Forage production, economic performance indicators and beef cattle nutritional suitability of multispecies annual crop mixtures in northwestern Alberta, Canada

Figures & data

Table 1. Soil characteristics (0–15 cm soil depth), spring soil moisture and temperature at sowing for both trial years.

	2016	2017
Nutrients and quality
Soil organic matter	7.3	6.6
pH (1:2.5 H2O)	5.5	6.0
EC (dS/m)	0.58	0.39
Nitrate-N (ppm)	75	43
Bray 1-P (ppm)	30	12
K (ppm)	151	188
Sulphate-S (ppm)	11	4
Ca (ppm)	2010	1990
Mg (ppm)	370	349
% Nutrient saturation
Ca (%)	39.0	51.7
Mg (%)	11.8	15.0
Na (%)	0.9	0.7
K (%)	1.5	2.5
% Base saturation	53.1	69.9
Total exchangeable cations (meq/100 g)	25.8	19.2
Spring soil moisture (%)
0–5 cm soil depth	12.0	13.1
0–20 cm soil depth	13.3	21.3
Spring soil temperature (^OC)
0–5 cm soil depth	12.1	11.1
0–20 cm soil depth	9.94	8.95
Available water holding capacity (mm) for a 120-cm deep profile (Jong and Shields 1988 )	250

Table 2. Monthly mean air temperature and precipitation during two growing seasons (2016, 2017) and long-term averages at the experimental site.

	Temperature (°C)			Precipitation (mm)
Month	2016	2017	30-year average	2016	2017	30-year average
April	7.3	2.5	3.2	5.4	31.3	18.9
May	9.9	11.5	9.8	68.6	30.2	40.0
June	13.4	14.5	13.9	73.7	53.7	64.3
July	15.9	15.9	15.8	22.6	57.2	68.7
August	11.6	15.7	14.7	92.1	14.2	47.8
Total	–	–	–	262.4	186.6	239.7

Table 3. Sowing rates for pure cereals and multispecies annual crop mixtures (with their common names/varieties for the different crop species).

Cover crop treatment	Sowing rate (Kg ha^−1)	Cover crop treatment	Sowing rate (Kg ha^−1)
Pure CDC Maverick barley (H. vulgare L.)	135	Mixture #7
Pure CDC Haymaker oat (A. sativa L.)	113	CDC Maverick barley variety (H. vulgare L.)	67.2
Pure Bunker triticale (X Triticosecale Wittmack)	124	Hairy vetch (V. villosa Roth L.) – not inoculated	14.0
Pure AC Andrew soft white wheat (T. aestivum L.)	135	Mixture #8
Mixture #1		CDC Maverick barley variety (H. vulgare L.)	44.8
CDC Horizon field pea variety (P. sativum L.)	18.7	40–10 forage pea variety (P. sativum L.)	37.3
CDC Haymaker oat variety (A. sativa L.)	18.7	Bunker triticale variety (X Triticosecale Wittmack)	41.1
Hairy vetch (V. villosa Roth L.)	4.67	Mixture #9
Tillage radish (R. sativus L.)	1.87	CDC Horizon pea variety (P. sativum L.)	28.0
Purple top turnips (B. rapa L.)	1.87	Hairy vetch (V. villosa Roth L.)	7.00
Crimson clover (T. incarnatum L.)	3.73	Crimson clover (T. incarnatum L.)	5.60
Mixture #2		Snowbird fababean (V. faba L.)	50.4
Green Spirit Italian ryegrass (L. multiflorum Lam.)	3.20	Mixture #10
Red proso millet (P. miliaceum L.)	4.00	Hairy vetch (V. villosa Roth L.)	3.11
CDC Maverick barley variety (H. vulgare L.)	19.2	Green Spirit Italian ryegrass (L. multiflorum Lam.)	2.49
CDC Horizon pea variety (P. sativum L.)	16.0	Brown midrib sorghum (S. bicolor L.)	4.36
Purple top turnips (B. rapa L.)	1.60	Crimson clover (T. incarnatum L.)	2.49
Kale (B. oleracea L)	0.80	Winfred forage brassica	0.62
Crimson clover (T. incarnatum L.)	3.20	Hunter forage rape (B. napus L.)	0.62
Mixture #3		Goliath forage radish**	0.62
Green Spirit Italian ryegrass (L. multiflorum Lam.)	3.73	CDC Haymaker oat variety (A. sativa L.)	12.4
CDC Haymaker oat variety (A. sativa L.)	18.7	CDC Horizon pea variety (P. sativum L.)	12.4
CDC Horizon pea variety (P. sativum L.)	18.7	Mixture #11
Purple top turnips (B. rapa L.)	1.87	Green Spirit Italian ryegrass (L. multiflorum Lam.)	4.48
Forage rape (B. napus L.)	0.93	Hairy vetch (V. villosa Roth L.)	5.60
Laser Persian clover (T. resupinatum L.)	0.93	Hunter forage turnips***	1.12
Mixture #4		Winfred forage brassica	1.12
Red proso millet (P. miliaceum L.)	3.11	CDC Haymaker oat variety (A. sativa L.)	22.4
CDC Haymaker oat variety (A. sativa L.)	12.4	Mixture #12
CDC Maverick barley variety (H. vulgare L.)	14.9	Hairy vetch (V villosa Roth L.)	4.00
40–10 forage pea variety (P. sativum L.)	12.4	Sorghum Sudan grass****	4.29
Tillage radish (R. sativus L.)	1.24	Bunker triticale (X Triticosecale Wittmack)	17.9
Hairy vetch (V. villosa Roth L.)	3.11	Frosty berseem clover (T. alexandrinum L.)	3.21
Kale (B. oleracea L)	0.62	Winfred forage brassica	0.80
Crimson clover (T. incarnatum L.)	2.49	CDC Haymaker oat (A. sativa L.)	16.0
Laser Persian clover (T. resupinatum L.)	0.62	40–10 forage pea variety (P. sativum L.)	16.0
Mixture #5		Mixture #13
CDC Maverick barley variety (H. vulgare L.)	19.2	Green Spirit Italian ryegrass (L. multiflorum Lam.)	3.21
CDC Horizon pea variety (P. sativum L.)	16.0	Forage sorghum (S. bicolor L.)	5.62
Hairy vetch (V villosa Roth L.)	4.00	Frosty berseem clover (T. alexandrinum L.)	2.41
Crimson clover (T. incarnatum L.)	3.20	Barsica forage rape (B. napus L.)	0.81
Winfred forage brassica*	0.80	T-raptor forage hybrid brassica*****	0.81
Green Spirit Italian ryegrass (L. multiflorum Lam.)	3.20	Teff (Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter)	1.28
Sunflower (C4) (H. annuus L)	0.80	Laser Persian clover (T. resupinatum L.)	2.42
Mixture #6		Mixture #14
CDC Maverick barley variety (H. vulgare L.)	67.2	CDC Horizon pea variety (P. sativum L.)	37.3
Hairy vetch (V. villosa Roth L.) – inoculated	14.0	CDC Haymaker oat variety (A. sativa L.)	37.3
		Hairy vetch (V. villosa Roth L.)	9.33

*Winfred forage brassica – a cross between a turnip and a kale.

**Goliath forage brassica – a rape and kale interspecies cross.

***Hunter forage brassica – an intra-specific hybrid developed by crossing turnips with related Asiatic leaf vegetables of the same species.

****Sorghum Sudan grass (Sorghum × drummondii (Nees ex Steud.) Millsp).

*****T-raptor forage hybrid brassica – a cross between a forage turnip and a forage rape.

Table 4. Forage dry matter (DM) content at harvest, forage DM yield (FDMY), crude protein (CP), crude protein fractions [soluble protein (Sol-CP), acid detergent fibre-CP (ADF-CP), neutral detergent fibre (NDF-CP), undegradable intake protein (UIP)], and forage crude protein yield (CPY) for all cropping treatments [14 multispecies annual crop mixtures and 4 monoculture cereals].

	DM	FDMY	CP	Sol-CP	ADF-CP	NDF-CP	UIP	CPY
Annual crop mixture	%	t ha^−1	%	%	%	%	%	t ha^−1
Barley	34.5	6.76	12.0	49.2	1.04	2.23	25.4	0.81
Oat	33.4	6.21	9.80	55.4	0.91	2.46	22.3	0.58
Soft white wheat	32.7	7.13	11.1	59.3	1.00	2.76	20.3	0.81
Triticale	37.8	7.72	10.5	55.7	1.12	2.71	22.2	0.81
Mixture #1	31.1	7.13	13.9	51.2	0.92	2.73	24.4	0.99
Mixture #2	30.8	7.15	14.7	50.1	1.04	3.05	25.0	1.08
Mixture #3	27.6	6.63	12.4	53.9	0.90	2.82	23.1	0.85
Mixture #4	25.3	9.25	14.6	50.7	0.85	3.08	24.7	1.38
Mixture #5	35.7	7.79	13.0	49.5	0.91	3.21	25.2	1.01
Mixture #6	36.1	7.98	12.0	44.9	1.03	3.30	27.6	0.97
Mixture #7	35.2	7.34	11.7	44.6	0.89	2.96	27.7	0.86
Mixture #8	37.9	8.48	11.2	53.1	0.77	2.27	23.5	0.95
Mixture #9	29.3	6.28	17.3	52.2	1.34	3.29	23.9	1.09
Mixture #10	16.6	7.92	21.3	54.5	1.23	4.09	22.8	1.76
Mixture #11	27.5	7.98	22.9	61.0	0.93	1.90	19.5	1.88
Mixture #12	25.9	8.26	23.8	61.3	0.87	2.98	19.3	2.03
Mixture #13	19.2	6.08	22.0	53.1	0.90	3.54	23.4	1.33
Mixture #14	29.8	6.93	13.3	65.7	0.68	3.76	17.1	0.92
Significance (P   0.05)	*	*	*	*	*	NS^+	*	*
LSD0.05	3.55	0.77	2.36	8.42	0.27	1.35	4.20	0.26
Mean	69.8	7.39	14.6	53.6	0.96	2.91	23.2	1.11
CV^z (%)	3.97	9.13	11.3	9.23	20.2	32.5	12.6	16.3

*Significant at P < 0.05.

⁺NS = not significant at P < 0.05.

Note: LSD_0.05 = least significant difference at P < 0.05.

^zCV = means coefficient of variation.

Table 5. Forage acid detergent fibre (ADF), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), non-fibre carbohydrate (NFC), forms of energy [total digestible nutrients (TDN), net energy for lactation (NE_L), net energy for gain (NE_G) & net energy for maintenance (NE_M)], TDN yield (TDNY) and relative feed value (RFV) of forage on dry weight basis for the cropping treatments [14 annual crop mixtures and 4 monoculture cereals].

	ADF	NDF	NFC	TDN	TDNY	NEL	NEG	NEM	RFV
Cover crop treatment	%	%	%	%	t ha^−1	Mcal/kg	Mcal/kg	Mcal/kg
Barley	31.3	53.6	22.4	62.9	4.25	1.41	0.86	1.59	107
Oat	35.6	58.6	20.0	61.5	3.82	1.35	0.77	1.49	97
Soft white wheat	32.8	53.0	24.7	63.2	4.51	1.42	0.83	1.55	112
Triticale	33.0	53.1	24.9	63.1	4.87	1.41	0.82	1.54	111
Mixture #1	32.6	52.3	22.3	63.3	5.15	1.42	0.83	1.55	116
Mixture #2	27.5	43.2	30.6	66.3	4.74	1.54	0.95	1.67	146
Mixture #3	33.9	55.3	20.8	62.6	4.15	1.39	0.81	1.53	106
Mixture #4	29.7	47.2	26.7	65.0	6.01	1.49	0.90	1.62	131
Mixture #5	27.0	46.0	29.5	66.6	5.19	1.55	0.96	1.68	139
Mixture #6	29.2	49.3	27.2	65.3	5.21	1.50	0.91	1.63	125
Mixture #7	27.4	47.2	29.6	66.3	4.87	1.54	0.95	1.67	134
Mixture #8	30.0	48.8	28.5	65.0	5.50	1.48	0.89	1.61	128
Mixture #9	30.6	38.7	32.5	64.5	4.05	1.47	0.88	1.60	156
Mixture #10	27.9	36.7	33.1	66.0	5.23	1.53	0.94	1.66	174
Mixture #11	23.3	33.5	36.6	68.7	5.48	1.63	1.04	1.76	198
Mixture #12	24.1	30.1	34.6	68.3	5.64	1.61	1.03	1.75	229
Mixture #13	22.5	33.1	34.0	69.2	4.21	1.65	1.06	1.78	202
Mixture #14	27.4	52.7	22.4	66.3	4.59	1.54	0.83	1.54	120
Significance (P  <  0.05)	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
LSD0.05	3.66	5.91	5.26	2.1	0.88	0.08	0.08	0.08	22.3
Mean	29.2	46.8	27.8	65.2	4.86	1.50	0.90	1.62	141
CV ^z (%)	8.69	8.84	13.3	2.25	12.6	3.80	6.71	3.73	11.1

*Significant at P < 0.05.

Note: LSD_0.05= least significant difference at P < 0.05.

⁺NS = not significant at P < 0.05.

^zCV = means coefficient of variation.

Table 6. Forage macro and trace mineral contents, Ca:P ratio and tetany ratio (K/(Ca + Mg) for the cropping treatments [14 annual crop mixtures and 4 monoculture cereals].

	Macro-minerals								Trace-minerals
Cover crop treatment	Ca	P	Ca:P	K	Mg	Na	S	Tetany	Cu	Fe	Zn	Mn
	%	%		%	%	%	%	ratio	ppm	ppm	ppm	ppm
Barley	0.32	0.20	1.60	1.75	0.22	0.50	0.24	3.24	4.08	77.5	40.3	84.2
Oat	0.30	0.18	1.67	1.78	0.16	0.22	0.17	3.87	3.85	90.8	30.6	92.5
Soft white wheat	0.23	0.18	1.28	1.58	0.18	0.02	0.17	3.85	4.92	54.8	37.7	60.9
Triticale	0.25	0.21	1.19	1.54	0.20	0.11	0.20	3.42	3.87	77.1	47.9	93.2
Mixture #1	0.59	0.19	3.11	1.63	0.23	0.48	0.23	1.99	4.46	82.6	40.1	70.6
Mixture #2	0.74	0.19	3.89	1.56	0.29	0.24	0.25	1.51	5.48	88.2	47.2	34.1
Mixture #3	0.60	0.19	3.16	2.02	0.23	0.45	0.28	2.43	4.28	86.4	37.5	91.9
Mixture #4	0.63	0.22	2.86	1.77	0.26	0.35	0.31	1.99	5.04	80.8	44.0	46.6
Mixture #5	0.60	0.21	2.86	1.70	0.21	0.14	0.21	2.10	5.32	80.5	42.8	33.4
Mixture #6	0.36	0.18	2.00	1.50	0.18	0.15	0.18	2.78	5.23	70.0	39.0	32.3
Mixture #7	0.31	0.18	1.72	1.38	0.17	0.12	0.17	2.88	5.00	67.3	41.3	27.7
Mixture #8	0.40	0.17	2.35	1.41	0.18	0.11	0.18	2.43	5.01	105	42.7	95.5
Mixture #9	1.29	0.21	6.14	1.57	0.36	0.14	0.16	0.95	6.72	110	72.6	41.8
Mixture #10	1.66	0.25	6.64	3.32	0.35	0.39	0.48	1.65	4.99	121	61.2	37.4
Mixture #11	1.44	0.22	6.55	3.27	0.38	0.38	0.43	1.80	4.53	184	44.3	65.6
Mixture #12	1.57	0.27	5.81	3.09	0.49	0.98	0.81	1.50	4.93	122	57.1	54.8
Mixture #13	1.67	0.22	7.59	3.38	0.43	0.55	0.42	1.61	5.13	181	45.1	59.5
Mixture #14	0.53	0.22	2.41	1.24	0.17	0.23	0.14	1.77	5.48	85.9	37.8	72.1
Significance	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
LSD 0.05	0.36	0.04	1.09	0.61	0.07	0.34	0.09	0.89	1.29	31.5	10.9	44.6
Mean	0.76	0.2	3.49	1.97	0.26	0.31	0.28	4.34	4.91	97.9	45.0	63.1
CV ^z (%)	22.5	17	20.6	22.1	20.8	80.1	25.6	16.4	18.6	23.0	17.0	49.5

*Significance at P < 0.05.

Note: LSD_0.05= least significant difference at P < 0.05.

⁺NS = not significant at P < 0.05.

^zCV = means coefficient of variation.

Table 7. Calculated forage digestibility (digestible feed energy, DFE; digestible crude protein, DCP; digestible dry matter, DDM) and intake (dry matter intake, DMI) for different cropping treatments (14 annual crop mixtures and 4 monoculture cereals).

	DFE	DCP	DMI	DDM
Cover crop treatment	Mcal/kg	%	%	%
Barley	2.77	7.52	2.17	63
Oat	2.71	5.26	2.05	61.1
Soft white wheat	2.78	6.76	2.28	63.4
Triticale	2.78	6.25	2.27	63.2
Mixture #1	2.79	9.39	2.31	63.5
Mixture #2	2.92	10.1	2.79	67.5
Mixture #3	2.75	8.04	2.18	62.5
Mixture #4	2.86	10.1	2.56	65.8
Mixture #5	2.93	8.52	2.63	67.9
Mixture #6	2.87	7.67	2.44	66.1
Mixture #7	2.92	7.37	2.55	67.6
Mixture #8	2.85	7.45	2.51	65.6
Mixture #9	2.84	12.6	3.1	65.1
Mixture #10	2.91	16.3	3.34	67.2
Mixture #11	3.02	17.8	3.61	70.8
Mixture #12	3.00	18.6	4.17	70.1
Mixture #13	3.04	16.9	3.65	71.4
Mixture #14	2.92	8.79	2.3	67.6
Significance ( P <  0.05)	*	*	*	*
LSD 0.05	0.09	2.21	0.36	2.84
Mean	2.87	10.3	2.72	66.06
CV ^z (%)	2.25	15.2	9.45	3.00

*Significant at P < 0.05.

Note: LSD_0.05= least significant difference at P < 0.05.

⁺NS = not significant at P < 0.05.

^zCV = means coefficient of variation.

Table 8. Partial budget analysis comparison of different cropping treatments (14 annual crop mixtures and 4 monoculture cereals).

Cover crop		Input costs (CAD $/ha)		Marginal		Forage DM/$	CAD $/t
treatment	Revenue	Seed	Total Variable	Returns	BCR^¶	spent on seed	of CP
Barley	1216	80	509	707	1.39	0.08	102
Oat	1118	40	470	647	1.38	0.16	70
Soft white wheat	1282	74	521	761	1.46	0.10	92
Triticale	1390	82	535	854	1.60	0.09	102
Mixture #1	1282	79	529	753	1.42	0.09	81
Mixture #2	1288	69	495	793	1.60	0.10	64
Mixture #3	1192	53	465	727	1.55	0.13	63
Mixture #4	1664	72	552	1112	2.01	0.13	53
Mixture #5	1402	74	516	886	1.70	0.11	77
Mixture #6	1436	116	563	874	1.55	0.07	121
Mixture #7	1322	116	520	621	1.19	0.05	157
Mixture #8	1528	74	534	993	1.85	0.12	78
Mixture #9	1130	99	474	656	1.38	0.06	93
Mixture #10	1426	73	471	954	2.05	0.11	42
Mixture #11	1438	70	517	920	1.77	0.11	38
Mixture #12	1486	90	544	942	1.73	0.09	45
Mixture #13	1094	84	482	613	1.27	0.07	64
Mixture #14	1248	83	538	710	1.32	0.08	95
Significance	*	NA^+	*	*	*	*	*
LSD0.05	161	NA	28.2	141	0.22	0.01	18
Mean	1320	NA	513	806	1.57	0.10	81
CV^z (%)	10.6	NA	4.80	15.0	12.5	11.4	16

^¶BCR stands for Benefit/cost ratio

*Significance at P < 0.05. Means within a column with the same superscript (s)/letter(s) were not significantly different according to LSD (P < 0.05).

⁺NA = not available.

Note: This is only a simple cost analysis and is not intended as an in depth study of the cost of production. The costs are in Canadian Dollar (CAD $). CAD $1 = US $0.78.

Total variable consisted of seed costs, tillage, sowing, forage conservation processes (e.g. cutting, hauling).

Table 9. Recommended nutrient requirements for beef cattle from NASEM (2016).

Nutrient		Requirement
	Growing and finishing calves	Dry gestating cows	Lactating cows
CP (%)	12–14	7–9*	11
Ca (%)	0.31	0.18	0.58
P (%)	0.21	0.16	0.26
Mg (%)	0.1	0.12	0.2
K (%)	0.6	0.6	0.7
Na (%)	0.06–0.08	0.06–0.08	0.1
S (%)	0.15	0.15	0.15
Cu (ppm)	10	10	10
Zn (ppm)	30	30	30
Fe (ppm)	50	50	50
Mn (ppm)	20	40	40
NEM (MCal kg ^−1 )	1.08–2.29	0.97–1.10	1.19–1.28
NEG (MCal kg ^−1)	0.53–1.37	NA^Y	NA
TDN (%)	65–70^W	55–60^Z	65

*7% for middle 1/3 of pregnancy, 9% for late 1/3 of pregnancy.

^Z55% for middle 1/3 of pregnancy, 60% for late 1/3 of pregnancy.

^YNA, not available.

^Wfor 6–10 months old growing bulls.

Jong RD , Shields JA. 1988. Available water-holding capacity maps of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Can. J Soil Sci. 68:157–163. doi: 10.4141/cjss88-015

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[NASEM] National academies of sciences, engineering, and medicine . 2016. Nutrient requirements of beef cattle, eighth revised edition. Washington, DC : The national academies press. doi:10.17226/19014.

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