Forage Mixtures & Species

1. Forage mixtures, species and
extended grazing
ACORN Conference 2016
John Duynisveld
AAFC Nappan/Holdanca Farms

2. Beef Nutrition and Pasture
Management Research Program
John Duynisveld
• Focus:- Sustainable beef production systems for
Eastern Canada
• Current Research Interests:
– Forage mixtures for long-term pasture productivity.
– Management strategies to lower beef production costs by
extending the grazing season.
– The role of forage bio-active components in livestock
production.

3. Forage Breeding and Agronomy
Yousef A. Papadopoulos
• Focus:- The role of forage species & their varieties
in modern cropping systems
• Current Study Areas:
– Exploiting genetic variability to enhance forage
productivity and resiliency.
– Productive forage legume cultivars for the long-term
sustainability under pasture management.
– Forage mixtures and nutrient cycling.

4. New Alfalfa Cultivar CRS 1001

5. Few Members of Research Team

6. Holdanca Farms
• Grass based farm in Wallace Bay, NS
• Direct market variety of grass-fed meat products
• Integrated multi-species pasture management key to
our production system
• Eighty percent of product marketed direct to
consumers

7. Holdanca Farms
Wallace, NS
500 acres – half pasture, half woodland

8. Market 20 to 30 grass-fed beef
Cows are pastured year-round

9. Custom graze cattle
May to October

10. Laying Hens

11. Poultry and Pasture
Raise, process and market 5000 pastured chickens
April to October

13. Free range TurkeysRaise, process and market 850 turkeys
May to October
Moved daily to fresh pasture

14. Pigs

15. Pasture for livestock production
• Needs to be low cost
– Often animals are not productive for much of year
• Lower input/labour
– Often part-time farmers or only part of enterprise
• Productive
= Perennial pasture

16. Why raise animals on pasture?
• Environmental benefits
• Natural diet for ruminants, part of mono-
gastric diets
• Healthier for us
• Better taste!

19. Health benefits of grass-fed meat and eggs
• Higher in vitamin E and A
• Lower saturated fats
• Higher levels of “good” fats including omega-3
fats and conjugated linoleic acid
• Fewer pathogenic bacteria

20. Environmental benefits of well
managed perennial pasture (partial list)
• Resilient to climate change (weather extremes)
• Builds soil (opposite of erosion)
• Biodiversity (plants, soil life, wildlife)
• Reduce GHG emissions, consume methane
• Carbon sequestration!!!!

21. 21
Diverse forage mixtures yield better than
simple mixtures
• Papadopoulos et al. (2011) research over 5
years on forage mixtures:
– Increasing complexity of mixtures (more grass
types) increased yield of forage
– Timothy and bluegrass in mixtures can
enhance yield of forage

22. Why do mixtures grow more feed?
• Different grasses grow in different ways, times of year
– Both leaf structure and roots
• Increases use of available sunlight
• Increases use of available fertility and water
• May be synergies with some combinations
• Resilience for weather differences from year to year
22

23. Value of legumes in pastures
• Nitrogen fixation
• Forage quality – protein
• Maintain digestibility in summer
• Cattle like most legumes (very palatable)
– Will seek them when grazing
23

25. Why do we expect to see differences
in animal performance between
mixtures?
• All well managed pastures have good feed
value and can be reasonably productive
• Cattle will digest some grasses better than
others despite what forage testing tells us
• Cattle will prefer some forages over other
25

26. 26
Beef grazing mixtures project design
Canadian Cattlemen’s Beef Cluster
• Experiment 1: identify the best simple forage
mixtures and grass cultivar (Nappan) for each
environment. Combinations of one grass grown
with either white clover, alfalfa or trefoil.
• forage yield, seasonality, persistence and forage
quality under rotational grazing by cattle (Nappan
and Kapuskasing) or simulated grazing (Quebec
City).

27. 27
Beef grazing mixtures project design
• Experiment 2: Four grass mixtures seeded with either
alfalfa or birdsfoot trefoil (Complex mixtures)
• forage yield, seasonality, persistence and forage quality
• Animal weight gain, grazing days, animal gain per acre
• 4 core animals per treatment group for data collection

28. Pâturage
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Coupes fréquentes
RendementenMS(t/ha)
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Results
Forage yield (t/ha)
P < 0.05
Frequent clipping (Normandin and Lévis)
Cattle grazing (Nappan)
DMYield(t/ha)
Birdsfoot trefoil Alfalfa White clover

29. Pâturage
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Coupe fréquenteProductionestiméedelait(tlait/ha)
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Brom
e des prés
Fléole des prés
Fétuque élevée
Pâturin
des prés
Fétuque des prés
Dactyle pelotonné
Brom
e des prés
Fléole des prés
Fétuque élevée
Pâturin
des prés
Fétuque des prés
Dactyle pelotonné
Brom
e des prés
Fléole des prés
Fétuque élevée
Pâturin
des prés
Fétuque des prés
Dactyle pelotonné
LuzerneLotier corniculé Trèfle blanc
Productionestiméedelait(tlait/ha)
Results
Estimated milk production (t milk/ha)
Frequent clipping
Birdsfoot trefoil Alfalfa White clover
estimatedmilkproduction(tmilk/ha)
11.7 t/ha
9.4 t/ha
8.8 t/ha
11.1 t/ha 12.1 t/ha
12.4 t/ha
Grazing

30. Establishment estimate of plants˖m-2 of 3 legumes and 6
grass species seeded in 2010
2012

32. Persistence estimate of plants˖m-2 of 3
legumes and 6 grass species seeded in
2010
2013 2014

33. Cultivar results
• Most valuable players based on mid and late
season yield and energy:
– Kokanee Tall Fescue with alfalfa or trefoil
– Ginger Bluegrass with white clover
– Bg3 Bluegrass with alfalfa

34. Long-term agronomic performance of
grass-legume pasture mixtures
• Re-seed legumes (sod or frost seed) every 2-3
years to sustain mixtures productivity.
• Choose compatible grass cultivar to sustain
seasonal dry matter production.

35. 0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Averageanimalgain,Kg/d
Legume effect on animal gain over years of research
Trefoil
Alfalfa
35

36. 36
Year
2011 2012 2013 2014
Gain/Forage,kg/t
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Bt TiMfRcKb
Bt TfMbOrKb
Bt TiMfKb
Bt TfMbRcKb
gAf TiMfRcKb
gAf TfMbOrKb
gAf TiMfKb
gAf TfMbRcKb

37. 37

38. Body weight change by mixture and
legume, lb per steer, 2013
38
800
850
900
950
1000
1050
1100
1150
May June July Aug Sept Oct
Alfalfa
Af - KbTfOgMb
Af - MfTmKb
Af - RgKbTfMb
Af - TmMfRgKb
800
850
900
950
1000
1050
1100
1150
May June July Aug Sept Oct
Trefoil
Bt - KbTfOgMb
Bt - MfTmKb
Bt - RgKbTfMb
Bt - TmMfRgKb

39. 20 second summary of beef cluster
research to date
• Cattle had better daily gain on Timothy/meadow
fescue/bluegrass pasture BUT
• More gain per acre on mixtures with Tall fescue in
them
• Cultivar of grass matters for forage yield and quality
under animal grazing
• Meadow fescue with any legume provides optimum
balance of sugars, energy, and protein
• Cattle gain better on trefoil pastures than alfalfa
pastures
– We need to reseed legumes every 2 to 3 years to maintain
them in sward
39

40. Can pasture species affect carcass
quality?
Red
Clover
Tall
fescue SEM P. Values
Final wt kg 497 499 14 0.708
ADG kg/day 1.1 1.1 0.1 0.988
Carcass wt kg 281 272 8 0.048
Dressing % 54.7 52.4 0.7 0.002
Back fat mm 6.3 5.1 0.6 0.049
Dry Matter
Intake kg/d 11.2 12.5 0.5 0.036

41. Goals of Extending the Grazing Season
• Reducing Feeding Costs
• Reducing Hauling Costs
• Reducing Harvesting Costs
• Reducing Manure Removal Costs
65 to 75 % of costs of calf production come
from feed, pasture and bedding.

42. Ranking of beef cattle
best suited to winter grazing
1. Fat dry cow
2. Late lactation bred cow
3. Bred heifer
4. Yearling to background
5. Early lactation cow
6. Weaned calf – not recommended without
supplementation

43. Environmental effects on
animal energy needs
• Temperature - each species has a lower critical
temperature below which maintenance energy
skyrockets
• Rain/snow – affect body temperature
• Wind – wind chill increases effect of cooler temp.
– In combination with wet weather can significantly
raise energy needs
• Mud – an important consideration in Eastern
Canada
• Distance to walk to water, feed, shelter

44. What can we do to cope with
environment?
• Make sure animals are in good body condition
going into fall
– fat and hair are great insulators
• Plan extended grazing areas to be in sheltered
places
• Provide artificial shelter
• Plan to fall/winter graze close to barns

45. 45
January 2013, AAFC Nappan
Portable shelter in snowstorm

46. 46
January 2013, AAFC Nappan
Note hair coat, body condition

47. Corn Grazing Nappan NS, early December
Ground not frozen

49. How to avoid mud in the Maritimes
• Have as much available pasture as possible
– “snowshoe” effect, more root mass
• Move cattle to new ground as often as
possible
– Minimizes damage, spreads manure
• Graze cautiously ESPECIALLY when frost
coming out of the ground
• Fields that have been rotationally grazed
previous season have stronger sod

50. Overgrazed, no recovery Well recovered
Grazing management affects the entire grazing ecosystem
Which will handle wet soil better?

51. Late November bale grazing,
no frost, after heavy rain

52. 52
Dec 24, 2015
Stockpiled naturalized pasture
2 acre paddock after 5 days grazing by 40 head beef
35 mm rainfall in last 3 days; Queens soil, no tile drains

53. 53
January 2013, AAFC Nappan
Note bare ground around bales

54. 54
January 2013, AAFC Nappan

56. Bale grazing late March 2015 in 4 feet of snow

57. Bale grazing late March 2015 in 4 feet of snow

58. Bale grazing late March 2015 in 4 feet of snow

59. Bale grazing late March 2015 in 4 feet of snow

60. Corn and tall fescue for fall grazing:
Animal results
Fall Feeding:
October to
Christmas In Barn January to May
weight
change
lb
BCS
change
Feed
intake
after
calving
lb
BCS
change
after
calving
Cow wt
change
lb
calf
birth
wt
lb
calf
weight
at
turnout
lb
Barn 126 -0.5 29 0.0 -41 88 379
Corn -41 -1.4 30 0.0 -6 90 349
Fescue 106 -0.9 29 0.3 -6 94 385

61. 44
46
48
50
52
54
56
58
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
1 2 3 4
TDN(%)
CP(%)anddailyintake(kg)
Day in paddock
dmi
cp
tdn
Changes in daily intake and feed quality for winter
swath grazing, Lacombe

62. 0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1 2 3 4
CPintake(kg/day)
TDNintake(kg/day)
Day in paddock
tdn intake
cp intake
Changes in daily nutrient intake for winter swath
grazing, Lacombe compared to needs!

63. Results of clover/fescue fall grazing
Assumptions
Red
clover
Tall
fescue
forage yield, kg/ha 4726 4614
total DM available (4 ha
land) kg 4 ha per group 18906 18455
amount available (percent
used*DM available) 65 % grazed 12289 11996
feed/day (DM avail/# of
days) 60 days grazed 205 200
average cow wt, kg 650
average cow intake (3%
body weight) kg/day 0.03
% body weight
eaten 19.5 19.5
number of cows to feed 11 10

64. • Atlantic Canada challenges
– Variable fall weather, frozen ground not reliable
– Winter can has frequent freeze/thaw turning snow
cover into ice
• However, we can have a lot of fall grass growth
with right forage species (fescues, bluegrass)
• To minimize risks, Stockpiled pasture through to
freeze-up, bale graze through to spring
64

65. Economics study winter grazing in
Maritimes
• Compared 200 days barn feeding (typical
winter season) to 75 days stockpiled feed, 125
days bale graze (some successful use of this on
farms)
• 80 cow-calf herd, spring calving
• $183 saving per cow with winter grazing
65

66. Conclusion
• When seeding pastures, some grass and
legume species (and cultivars!) are more
suitable than others for pasture
– Some mixtures may be better for finishing
livestock, some for mature animals
• Consider winter grazing to control costs
• Let your animals graze!

67. Sheep on pasture
Questions?