Planting cool season annuals such as annual ryegrass, small grains, peas, and brassicas, can enhance the diversity of nutritional feed sources for your herd. Utilizing these annuals can help stretch feed supplies, by extending the grazing season or adding to stored feed supplies. The addition of cool season annual forages can extend the grazing season well into October or later depending on the year. The sooner you plant cool season annuals, the more time they will have to establish and produce biomass! Continue reading to learn specifics about a few different options for cool season annuals in the Northeast…
Annual Ryegrass
Annual ryegrass is a fantastic fall forage. It establishes quickly and most varieties are very palatable for grazing. Annual ryegrass can produce about 1000 to 2000 lbs of dry matter per acre in our region if sown by late August. The seed is typically quite inexpensive compared to winter cereal grains or brassicas making it an affordable way to boost fall grazing and/or feed stores. Annual ryegrass can be drilled at a rate of 20 to 30 lbs per acre at a depth of ¼ to ½ inch.
Brassicas
Forage brassicas, such as turnips, kales, and radishes, can provide plenty of high-quality fall forage for grazing. They may be seeded alone or in combination with other annuals and can yield 1500 to 2000 lbs of dry matter per acre. Brassicas are highly digestible and therefore need to be grazed with caution to avoid her health issues. Animals should only be allowed to graze brassicas for short periods of time and given adequate supplemental fiber. Overall, brassicas should constitute less than 30% of an animal’s overall dry matter intake. Remember, brassica forage can lead to off-flavors in milk and this factor should be considered especially with direct to consumer sales. Brassicas can be drilled at a rate of about 6 lbs per acre at a depth of ¼ to ½ inch.
Small Grains
Small grains are also great options for fall forage. There are spring and winter grains that can be planted to produce late season forage. Winter triticale, wheat, and rye can produce decent quantities of biomass in the fall prior to going into dormancy for the winter. These winter grains are typically grazed in the fall and left to provide soil cover over the winter months. Spring regrowth can also provide early season grazing. Spring grains such as oats, triticale, wheat, and barley can also be used; however, they will only produce forage in the fall as they will winterkill in northern New England. Oats are very fast growing and produce about 2000 to 3500 lbs of dry matter per acre. There are forage-specific oat and triticale varieties that bred for wider leaves and higher nutrition. Select these varieties if available for maximum yield and forage value. Forage peas pair well with small grains, especially oats, as their more upright stature provides structure for the peas to vine up. Combining forage peas and small grains can provide a highly digestible forage.
Small grains may be seeded with a grain drill at a rate of 100 to 125 pounds to a depth of 1 to 2 inches. Peas are generally added to the mix at a rate of 50 lbs of seed per acre. Broadcasting the seed followed by light incorporation can also be successful. Plant spring grains and peas from mid to late August to maximize the fall biomass. Winter grains can be planted from early to mid-September to achieve acceptable biomass for grazing in the late fall.
For current information and research on using cool season annual forages, see our reports:
- https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/Northwest-Crops-and-Soils-Program/2019_Cool_Season_Annuals.pdf
- https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/Northwest-Crops-and-Soils-Program/2020%20Research%20Reports/2020_Corn_Cropping_Systems_Report_VIRECA.pdf
- https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/media/FAFOAlternativeForages.pdf
- https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/media/managing-cereal-grains-for-forage.pdf
- https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/media/2018_UVM_FIRE.pdf
- https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/media/2017_FBVT_report.pdf
- https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/media/2017_Maximizing_Forage_Yields_in_Corn_Silage_Systems_with_Winter_Grains_0.pdf
- https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/files/media/2017_Using_Winter_Rye_as_Forage_in_Corn_Silage_Systems.pdf