When planting a grain crop in the spring and caring for those plants throughout the summer, farmers look forward to the full bins that harvest typically brings. Sometimes drought, hail or pests get in the way, leading to crop yield potential that isn’t worth taking for grain. This is where having a mixed operation or a friendly neighbour with cows can come in handy.
While the crop may no longer be suitable to put in the bin, a salvage crop can make a great supplemental animal feed for the winter; however, it is important to keep some things in mind before grazing, baling, or silaging the crop.
Adriane Good, livestock feed and extension specialist with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, joins RealAgriculture’s Lyndsey Smith to discuss what to consider before using salvage feed, the value of feed testing, and best management practices for peak animal health when it comes to feeding salvage grain crops.
Considerations include what pesticides were used on the crop, whether the crop has any disease, such as ergot or fusarium, and whether the plants were stressed through environmental conditions which could lead to nitrate poisoning or prussic acid build up, says Good. All of these challenges can be overcome, but require careful management to get the most of salvaged feed.
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS | All Podcasts
