. 2008. Annual cool season crops for grazing by beef cattle. A Canadian Review. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 88: 517Á533. With the current high feed grain costs and other economic uncertainties in the Canadian beef cattle industry, producers are trying to lower their unit costs of production. Costs can be lowered through extension of the grazing season using perennial pastures and annual crops for grazing. Oat (Avena sativa L.) and fall rye (Secale cereale L.) have traditionally been used to a nominal extent for extending the grazing season. However, there is limited information including a small number of animal grazing trials on the use of other annual cereals and annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) for low cost grazing systems relative to feeding traditional harvested and stored forages. This review discusses annual cool season crops that show promise for supplementary grazing systems. Systems such as swath grazing of a cereal crop, grazing the regrowth from silage mixtures of spring and winter cereals, or fall grazing annual Italian ryegrass can be used to extend the grazing season. Economic considerations will ultimately determine if there will be an increased role in the future for grazing annual crops on cropping land as a means of extending the grazing season to reduce year-round costs for the beef cow calf operator.

There is limited information on the adaptability of small and medium-seeded annual legumes in Western Canadian cropping systems. Pea (Pisum spp.), vetch (Vicia, Lathyrus spp.), medic (Medicago spp.), alfalfa (Medicago spp.), berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L.), arrowleaf clover (T. vesiculosum L.), Persian clover (T. resupinatum L.), balansa clover [T. michelianum Savi. var. balansae (Boiss.) Azn.], rose clover (T. hirtum All.), crimson clover (T. incarnatum L.) and black lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) were grown at Lethbridge and Brooks, Alberta, and at Melfort and Nipawin, Saskatchewan over a 2 or 3 yr period to assess their forage yield potential under irrigation and dryland conditions. Measurements included plant height, stand establishment, flowering date, forage yield and forage quality. Peas, winter and hairy vetch, and berseem clover were the top yielding species across locations (5452-6532 kg ha -1 ). Berseem clover, hairy vetch, winter vetch, Nitro alfalfa, and Persian clover yielded in excess of 9000 kg ha -1 under irrigation at Brooks. Hairy and winter vetches, Magnus pea, chickling vetch (Lathyrus sativus L.) and berseem clover yielded over 4300 kg ha -1 in dryland and rainfed locations at Lethbridge, Melfort and Nipawin. These entries had an upright growth habit, established quickly and were normally harvested twice. Crude protein concentration and yields were higher in legumes at irrigated locations in Alberta than rainfed locations in central Saskatchewan. Burr medic at the Brooks irrigated location produced the highest crude protein yield of 2495 kg ha -1 . Berseem clover, Persian clover, Nitro alfalfa, hairy and winter vetches show promise as legumes in short term rotations, as green manures and intercrops for increasing forage quality in silage or late season grazing in Western Canada. Ces espèces se caractérisent par un port dressé, s'établissent rapidement et peuvent normalement être récoltées deux fois. Les légu-mineuses ont donné une plus grande concentration de protéines et un meilleur rendement sur les terres irriguées de l'Alberta que sur celles de la Saskatchewan qui ne l'étaient pas. La luzerne denticulée cultivée sous irrigation à Brooks a donné le plus fort rendement en protéines brutes (2 495 kg par hectare). Le trèfle d'Alexandrie, le trèfle de Perse, la luzerne Nitro, la vesce d'hiver et la vesce velue sont des légumineuses prometteuses pour les assolements de courte durée, comme engrais vert ou culture intercalaire afin d'accroître la qualité fourragère des ensilages, ou pour la paissance tardive dans l'ouest du Canada.

. 2009. Potential of warm-season annual forages and Brassica crops for grazing: A Canadian Review. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 89: 431Á440. Extension of the grazing season beyond the normal perennial grazing season has been identified as a potential mechanism to reduce the cost of production on Canadian cow-calf operations. This review will provide an overview of the potential use of warm-season and Brassica crops including corn (Zea mays), Golden German foxtail millet (Setaria italica L. Beauv.), kale (Brassica oleracea L.), forage rape (B. napus ssp. biennis L.) and turnip (B. rapa L.). These crops have a high yield potential, but the cost for grazing these crops has not been adequately compared with the cost of grazing oat (Avena sativa L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), and fall rye (Secale cereale L.). There are very few actual animal grazing trials evaluating the economics of using these crops in grazing systems in Canada, and this requires further research. Since the early 1900s, cow-calf producers have grazed annual crops as an alternative to deal with drought and perennial pasture shortage as a means of lowering their annual costs. Extension of the grazing season beyond the normal perennial grazing season is an alternative low-cost method. A previous review (McCartney et al. 2008) summarized the potential of annual cool season cereal crops for grazing. There has been considerable interest in evaluating the grazing potential of warmseason annual crops for their suitability in extending the grazing season in Canada because warm-season annuals tend to be seeded later and vary in days to maturity (May et al. 2007). This could be advantageous in a grazing system for extending the grazing season. This review summarizes warm-season and Brassica crops that show promise in grazing systems that are applicable to Canadian conditions. As limited published research on this grazing method can be found, historical information from other types of research summaries will be included as the information still has value.

, J. 2010. The potential role of annual forage legumes in Canada: A review. Can. J. Plant Sci. 90: 403Á420. The need to reduce agricultural input costs while increasing soil fertility has prompted researchers to look for alternative crop production systems that include N fixing crops. Annual legumes can be used in rotations as forages and green manure crops to increase the organic matter and N content of soils and provide soil cover to control erosion and weeds. Despite the benefits of annual legumes, high production costs and scarcity of seed has hindered their use. Plant Sci. 90: 403Á420. La ne´cessite´de re´duire le couˆt des intrants agricoles tout en rehaussant la fertilite´des sols a incite´les chercheurs a`e´tudier des syste`mes de production de remplacement incluant des cultures fixatrices d'azote. Les le´gumineuses annuelles pourraient eˆtre utilise´es en assolement comme plantes fourrage`res ou comme fourrage vert pour accroıˆtre la concentration de matie`re organique et d'azote dans le sol, et prote´ger celui-ci contre l'e´rosion et les adventices. Malgre´ces avantages, les le´gumineuses annuelles demeurent peu utilise´es en raison de couˆts de production e´leve´s et de la pe´nurie de semences.Mots clé s: Luzerne, tre`fle, vesce, pois, haricot, lentille, rendement fourrager, qualite´du fourrageThe nitrogen-fixing Fabaceae family has been used in crop rotations for centuries (Woll 1915;Semple 1928) to reduce soil erosion, improve soil organic matter and physical properties, help reduce pest damage and contribute N to succeeding crops (Blackshaw et al. 2005). Sometimes crops from this family can be used to supplement perennial pasture, or silage and hay crops. In addition, annual legumes in combination with cereals may play an important role in integrated weed management through plant competition (Schoofs and Entz 2000). However, the practice of incorporating legumes into crop rotations has declined since the development of chemical fertilizers and herbicides (Doran and Smith 1991). The rising cost of fossil fuels needed to produce chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and a greater awareness of the destructive impact of soil erosion and environmental pollution are driving a renewed interest in using annual legumes in agriculture systems in Canada and northern USA. This in turn has prompted researchers to re-examine alternative production systems. Because of the large number of species available, the variation in climate and farming practices, research on annual legumes in Canada and Northern USA has been fragmented. There is a need to explore the integration of these crops in farming systems. This review synthesizes research results on agronomic potential of annual legumes in Canada with particular focus on their use for livestock grazing and feeding, green manure and conservation cover.For convenience, annual legumes can be divided into two groups based on seed size: genera with relatively small or medium-sized seeds such as Medicago, Trifolium, Melilotus, and Lens and those with relatively large seeds...

Tolerance of annual forage legumes to herbicides in Alberta. Can. J. Plant. Sci. 83: 649-652. The effects of ethalfluralin, trifluralin, and imazethapyr herbicides were assessed on stand density, visual injury and dry matter yield of annual forage legumes under irrigation. Results indicate that recommended rates of either ethalfluralin or imazethapyr have potential for weed control in alfalfa, berseem clover, balansa clover, fenugreek, pea, and vetches.