A Systems Approach

1. A Systems Approach You have to Save $ to Make $ You have to Spend $ to Make $ to Extending the Grazing Season Clayton Robins – AAFC, Brandon Research Centre

2. Research Activities • Pasture management: • Grass and alfalfa/grass • Cow/calf performance • Backgrounding/finishing steers • Extension of the grazing season • Development of new grazing- tolerant forages • Efficacy of fertilizer applications

3. Research Activities • Reproductive management: • Heifer development • Pre/post-calving management • Timed AI • Embryo transfer • Uterine/ovarian interactions • Emphasis on environment by diet interactions

4. Research Activities • Nutrition management: • Winter forage-based rations (drylot) • Forage conservation • Backgrounding/finishing strategies (feedlot) • Carcass quality and yield • Chemical composition • Sensory evaluation

5. Research Activities • Environmental impact: • Composting manure • Nitrogen cycling : soil*pasture*cattle • Nitrous oxide production - feedlot & pastures • Methane production - grazing & feedlot cattle • Carbon sequestration - pastures

6. From Tisdale & Nelson 1975

7. Research Activities • Economic impact: • building database from the different production systems in place at BRC for economic evaluation • Database built from the different production systems in place at BRC is expected to have software application to model economic and environment outcomes.

8. BEEF CATTLE PROGRAM - PASTURES, HAY and SILAGE ACREAGE Rifle Range 60ac Trans-Canada Highway Environmental Study Areas 1011 ac (446 ha) N Highway - Ditch Soil-forage-cattle nutrient cycling W E X North 40 Esso 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 S Native Pasture 385ac 40ac 25ac 23ac 23ac 25ac 25ac 25ac 25ac 25ac 60ac 85ac 53ac 11 12 16 9 10 13 14 15 H - E H - W Alfalfa 33ac 75ac 20ac 20ac 24ac 23ac 23ac 23ac 24ac 25ac 25ac 24ac 81ac Q - N E40 N 22 N Cowlot and Corrals 20 18 19 17 21 10 ac 34th St. East 22 S 10 ac 12ac 20ac N Q - S 25ac 26ac 26ac 26ac 6ac Rough Pasture 33ac 45ac E40 S 30ac Tree Guard Lilac Guard I.S. 54ac Railway Compost Site North Fields 12ac Alfalfa 8ac Unimproved pasture 30ac S I.S. East 30ac I.S. 55ac Spring and fall calving pastures 18th St. 10ac Night 10ac West 20ac Grass/legume (mb 8 lbs./alf 3 lbs.) Grass (meadow brome 10 lbs.) Grandvalley Rd. Extended grazing Smithfield Rd (to Shilo) Stockpile grazing Curran Park 50ac JAIL FIELDS Lake Percy Bridge Field 33ac Hayland Center 75ac East 75ac Rotational crop land West 62ac East Pastures for fall calving herd West Grass & Alfalfa Grass pastures (16) with & without fertilizer Center Pastures (alfalfa-grass (8) and other legume (4) for steers) Assiniboine River 49ac 35ac 60ac

9. Innovative wintering systems for cows • conventional winterfeeding = 65% of annual production cost • extending the grazing season beyond the typical 140 d into autumn/winter to reduce costs • systems for grazing annuals (cereals, corn, millet), and perennial forages in autumn/winter • optimizing perennial forages for fall/winter grazing • cattle feeding and manure management

10. Summer Pastures

11. Summer Pastures YearTreatment#DaysCGD/AcreKg/Cow/dayFert.($/acre)* 1998 Alfalfa/Grass 109 110 19.4 0 Grass 97 17.0 0 1999 Alfalfa/Grass 120 117 19.1 0 Grass 98 17.5 0 2000 Alfalfa/Grass 110 96 23.9 17.25 Grass 95 23.0 46.76 2001 Alfalfa/Grass 105 88 27.9 43.49 Grass 86 28.0 67.16 2002 Alfalfa/Grass 55 50 18.4 12.31 Grass 51 16.6 36.50 2003 Alfalfa/Grass 58 53 29.5 26.25 Grass 53 23.5 48.25 2004 Alfalfa/Grass 97 90 27.9 26.78 Grass 90 26.0 40.30 2005 Alfalfa/Grass 88 64 25.3 18.44 Grass 64 23.9 41.50 Mean Alfalfa/Grass 93 84 23.9 18.07* Grass 79 21.9 35.06* *fertilizer cost is in approximate values as final calculations have not been completed

12. Stockpiled Perennial Pasture

13. Stockpiled Perennial Pasture YearCGD/acreKg/Cow/day%Protein%TDNRFV 1998 43 25.1 15.1 56.8 97 1999 45 22.9 12.5 57.4 96 2000 31 21.5 12.0 45.9 73 2001* 56 18.9 8.9 55.0 90 2002* 61 16.4 10.2 63.0 100 2003* 0 0 0 0 0 2004* 66 12.8 11.0 55.8 82 2005* 82 12.0 8.3 51.0 90 Mean 55 18.5 11.1 55.0 90 * start of Reed Canarygrass in stockpiled system

14. Swath Grazing Millet

15. Swath-Grazed Millet Millet YearCGD/acreKg/Cow/day%Protein%TDNRFV 1999 156 17.8 12.4 52.1 80 2000 95 18.5 12.2 49.2 76 2001 132 16.7 12.2 60.0 90 2002 76 26.1 12.5 58.6 89 2003 0 0 0 0 0 2004 110 11.1* 10.5 54.1 78 Mean 114 19.5 12.0 54.8 83 *supplemented with silage

16. Grazing Corn

17. Grazed Corn YearMethodCGD/acre%Protein%TDNRFVResidue 1999 Standing 221 9.0 68.2 116 5430 2000 Swathed 117 8.4 55.7 115 4110 2001 Swathed 116 6.9 61.4 109 3110 2002 Baled 114 14.1 70.5 117 500 2003 n/a 0 0 0 0 0 2004 Side-by-side 104 7.0 66.6 94 1990* *standing=2680 & swathed=1301 Mean 134 9.1 64.5 110

18. Canamaize Corn - 9830 kg/ha - 64 bu/acre Measurements taken 7 weeks after swathing & start of grazing SwathedStanding Residue (kg/ha) 1334 3920 RFV (whole plant) 135 102 RFV (stover only)77 64 Swathed vs. Standing Side by Side – 50 steers – 8 weeks

19. Undigested Grain

20. Corn Grazing Residues

21. What we know! • Corn is an expensive crop to grow but can provide tremendous yield and quality as an extended grazing crop. • Corn grazing is the fastest growing corn acreage. • Agronomy Tech. support is readily available. • Better varieties are becoming available each year. • RR corns are a great option for weed control. • Intensive management is needed to optimize corn crop utilization under extended grazing.

22. What we don’t know! • What is the ideal ‘grazing corn’??? • Does swathing really help maintain quality? • How do we best manage the crop to optimize cattle performance? • How does grazing compare economically to silage/grain produced off the same field? • What is the true cost vs. benefit of shorter grazing breaks and improved rumen function?

23. What we need! • Determine what is a true grazing corn and/or research how to manage for optimal digestibility under whole-plant grazing conditions. • Extension material on: Economic comparisons; Estimating residues; and Required management to reduce waste, to improve intake/nutrition plane, and to optimize CGD. • Research/Extension material on Weed Management & Nutrient Cycling in an extended grazing system.

24. Cow/calf PerformanceSummer Pastures 1998-2002 Factor MeasuredAlfalfa/GrassGrass Number of Dams 720 720 On pasture body weight (kg) 601 598 On pasture BCS (1-9) 4.9 5.0 On pasture cow gain (kg) 21.3 14.9 BCS at weaning (1-9) 5.2 5.2 Calf production efficiency 0.41 0.41 BCS change (+/-) +0.3 +0.2

25. Calves born/Cow wintered Data SetDrylotExtended Grazing 1998/99 1.01 0.99 1999/00 1.05 1.04 2000/01 1.03 1.02 2001/02 1.04 1.01 All years combined 1.03 1.02

26. Extended grazing (EG) and drylot (DL), and forages within drylot, effects on cows SB=Oat straw/SR barley SS=Barley silage/oat straw

27. Involvement in National Projects Model Farm • Measurement of greenhouse gas emissions from feedlots (cattle, manure pack, compost) under western Canadian conditions

28. Where do we go from here??

29. BEEF CATTLE PROGRAM - PASTURES, HAY and SILAGE ACREAGE Rifle Range 60ac Trans-Canada Highway Environmental Study Areas 1011 ac (446 ha) N Highway - Ditch Soil-forage-cattle nutrient cycling W E X North 40 Esso 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 S Native Pasture 385ac 40ac 25ac 23ac 23ac 25ac 25ac 25ac 25ac 25ac 60ac 85ac 53ac 11 12 16 9 10 13 14 15 H - E H - W Alfalfa 33ac 75ac 20ac 20ac 24ac 23ac 23ac 23ac 24ac 25ac 25ac 24ac 81ac Q - N E40 N 22 N Cowlot and Corrals 20 18 19 17 21 10 ac 34th St. East 22 S 10 ac 12ac 20ac N Q - S 25ac 26ac 26ac 26ac 6ac Rough Pasture 33ac 45ac E40 S 30ac Tree Guard Lilac Guard I.S. 54ac Railway Compost Site North Fields 12ac Alfalfa 8ac Unimproved pasture 30ac S I.S. East 30ac I.S. 55ac Spring and fall calving pastures 18th St. 10ac Night 10ac West 20ac Grass/legume (mb 8 lbs./alf 3 lbs.) Grass (meadow brome 10 lbs.) Grandvalley Rd. Extended grazing Smithfield Rd (to Shilo) Stockpile grazing Curran Park 50ac JAIL FIELDS Lake Percy Bridge Field 33ac Hayland Center 75ac East 75ac Rotational crop land West 62ac East Pastures for fall calving herd West Grass & Alfalfa Grass pastures (16) with & without fertilizer Center Pastures (alfalfa-grass (8) and other legume (4) for steers) Assiniboine River 49ac 35ac 60ac

30. What is the impact of resting perennial pastures during the critical late-season period? Grass Grass/Alfalfa

31. Rested Grazing Project Grazing AUD/ha (/ac) (year 1) Management Stage Normal Grazing Rested Grazing Phase I 114 112 Phase II 67 (perennials) 360 (swaths) Phase III 152 (swaths) 100 (stockpiled) Total 331 (134) 574 (231) % Increase (Phase II & III) 210 % Increase (Season-long) 173

32. How does variety and fungicide treatment affect nutritional quality of oats for swath-grazing?

33. Hi-Fi Oats CDC Baler Oats Oats/Rust Trial

34. Can you finish steers on pasture with annuals?

35. Ranger Barley

36. Ranger Barley & 40-10 Forage Peas

37. April 15 – May 15 May 15 – Aug 1 Aug 1 – Sept 1 Sep 1 – Oct 1 Oct 1 – Dec 1 Dec 1 – Jan 1 Jan 1 – Feb 1 Feb 1 – April 15 Early Spring forage Rotational grazing Spring cereals Alternative annuals Stockpiled forage Swath-grazing Swath/Bale-grazing Winter feeding site (drylot or in-field) BRC’s Systems Approach

38. Issues • Crop rotations & Field selection • weed pressure and input requirements • Infrastructure • shelter • water • fencing • Wildlife damage/Crop loss • Predation

39. Conclusions • Millet, corn, oats and barley have great promise as components in extending the grazing season • Proper crop rotations are essential to avoid weed problems • Nutrient management is integral to sustainability • Well-planned infrastructure is critical to long-term success