Why is this research important for Alberta ag?
Alberta has been facing significant drought conditions over the past few years. A severe and sustained drought is stressful to beef cattle operations that rely heavily on sufficient and timely rainfall to grow forage to feed their herds. Many perennial grass and legume forage species go into dormancy when they struggle with heat and water shortages. Therefore, the selection of suitable drought-tolerant forage species is of prime importance during times of frequent rainfall deficiencies.
The spring cereals utilized as annual forages perform better during hot and dry years when most perennial forages are not generally suited. Barley is one of the most common annual cereal forage crops in Alberta. It has better feed quality than oats, wheat, or triticale. In some cases, two-row barley are superior to six-row barley in terms of forage yield and nutritional quality.
It's theorized that mixed cultivation of two-row and six-row barley in varietal seed mixtures could increase forage yield and nutritional quality compared to their component varieties in pure stands, but no research has been done to substantiate these claims in Northeastern Alberta. This research will help producers determine which mixture to use for their operations based on characteristics and benefits.
What benefits can producers expect from this research?
The successful completion of this trial will provide producers with a simple tool to increase forage yield by utilizing the intraspecific diversity of barley varietal mixture during hot and dry years.
Comparing different forage barley mixture ratios in the proposed study will help livestock producers to select a suitable barley mixture in terms of yield and nutritional quality. The high-yielding and high-quality forage barely mixture stand could be grazed when perennial pastures are resting, baled, or chopped.
How will these research findings reach producers on-farm?
Some of the ways results will be disseminated will include:
Trial results will be made publicly available in LARA's annual report and newsletter.
Results will be communicated to local producers at the LARA annual meeting and related producer meetings/workshops.
Results will be made available to other organizations including Alberta Beef Producers, Lakeland College, and other Applied Research and Forage Associations for further distribution.
Results will be transmitted to 310-FARM.
Funded in part by the Government of Canada under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.