A Systems Approach

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A Systems Approach
You have to Save to Make
You have to Spend to Make

• to Extending
• the Grazing Season

Clayton Robins AAFC, Brandon Research Centre
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Research Activities

• Pasture management
• Grass and alfalfa/grass
• Cow/calf performance
• Backgrounding/finishing steers
• Extension of the grazing season
• Development of new grazing- tolerant forages
• Efficacy of fertilizer applications

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Research Activities

• Reproductive management
• Heifer development
• Pre/post-calving management
• Timed AI
• Embryo transfer
• Uterine/ovarian interactions

• Emphasis on environment by diet interactions

4
Research Activities

• Nutrition management
• Winter forage-based rations (drylot)
• Forage conservation
• Backgrounding/finishing strategies (feedlot)
• Carcass quality and yield
• Chemical composition
• Sensory evaluation

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Research Activities

• Environmental impact
• Composting manure
• Nitrogen cycling soilpasturecattle
• Nitrous oxide production - feedlot pastures
• Methane production - grazing feedlot cattle
• Carbon sequestration - pastures

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From Tisdale Nelson 1975
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Research Activities

• Economic impact
• building database from the different production
  systems in place at BRC for economic evaluation

• Database built from the different production
  systems in place at BRC is expected to have
  software application to model economic and
  environment outcomes.

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BEEF CATTLE PROGRAM - PASTURES, HAY and SILAGE
ACREAGE
Trans-Canada Highway
Environmental Study Areas 1011 ac (446 ha)
N
Highway - Ditch
Soil-forage-cattle nutrient cycling
E
W
X
North 40
Esso
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
S
Native Pasture 385ac
40ac
25ac
25ac
25ac
25ac
25ac
25ac
23ac
23ac
60ac
85ac
53ac
16
12
11
15
14
13
10
9
H - E
H - W
Alfalfa 33ac
75ac
20ac
20ac
23ac
23ac
23ac
24ac
24ac
25ac
25ac
24ac
81ac
Q - N
E40 N
22 N
20
Cowlot and Corrals
17
18
19
21
10 ac
34th St.
East
22 S
10 ac
12ac
20ac
N
Q - S
26ac
26ac
26ac
25ac
Rough Pasture 33ac
6ac
45ac
E40 S
30ac
Tree Guard
Lilac Guard
I.S.
54ac
Railway
Compost Site
North
Fields
12ac
Alfalfa
8ac
Unimproved pasture
30ac
S
I.S. East 30ac
I.S.
Spring and fall calving pastures
55ac
Night 10ac
18th St. 10ac
West
20ac
Grass/legume (mb 8 lbs./alf 3 lbs.)
Grass (meadow brome 10 lbs.)
Extended grazing
Grandvalley Rd.
Smithfield Rd (to Shilo)
Stockpile grazing
Curran Park 50ac
JAIL FIELDS
Lake Percy
Hayland
Bridge Field 33ac
Rotational crop land
West 62ac
Center 75ac
East 75ac
East
Pastures for fall calving herd
West
Grass Alfalfa Grass pastures (16) with
without fertilizer
Center
Pastures (alfalfa-grass (8) and other legume (4)
for steers)
Assiniboine River
35ac
49ac
60ac
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Innovative wintering systems for cows

• conventional winter feeding 65 of annual
  production cost
• extending the grazing season beyond the typical
  140 d into autumn/winter to reduce costs
• systems for grazing annuals (cereals, corn,
  millet), and perennial forages in autumn/winter
• optimizing perennial forages for fall/winter
  grazing
• cattle feeding and manure management

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Summer Pastures
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Summer Pastures

• Year Treatment Days CGD/Acre
  Kg/Cow/day Fert.(/acre)
• 1998 Alfalfa/Grass 109
  110 19.4
  0
• Grass
  97
  17.0 0
• 1999 Alfalfa/Grass 120
  117 19.1
  0
• Grass
  98
  17.5 0
• 2000 Alfalfa/Grass 110
  96 23.9
  17.25
• Grass
  95
  23.0 46.76
• 2001 Alfalfa/Grass 105
  88 27.9
  43.49
• Grass
  86
  28.0 67.16
• 2002 Alfalfa/Grass 55
  50 18.4
  12.31
• Grass
  51
  16.6 36.50
• 2003 Alfalfa/Grass 58
  53 29.5
  26.25
• Grass
  53
  23.5 48.25
• 2004 Alfalfa/Grass 97
  90 27.9
  26.78
• Grass
  90
  26.0 40.30
• 2005 Alfalfa/Grass 88
  64 25.3
  18.44
• Grass
  64
  23.9 41.50
• Mean Alfalfa/Grass 93
  84 23.9
  18.07

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Stockpiled Perennial Pasture
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Stockpiled Perennial Pasture

• Year CGD/acre Kg/Cow/day Protein
  TDN RFV
• 1998 43 25.1
  15.1 56.8 97
• 1999 45 22.9
  12.5 57.4 96
• 2000 31 21.5
  12.0 45.9 73
• 2001 56 18.9
  8.9 55.0 90
• 2002 61 16.4
  10.2 63.0 100
• 2003 0 0
  0 0
  0
• 2004 66 12.8
  11.0 55.8 82
• 2005 82 12.0
  8.3 51.0 90
• Mean 55 18.5
  11.1 55.0 90
• start of Reed Canarygrass in stockpiled system

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Swath Grazing Millet
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Swath-Grazed Millet

• Millet
• Year CGD/acre Kg/Cow/day
  Protein TDN RFV
• 1999 156 17.8
  12.4 52.1 80
• 2000 95 18.5
  12.2 49.2
  76
• 2001 132 16.7
  12.2 60.0 90
• 2002 76 26.1
  12.5 58.6
  89
• 2003 0 0
  0 0
  0
• 2004 110 11.1
  10.5 54.1 78
• Mean 114 19.5
  12.0 54.8 83
• supplemented with silage

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Grazing Corn
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Grazed Corn

• Year Method CGD/acre Protein
  TDN RFV Residue
• 1999 Standing 221
  9.0 68.2 116 5430
• 2000 Swathed 117
  8.4 55.7 115 4110
• 2001 Swathed 116
  6.9 61.4 109 3110
  
• 2002 Baled 114
  14.1 70.5 117 500
• 2003 n/a 0
  0 0 0
  0
• 2004 Side-by-side 104
  7.0 66.6 94
  1990
• standing2680 swathed1301
• Mean 134
  9.1 64.5 110

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Swathed vs. Standing
Side by Side 50 steers 8 weeks

• Canamaize Corn - 9830 kg/ha - 64 bu/acre
• Measurements taken 7 weeks after swathing
  start of grazing
• Swathed Standing
• Residue (kg/ha) 1334 3920
• RFV (whole plant) 135 102
• RFV (stover only) 77 64

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Undigested Grain
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Corn Grazing Residues
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What we know!

• Corn is an expensive crop to grow but can provide
  tremendous yield and quality as an extended
  grazing crop.
• Corn grazing is the fastest growing corn acreage.
• Agronomy Tech. support is readily available.
• Better varieties are becoming available each
  year.
• RR corns are a great option for weed control.
• Intensive management is needed to optimize corn
  crop utilization under extended grazing.

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What we dont know!

• What is the ideal grazing corn???
• Does swathing really help maintain quality?
• How do we best manage the crop to optimize cattle
  performance?
• How does grazing compare economically to
  silage/grain produced off the same field?
• What is the true cost vs. benefit of shorter
  grazing breaks and improved rumen function?

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What we need!

• Determine what is a true grazing corn and/or
  research how to manage for optimal digestibility
  under whole-plant grazing conditions.
• Extension material on Economic comparisons
  Estimating residues and Required management to
  reduce waste, to improve intake/nutrition plane,
  and to optimize CGD.
• Research/Extension material on Weed Management
  Nutrient Cycling in an extended grazing system.

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Cow/calf PerformanceSummer Pastures 1998-2002

• Factor Measured Alfalfa/Grass Grass
• Number of Dams 720
  720
• On pasture body weight (kg) 601
  598
• On pasture BCS (1-9) 4.9
  5.0
• On pasture cow gain (kg) 21.3
  14.9
• BCS at weaning (1-9) 5.2
  5.2
• Calf production efficiency 0.41
  0.41
• BCS change (/-) 0.3
  0.2

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Calves born/Cow wintered

• Data Set Drylot Extended
  Grazing
• 1998/99 1.01 0.99
• 1999/00 1.05 1.04
• 2000/01 1.03 1.02
• 2001/02 1.04 1.01
• All years
• combined 1.03 1.02

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Extended grazing (EG) and drylot (DL), and
forages within drylot, effects on cows
SBOat straw/SR barley SSBarley silage/oat straw
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Involvement in National Projects

• Model Farm
• Measurement of greenhouse gas emissions from
  feedlots (cattle, manure pack, compost) under
  western Canadian conditions

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Where do we go from here??
29
BEEF CATTLE PROGRAM - PASTURES, HAY and SILAGE
ACREAGE
Trans-Canada Highway
Environmental Study Areas 1011 ac (446 ha)
N
Highway - Ditch
Soil-forage-cattle nutrient cycling
E
W
X
North 40
Esso
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
S
Native Pasture 385ac
40ac
25ac
25ac
25ac
25ac
25ac
25ac
23ac
23ac
60ac
85ac
53ac
16
12
11
15
14
13
10
9
H - E
H - W
Alfalfa 33ac
75ac
20ac
20ac
23ac
23ac
23ac
24ac
24ac
25ac
25ac
24ac
81ac
Q - N
E40 N
22 N
20
Cowlot and Corrals
17
18
19
21
10 ac
34th St.
East
22 S
10 ac
12ac
20ac
N
Q - S
26ac
26ac
26ac
25ac
Rough Pasture 33ac
6ac
45ac
E40 S
30ac
Tree Guard
Lilac Guard
I.S.
54ac
Railway
Compost Site
North
Fields
12ac
Alfalfa
8ac
Unimproved pasture
30ac
S
I.S. East 30ac
I.S.
Spring and fall calving pastures
55ac
Night 10ac
18th St. 10ac
West
20ac
Grass/legume (mb 8 lbs./alf 3 lbs.)
Grass (meadow brome 10 lbs.)
Extended grazing
Grandvalley Rd.
Smithfield Rd (to Shilo)
Stockpile grazing
Curran Park 50ac
JAIL FIELDS
Lake Percy
Hayland
Bridge Field 33ac
Rotational crop land
West 62ac
Center 75ac
East 75ac
East
Pastures for fall calving herd
West
Grass Alfalfa Grass pastures (16) with
without fertilizer
Center
Pastures (alfalfa-grass (8) and other legume (4)
for steers)
Assiniboine River
35ac
49ac
60ac
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What is the impact of resting perennial pastures
during the critical late-season period?
Grass
Grass/Alfalfa
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Rested Grazing Project
Grazing AUD/ha (/ac) (year 1)
Management Stage Normal Grazing Rested
Grazing
Phase I 114
112
Phase II 67
(perennials) 360 (swaths)
Phase III 152 (swaths)
100 (stockpiled)
Total 331 (134)
574 (231)
Increase (Phase II III)
210
Increase (Season-long)
173
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How does variety and fungicide treatment affect
nutritional quality of oats for swath-grazing?
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Hi-Fi Oats CDC Baler Oats
Oats/Rust Trial
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Can you finish steers on pasture with annuals?
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Ranger Barley
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Ranger Barley 40-10 Forage Peas
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BRCs Systems Approach

• April 15 May 15
• May 15 Aug 1
• Aug 1 Sept 1
• Sep 1 Oct 1
• Oct 1 Dec 1
• Dec 1 Jan 1
• Jan 1 Feb 1
• Feb 1 April 15

• Early Spring forage
• Rotational grazing
• Spring cereals
• Alternative annuals
• Stockpiled forage
• Swath-grazing
• Swath/Bale-grazing
• Winter feeding site (drylot or in-field)

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Issues

• Crop rotations Field selection
• weed pressure and input requirements
• Infrastructure
• shelter
• water
• fencing
• Wildlife damage/Crop loss
• Predation

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Conclusions

• Millet, corn, oats and barley have great promise
  as components in extending the grazing season
• Proper crop rotations are essential to avoid weed
  problems
• Nutrient management is integral to sustainability
• Well-planned infrastructure is critical to
  long-term success