Greenfeed question

[furrowtickler]

To the cattle guys here , what’s a good mixture for green feed ? Oats / barley / pea mix ?

[rumrocks]

If you grow peas with barley or oats you should cut it with a haybine, as it takes a very, very long time to dry down if you swath them, but other wise, makes nice feed.

[furrowtickler]

Ahhh ok , thx
We have a lot of wet areas that we can’t get to for at least a week or more.
With the current drought situation again in over 1/2 western Canada , feed / hay will be short again

[rumrocks]

Sorry I maybe didn't make that clear, pea vines take a long time to dry down if cut with a swather.

[grassfarmer]

I'd consider dropping the peas from the mix just so it's easier to harvest. Better quality feed with the peas and better for your land but I wouldn't take the risk of having it harder to make as the feed market likely won't reward you for the potential extra quality.
We bought a lot of standing barley/pea and cover crop mix last year and it was a nightmare to dry down so we finished up silage wrapping most of it which was an expensive exercise. You don't want to do that if you are selling the feed.

[furrowtickler]

I'd consider dropping the peas from the mix just so it's easier to harvest. Better quality feed with the peas and better for your land but I wouldn't take the risk of having it harder to make as the feed market likely won't reward you for the potential extra quality.
We bought a lot of standing barley/pea and cover crop mix last year and it was a nightmare to dry down so we finished up silage wrapping most of it which was an expensive exercise. You don't want to do that if you are selling the feed.

Good to know , thx
That’s why I asked , cause on paper peas sound great .
Experience helps 👍

[Braveheart]

Ahhh ok , thx
We have a lot of wet areas that we can’t get to for at least a week or more.
With the current drought situation again in over 1/2 western Canada , feed / hay will be short again

If do it watch the fertility. High nitrates in greenfeed can be a concern.

My choice if doing it would be straight oats but they can be s bitch to dry down.

[woodland]

Barley seems to dry down quicker for us since the stems are finer and not as waxy compared to oats. Like others have said the pea vines are very slow to dry down too. I prefer smooth awn or awnless to reduce the likelihood of lump jaw although if the crop is cut before it matures it’s not much of an issue.

If you plant just one variety it gives you the option to combine it if the situation changes and greenfeed doesn’t look appealing in a couple of months.

Food for thought 🍀

[bullshead]

What we do for greenfeed is seed barley and beardless tritacle together and cut it when the barley just starts making a kernal, that way you have some grain and the trit will just be heading out. The cows will eat it before the hay and clean it right up. Greenfeed should be tested for nitrates always.

[WiltonRanch]

If you’re seeding wet spots and corners oats or barley for greenfeed works. Just got a 3 pt spin spreader which holds enough seed for 10 acres. Have so many necks and what not too wet to drag the drill into but hope to disk in some oats and get something to grow. The way it’s shaping up here the dry trend we have is allowing us to access spots we haven’t got to for 4 years. If I can get in with my high clearance pull type sprayer and give it a shot then it’s hopefully dry enough to spread some seed. If it ends up dry going forward a guy might be able to seed more wet spots throughout the summer. Better than growing weeds and a bit more feed.

[blackjack]

A lot of operations west of highway 2 here in Alberta are making individual rapped high moisture bales to use or sell.

[Leduc cowboy]

If do it watch the fertility. High nitrates in greenfeed can be a concern.

My choice if doing it would be straight oats but they can be s bitch to dry down.

I always wonder why more guys don’t tedder there greenfeed . And good tedder will pay for itself pretty fast .

[grassfarmer]

I always wonder why more guys don’t tedder there greenfeed . And good tedder will pay for itself pretty fast .

A lot of people cut the crop far too mature to use a tedder.

[chuckChuck]

Anybody tried sorghum Sudan grass? I am interested in it mainly as a cover crop. Supposed to have a big root system and improve the soil a lot. But may not be great in the northern plains /prairies.

[Braveheart]

Anybody tried sorghum Sudan grass? I am interested in it mainly as a cover crop. Supposed to have a big root system and improve the soil a lot. But may not be great in the northern plains /prairies.

We've grown it. Warm season grass. Grew fast and had good tonnage. Easy to establish too. If for feed watch nitrates.