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Benefiting From Forages on Your Farm

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

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Benefiting From Forages on Your Farm

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

  2. 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

  3. 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

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

  5. For example… Instead of a 6 year forage stand…

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

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

  8. Heat accumulation and precipitation for various locations in Manitoba after winter wheat harvest. Steinbach 461 GDD 104 mm Morden 662 GDD 87 mm Arborg 291 GDD 84 mm Portage 532 GDD 99 mm Brandon 446 GDD 77 mm Dauphin 376 GDD 70 mm Pierson 513 GDD 69 mm Ninette 484 GDD 76 mm Glenlea 536 GDD 133 mm

  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. Relay cropping red clover in winter wheat – before harvest

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

  13. 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.

  14. 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.

  15. 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.

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

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

  18. Close browser to return to website

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