AUGUST 2017 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC Cover crop trials aim to throw new seeds into the mix


Ideal varieties offer environmental, nutritional benefits


by RONDA PAYNE ABBOTSFORD – US


president Donald Trump may not believe in climate change, but many farmers do. They’ve seen changes in soil, water and crop performance. Recognizing the need for grains to bolster year-round forage production, the Pacific Field Corn Association (PFCA) conducts trials of various cover crops to help dairy farmers. Fran Teitge, who manages the trials for PFCA, presented results of the 2015 crop trials, harvested in 2016, at PCFA’s 2017 field day this spring. “We’ve been doing the


crop trials off-and-on for several years,” Teitge says. “The intent is to improve forage yield and quality while adapting to climate change.” These fall and winter crops


provide a powerful punch of benefits. They soak up excess nitrogen, reducing leaching, which is especially important after a corn crop. They also prevent soil erosion. Over time, the winter crop will contribute organic matter to the soil and improve drainage. Winter cover crops can also provide spring forage for cows, supplementing or even eliminating the need to purchase feed elsewhere. “We have mild autumns


and often mild winters so through planting winter crops, there is an economic benefit to producers,” says Teitge. “It provides additional on-farm forage for the cows and improves overall farm nutrient management.” Teitge notes farmers have been practicing fall planting for decades, but finding the right crop is important. “Farmers have been doing


cover crops for years,” she says. “Fall rye was the standard ... It would provide cover and roughage, but not good quality feed.” The need to boost the nutrients in winter crops led to fall plantings of winter wheat mixed with Italian rye grass which provided good feed and good cover. “It raises the protein content and digestibility,” says Teitge. The 2016/2017 trial included fall rye as the standard and compared it to cereals, including winter wheat, barley, fall oats and triticale. “The barley and oats completely winter-killed in Agassiz,” she notes. Italian rye grasses included


annuals, biennials, diploid and tetraploid. Cruciferous crops included fall radish and white mustard.


“They grow cruciferous in


Europe as winter cover,” she adds. “We’ve tried them. Sometimes we get a really good yield out of them and sometimes they winter-kill. This year, they winter-killed.” Legumes included red


clover, crimson clover, berseem clover, hairy vetch, Austrian winter pea and winter field pea. “They don’t necessarily


provide as much cover straight in the fall,” Teitge says, “but they can add nitrogen to the soil.” Within the trials were also


mixtures such as cereals with the peas, hairy vetch or Italian rye grass. This year’s study was more


of a “shotgun” approach, according to Teitge. The team planted a range of crops in four locations including UBC’s Agassiz research centre, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada’s Agassiz Research and Development Centre, a private farm in Agassiz and a private farm in Abbotsford. “We plant a lot of plots,” she notes. “On one site, we planted 40 different variety and mixture combinations. On the private farms, we planted four or eight different things in large strip plots.” Selections for the trial are based on what seed is available locally, provides disease resistance (especially to leaf rust) and what may have come up in discussion with farmers. “Diseases like leaf rust can


significantly reduce yield in some crops as well as feed quality,” Teitge notes. “It was not a factor in spring 2016 but significantly reduced yields of non-resistant winter wheat varieties in spring 2017.” Timing is crucial in Teitge’s opinion. The difference between getting seed in the ground on September 1 versus October 1 is massive, with failure rates for October 1 plantings approaching 90%


AAFC’s Gary Telford measures a test plot of Italian ryegrass relay crop that showed improved spring growth (and yield) compared to fall seeded crops during a field day earlier this year. PFCA PHOTO


in some years. “It can be dramatically


different results,” she says. Teitge reports that fall rye


showed no leaf rust in 2017. AC Yukon Brand winter wheat had the next highest resistance. Pika winter triticale was close behind. For yield, nothing achieved


the dry matter tons per acre of fall rye, but the blend of Trical brand winter triticale with Italian ryegrass came close at 82%. Yukon brand winter wheat, Italian rye grass and winter peas was also close at 78%. The results indicate a need


for further studies in varying winters as 2017 was a dramatic difference from the 2016 results, which saw 13 different varieties or blends beat out fall rye in tonnage. The top performer in 2016 was the same as 2017: the Trical triticale and Italian rye grass blend. This was followed closely by Hollandaise brand winter wheat mixed with Italian rye grass.


Studies into the nutritional value of each of the plantings


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may offset the yield results and is something the project team is working on. Funding for the trials


comes from the Farm Adaptation Innovator Program (part of the BC


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Agriculture & Agrifood Climate Action Initiative) with funding partners Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the BC Ministry of Agriculture, BC Dairy Association and Pacific Field Corn Association.


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