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New Forage for Grazing/Silage
Demonstration
Project Summary: There has been a lot of interest in new forages that
will grow in our area and have the potential to increase yield and quality. In
2000, we planted twelve acres of Red Siberian Millet to see what type of forage
production we could obtain under local conditions. Dry weather and hail had a major impact on
the crop. In 2001, we had two cooperators who wanted to try growing millet.
Grazing sorghum and two different types of millet were planted to determine
yield and grazing ability of this new forage. In 2002, we planted Golden German
Millet, Siberian Millet, and Hybrid Sorghum at our variety plot site and we
took clippings of Canamaize grown by a producer under two different types of
conditions.
Objectives:
- To demonstrate new types of forage crops.
- To determine the management practices required
to produce millets for forage.
- To determine the amount of forage yield, which can be expected from millet versus grazing sorghum.
- To determine the economics of utilizing the
different crops (millet and sorghum) as forages.
Co-operator: Crone Bros. Cattle Company
Project Advisors: AAFRD
Vernon Crone
Legal Land Location: NE-22-39-3W4,
NW 20-40-8-W4 and SW 29-40-8-W4
Background/Project
Description: The New Forages for
Grazing/Silage Trial consisted of the following varieties: Siberian Millet,
Golden German Millet, Hybrid Sorghum, and Canamaize Corn.
At Crone Brothers corn
variety plot Canamaize corn was grown in two different situations. One was
grown with 30 T/acre of manure applied with the manure spreader and the other
stand of Canamaize was grown with 65 lbs/acre of anhydrous.
The Millets and Sorghum
grown at the E.C.A.F.A. variety plot were planted on June 24, 2002. The millet’s were fertilized with 11-52-0 at a rate
of 40 lbs/acre. The Hybrid Sorghum was fertilized with 28-26-0 at a rate of 33
lbs/acre.
Observations:
The weed pressure in the millet and sorghum variety plots
was not very high (around the 5% range). With the rain received at the plot
this year these varieties did very well.
The results are as follows:
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NEW FORAGE VARIETIES FOR GRAZING/SILAGE
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(sub-sample)
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Variety Types
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Wet Sample Weight
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Dry Sample Weight
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Kg/Ha
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Tons/Acre
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Golden
German Millet
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504.0
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90.6
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3775
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1.7
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Siberian
Millet
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500.7
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87.4
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3642
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1.6
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Hybrid
Sorghum
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506.9
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106.8
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4450
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2.0
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*Tons/ac on a dry matter
basis.
At Crone Bros Cattle Co. we did data collection from the
Canamaize. Crone’s had two situations in which this corn was grown. One site was fertilized with 30 T/acre of
manure and was grazed by 150 head of steers for 10 days. The other site had 65 lbs/acre of NH3 applied
and would not be grazed until fall.
Due to the dry weather the
Canamaize didn’t have a chance to grow to it’s full
potential. Clippings were taken of the Canamaize in both situations and sent
for forage analysis. The results follow:
Canamaize – 30 T/Ac. manure
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Analysis:
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Units:
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As
Fed:
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Dry
Basis:
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Moisture
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%
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78.2
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Crude
Protein
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%
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4
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18.4
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Acid
Detergent Fibre
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%
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6
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27.5
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TDN
(ADF)
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%
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16
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73.44
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DE
(ADF)
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Mcal/Kg
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0.7
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3.23
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NEG
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Mcal/Kg
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0.21
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0.97
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NEL
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Mcal/Kg
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0.37
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1.71
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NEM
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Mcal/Kg
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0.36
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1.67
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Nitrate
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%
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0.15
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0.69
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Calcium
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%
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0.12
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0.54
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Phosphorus
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%
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0.06
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0.29
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Potassium
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%
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0.48
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2.22
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Magnesium
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%
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0.14
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0.67
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Sodium
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%
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<0.01
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<0.05
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Salt
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%
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<0.03
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<0.14
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Canamaize
- 65 lbs/acre NH3
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Analysis:
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Units:
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As
Fed:
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Dry
Basis:
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Moisture
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%
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74.8
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Crude
Protein
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%
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4.3
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17.1
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Acid
Detergent Fibre
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%
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6.7
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26.6
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TDN
(ADF)
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%
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18.84
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74.67
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DE
(ADF)
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Mcal/Kg
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0.83
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3.29
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NEG
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Mcal/Kg
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0.25
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1.01
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NEL
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Mcal/Kg
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0.44
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1.75
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NEM
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Mcal/Kg
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0.43
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1.71
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Nitrate
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%
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0.19
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0.75
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Calcium
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%
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0.16
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0.64
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Phosphorus
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%
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0.05
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0.2
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Potassium
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%
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0.49
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1.95
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Magnesium
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%
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0.15
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0.59
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Sodium
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%
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<0.01
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<0.04
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Salt
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%
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<0.03
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<0.12
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Future Plans: E.C.A.F.A. plans to continue trying new forages for
grazing/silage purposes.
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