Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

New & Improved Recipe for Extra Forage After Winter Wheat

Hard Lesson on Forages in 2012

In 2012 much of Ontario experienced dry, challenging conditions that caused shortages of hay and haylage. At that time many producers turned to 'emergency' forages, including cereals and cereal-pea mixtures to supplement low inventories. As a result, a group of OMAFRA and University of Guelph collaborators led by Dr. Bill Deen and Ken Janovicek and began to research the best option and protocol for forage-after-wheat if another forage shortage were to arise. The work was funded by Beef Farmers of Ontario and the Ontario Forage Council via the Farm Innovation Program, Agricultural Adaptation Council. Indeed, the conditions of the summer of 2012 and its disappointing forage yields may be happening again now in many parts of the Province and this new research provides some simple, straightforward recommendations to maximize high quality forage yields. Yield data was collected over several research stations and farm sites throughout southern Ontario, while the nutritional quality data was generated from formal research station sites.

Forage-After-Wheat Recipe, In Short:

• 80 kg per ha of oats seeded ASAP after wheat harvest
• 50 kg of N per ha
• Pray for rain
• Plan to harvest as silage by the end of October
• Quality by maturity stage is not greatly affected by early November, but likely will only make 'boot'

This recipe is based on the yield and quality data as extra seed (more than 80 kg/ha) and other variety choices (barley alone, added peas, triticale) do not have any yield or quality advantage over oats alone as shown in Tables 1 and 2. Table 2 is 2014 data only, with triticale inclusion in the University station plots that year. Both of these tables show that all the forages harvested were of very high quality in terms of total digestible nutrient (TDN). Only in cases of very high land quality and assurance of good growing conditions, does N beyond 50 kg appear to help (results not reported here). All forages tested also seem very stable in terms of quality over stage of maturity, although producers ought to plan to harvest it around boot stage or soon after. In other words, this 'recipe' is the best prospect for good yields, low risk, and feed quality success in cost-effective forage-after-wheat.

Table 1. Cereal crop variety and seeding rate effects on average yield and TDN content harvested at boot stage with 50 kg-N/ha at the Elora and Woodstock research station trials that evaluated fall harvested cereals in 2013 and 2014 (Adapted from Deen et al., unpublished 2016).

Crop	Dry Yield (0% Moisture) - tonne/ha -	Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN)
		Energy Content %	Energy Yield Harvested - tonne/ha -
Barley	1.2 b	76.6 a	0.88 b
Oats (120 kg/ha)	2.4 a	74.4 a	1.80 a
Oats (80 kg/ha)	2.3 a	74.3 a	1.75 a
Oats + Peas	2.2 a	74.8 a	1.64 a
se++	0.22	8.9	160.3

Note: Results for dry yields, energy content and energy yields with differing superscripts and different fill colour are statistically different.

What's Winter Wheat Got To Do With It?

Because of the early harvest period and resulting gap in the typical Ontario cropping cycle, going onto winter wheat ground with forages right after harvest is a very easy option. In truth, cover crops should be going on this ground anyway for soil health and erosion control reasons, and if agronomic need can meet a forage shortage it's the elusive 'win-win'. The protocols and results for forage-after-wheat can easily be adapted to other situations, but forage is truly a 'no-brainer' after winter wheat.

Table 2. Cereal crop varieties in 2014 only, a year where plots included triticale. Effects on average yield and TDN content harvested at boot stage with 50 kg-N/ha at the Elora station evaluating fall harvested cereals. (Adapted from Deen et al., unpublished 2016).

Crop	Dry Yield (0% Moisture) - tonne/ha -	Total Digestible Nutrients (TDN)
		Energy Content %	Energy Yield Harvested - tonne/ha -
Barley	1.3 d	76.7 a	0.99 d
Oats (120 kg/ha)	2.8 a,b	72.6 a	2.05 a,b
Oats (80 kg/ha)	2.9 a	73.5 a	2.15 a
Oats + Peas	2.5 b	73.5 a	1.86 b
Triticale	2.0 c	75.2 a	1.41 c
se++	0.12	15.9	97.5

Note: Results for dry yields, energy content and energy yields with differing superscripts and different fill colour are statistically different.

Why not Pasture?

The results presented in Tables 1 and 2 and the resulting recommendations are focused on stored forages, as that data is much more easily collected (mechanical harvest of plots, etc). Again, these principles can be applied to grazing systems too. Grazing is likely an even more economical option, so long as there are fences! At the risk of extrapolating (without the benefit of grazing data) the use of oats-only and seeded at 80 kg/ha seems logical for pasture too. However, this oat option has not been properly compared in Ontario to other options such as brassicas (turnips, forage rape, etc) which are used after wheat for grazing here and in Michigan.

Bottom Line

Based on good data collected over several years and locations in Southern Ontario (including on-farm plots not reported here), oats alone seeded at 80 kg/ha and fertilized at 50 kg N/ha is the simplest and best option for using cereal species for extra high-quality forage after wheat. Brassica species and extra nitrogen might have some additional potential on some ground, but the cereal planting recommendation resulting from this study is based on sites that were heavily repeated over several years and multiple locations under rigorous protocol. Yes it's that easy!

Figure 1: "Cereal crops and especially oats can provide high quality forages and good yields if planted immediately after winter wheat and harvested in mid-Fall"

Figure 2: "A study funded by Beef Farmers of Ontario and the Ontario Forage Council led by Dr. Bill Deen at the University of Guelph found seeding 80 kg oats and 50 kg N per hectare is the best prospect for Fall forage"