0.001, mean= 3773 lb/ac, LSD0.05 = 425
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