Whole-crop cereals for grazing and silage: balancing quality and quantity

Abstract

<jats:p>There has been a marked increase in the use of cereals for supplementary grazing and silage for the developing dairy industry in the South Island. Cereals provide high energy supplement in autumn/winter or can be used as a high fibre source in spring. Variation in yield potential in cultivar trials in Canterbury was assessed for autumn and spring-sown crops. The aim was to produce high quality cereal feeds with good yield potential by examining the variation among species and cultivar selections in well managed trials. Single-bite crops sown in early autumn in Canterbury provide up to 5.5 t/ha herbage DM yield with at least 17.5 % protein, 12% total soluble carbohydrate including starch (TSC) and metabolisable energy (ME) of 11.3 MJ/kg in mid-June. Multiple graze types (eg. Doubletake triticale) with similar winter productivity and quality to single-bite crops produced an additional 13.5 t/ha biomass for a silage crop. At ensiling, this cultivar had 9.3 MJ/kg ME with mean 19.5% total soluble carbohydrates. Spring-sown cereals for silage produced up to 20 t/ha. Harvest timing was a significant factor in the wide range in quality of herbage for ensiling. Cultivar means ranged from 7.0 - 12.8% DM for protein, 8.7- 31.6% DM for TSC and 8.3-10.5 MJ/kg DM for ME. More mature herbage had reduced organic matter digestibility and higher TSC but reduced ensilability at DM content in excess of 40%. Keywords: dairying, fibre, forage, herbage quality, metabolisable energy, near infrared reflectance spectroscopy, supplements</jats:p>

Forage yields and feeding value of small grain winter cereals for lambs

“…Superior digestibility values of cereal forages were also associated with low cell wall carbohydrates (an average of 468 NDF with <256 ADF and <42 g lignin kg −1 DM) at these growth stages. These results are in line with previous studies that reported on the higher nutritive value of cereal forages at the tillering and stem elongation stages (Z 31–39). As the growth stage of forage advanced, CP, energy and digestibility values declined, but NDF, ADF and lignin concentrations increased, with considerable variation among the species.…”

Biomass yield and feeding value of rye, triticale, and wheat straw produced under a dual-purpose management system

“…In contrast, increases in grain yields following early vegetative grazing have been occasionally reported (Royo et al, 1993;Virgona et al, 2006). Delaying livestock grazing to the stem elongation stage (Z31-Z34) provides a greater availability of forage biomass for a longer period but can reduce grain and forage production in summer (Epplin et al, 2000;de Ruiter et al, 2002;Virgona et al, 2006;Jacobs et al, 2009).…”

“…A battery of information on the effect of grazing immature cereal crops on the subsequent grain production and quality is available (Virgona et al, 2006;Jacobs et al, 2009;Kelman and Dove, 2009;Hussein et al, 2016). Several researchers also investigated the impact of spring defoliation of cereal forages on biomass production and nutritive value when harvested as silage or hay (de Ruiter et al, 2002;Jacobs et al, 2009;Cazzato et al, 2012;Keles et al, 2013). Despite the Biomass yield and feeding value of rye, triticale, and wheat straw produced under a dual-purpose management system 1 S. Ates,* † ‡ 2 G. Keles, § U. Demirci, ‡ S. Dogan, ‡ and H. Ben Salem †# central role that cereal straw plays in the crop-livestock production in Southern Mediterranean countries, there is a paucity of information regarding the impact of spring grazing on grain yield, straw quality, and animal performance under dual-purpose management.…”

A new winter active crop to improve soil nitrogen uptake

“…'Rahu' ryecorn displays a much more prostrate growth habit while developing a higher tiller base before coming away in the spring. Previous catch crop studies have shown comparable yields for oats directdrilled into a grazed out kale paddock on 21st July and harvested on 24th November of 8.4 t DM/ha, but when harvested on the 2nd November of only 3.9 t DM/ha (Malcolm et al 2017). De Ruiter et al (2002 achieved single cut yields of 7.5 t DM/ha for oats and 6.9 t DM/ ha for triticale.…”

“…Triticale grown for wholecrop cereal silage is usually sown in early-spring and harvested in early-summer. Triticale was consistently the highest yielding forage cereal whole-crop silage option compared with barley and wheat, yielding between 16-28 t DM/ha, depending on soil conditions, farming practices and percent dry matter at harvest (de Ruiter et al 2002;Arnaudin et al 2015).…”