Peace River Forage Seeding Recommendations

Peace River Forage Seeding Recommendations

General Comments
Top Forage Varieties
How to Select the Best Forages for Your Situation
Perennial Pastures
Annual Crops
Perennial Hay and Silage
For more Information

Prepared by Tom Pittman, P. Ag.

General Comments

Peas are susceptible to drought and may not compete well when inter-seeded with other cereals or weeds. We recommend combinations be used only in conditions of superior soil moisture and that the peas are well inoculated.

Red Clover single cut varieties are generally more winter hardy regionally than are double cut varieties.

Increase seeding rate by at least one third if broadcasting the seed and harrowing it into the soil.

When using propriety coated seeds increase the seeding rate to account for reduced numbers of the coated seed per round.

Avoid combining legume seed with granular fertilizers in the same seed row as reduced inoculation and seedling toxicity may result.

Increased productivity and persistence of all forage varieties used for hay production the BC Peace is closely related to adequacy of replenishing crop nutrients removed through crop harvesting. Nitrogen and phosphorus commonly become depleted and other nutrient deficiencies such as potassium and sulphur are not uncommon.

Other sources of information:

Forage Seed Recommendations for Reclamation Purposes on ALR Land In Northeastern British Columbia
Annual Field Crop Variety Trial Results from the BC Ministry of Agriculture
Current Listing of Seed Trade Companies Active in the Peace Region
Forage Associations Variety and Agronomic Trial Results

Top Forage Varieties from test results and field observations

ALFALFA - Peace, Rangelander, Rambler, Nordica, Heinrichs, Roamer
ALSIKE CLOVER - Aurora, Dawn
ANNUAL RYEGRASS - Maris Ledger, Aubade
BARLEY - Kasota, AC Lacombe, Johnson, Brier
BIRDSFOOT TREFOIL - Upstart, Leo
CREEPING RED FESCUE - Boreal
CRESTED WHEATGRASS - Fairway, Parkway
FALL RYE - Muskateer, Kodiak
MEADOW BROMEGRASS - Paddock, Fleet, Regar
OATS - Waldern, Mustang, Cascade, Jasper, Foothill
ORCHARDGRASS - Arctic, Kay, Okay
PEAS - Grande, Patriot, Carneval, Radley
REED CANARYGRASS - Palaton, Rival
RED CLOVER - Altaswede
SMOOTH BROMEGRASS - Manchar, Carlton, Bravo
TIMOTHY - Tiller, Climax, Tiiti, Bottnia II, Richmond
TALL FESCUE - Courtney

How to Select the Best Forages for Your Situation

Forage variety and species selection has a large impact on the success and profitability of the forage enterprise. Differences in yield and persistence between varieties usually outweigh the differences in seed costs by a margin of 5 to 10:1. Because new varieties are becoming available all the time, frequent consultation with LOCAL variety test results is highly recommended.

It should be remembered that the true value of a particular forage should take into account the manner in which it is intended to be used. High yielding hay varieties are often not superior in grazing circumstances. There are also notable ‘maverick’ forage species that are well suited to special circumstances such as water logged soils.

Successful forage establishment is closely related to proper seedbed preparation, prior weed control, proper inoculation of legumes, and soil conditions. A weed content certificate of all seed stocks should be scrutinized prior to purchase and the soil nutrient profile known prior to seeding, particularly where longevity of the stand or satisfactory yields are expected.

Seeding rates given in this factsheet can be reduced under ideal conditions. The higher rates given here cover for a multitude of inadequacies such as less than ideal soil conditions.

There are numerous other forage combinations for special conditions not listed here. See references at the end of this article for other applications.

Perennial Pastures

Early (spring) Pastures

	Species	Variety	Seeding Rate (lb/Ac )
1	Early spring pasture and very dry areas.
	Alfalfa	Rangelander, or Rambler	2
	Crested Wheatgrass	Parkway, or Fairway	7
2	Wet heavy soils.
	Meadow Foxtail	Mountain, or Dan	5

Season Long Pastures

Meadow Bromegrass is prefered over Smooth Bromegrass for rotational grazing situations, but for hay, Smooth Bromegrass is the prefered species.
Birdsfoot Trefoil should be considered for replacing half the legume portion by weight in the seed mixture for heavy soils when bloat is a potential problem.
Orchardgrass has reduced winterhardiness in conditions where there may be bare ground exposure or icing throughout the winter.(eg.: hilly conditions)

	Species	Variety	Seeding Rate (lb/Ac )
3	Better soils
	Alfalfa	Rangelander, Peace, Nordica, or Anik	2
	Bromegrass	Paddock, or Manchar	8
4	Heavy or acidic soils
	Alsike Clover	Aurora, or Dawn	2
	Timothy	Climax, Tiller, or Toro	2
	Bromegrass	Paddock, or Manchar	4
	Creeping Red Fescue	Boreal	2
5	Soil pH > 5.9
	Alfalfa	Rangelander, Peace, or Rambler	3
	Bromegrass	Paddock, or Manchar	7
	Creeping Red Fescue	Boreal	2
6	Clay Soils
	Alsike Clover	Aurora, or Dawn	2
	Orchardgrass	Kay, Arctic, or Okay	5
	Bromegrass	Paddock, Manchar , or Rebound	4
	Timothy	Tiller, Climax, or Toro	2
7a
	Alfalfa	Rangelander, Peace, or Nordica	2
	Bromegrass	Paddock, or Fleet	6
	Creeping Red Fescue	Boreal	3
Fall production is best, when this mixture is pastured in midsummer and allowed a rest/growth period.
7b
	Alfalfa	Rangelander, Peace, or Nordica	2
	Tall Fescue	Courtney	6
Fall production is best, when this mixture is pastured in midsummer and allowed a rest/growth period.
8
	Alfalfa	Rangelander, Peace, or Nordica	3
	Timothy	Tiller, Climax, Toro, or Bottnia II	2
	Bromegrass	Manchar, Paddock, or Fleet	7

Horse Pasture

Alsike clover should not be used for horse mixtures. Refer to Alsike Clover Toxicity in Horses for control recommendations.

	Crop	Variety	Seeding Rate (lb/Ac )
9	Horse Pasture
	White Clover or Alfalfa	low growing type of WC, Rangelander, or Roamer	3
	Timothy	Toro, Tiller, or Climax	2
	Creeping Red Fescue	Boreal	2
	Bromegrass	Paddock, or Carlton	5

Annual Crops and Annual Pastures

Interseeding ryegrass with other cereals requires ample soil moisture conditions. Greatest success occurs when the cereal portion is harvested early for silage and the ryegrasses regrowth is used for fall pasture. Italian rather than Westerwold types are preferred in this region.

Combinations of spring and winter cereals can be used to extend the forage availability over a longer grazing period due top differences in the maturity dates.

When choosing barley varieties for forage, use smooth awned types to eliminate the risk of mouth and throat sores in livestock.

Smoothed awned barley varieties will usually outyield oats in total nutrient yield when cut for silage except where poorly drained soils are a concern. In addition, barley is usually earlier maturing. However, the taller, non-lodging oat varieties (such as Wardern or Mustang) may provide better late harvested greenfeed yields than the shorter earlier maturing barley varieties (such as Kasota, Brier or Johnson).

	Crop	Variety	Seeding Rate (lb/Ac )
10	Early Spring
	Oats	Foothill, or Jasper	100
Graze as early as when individual seed rows are no longer visible.
11	Later Spring
	Oats	Calibre, Cacade, Mustang, or Waldren	100
Graze as early as when individual seed rows are no longer visible.
12	Fall seeded cereal ( spring Grazing)
	Fall Rye	APPMN-1, or Kodiak	80
Seed by August 15th, fall graze if greater than 6" top growth.
13	Spring seeded cereal (fall Grazing)
	Fall Rye	Kodiak, or Muskateer	95
Best to graze hard, rest and re-graze. Earlier pasture availability if add 25 lbs/acre of oats or barley to this mix.
14	Spring seeded cereal for spring/summer/fall pasture
	Barley	Brier, or Johnson	65
	Oats	Foothill, or Jasper	45
For spring/summer grazing.
15a	Swath Grazing
	Oats	Caliber, Cascade, Mustang, or Waldern	90
Seed by mid-June. Swath mid-October depending on conditions.
15b	Swath Grazing
	Oats	Mustang, or Waldern	50
	Barley	Brier, or Johnson	50
Increased seeding rate for mixed grazing stands.
16a	Silage and Pasture
	Barley	AC Lacombe, or Kasota	80
	Intalian Ryegrass	Maris Ledger	12
Silage Barley at dough stage, then fall pasture Ryegrass.
16b	Silage and Pasture
	Barley	AC Lacombe, or Kasota	55
	Fall Rye	Kodiak, Muskateer, or Prima	60
This combination gives extended pasture.
16c	Silage and Pasture
	Oats	Foothill, or Waldern	55
	Fall Rye	Kodiak, Muskateer, or Prima	60
17a	Greefeed or Silage
	Oats	Cascade, Foothill, Jasper, Mustang, or Waldern	90
17b	Greefeed or Silage
	Barley	AC Lacombe, Kasota, or Johnson	90
Kasota Barley yields well but is rough awned and best harvested early as silage.
17c	Greefeed or Silage
	Oats	Mustang, or Waldern	45
	Barley	Brier, or Johnson	45

Perennial Hay and/or Silage Mixtures

	Crop	Variety	Seeding Rate (lb/Ac )
18	Soil pH> 5.9
	Alfalfa	Heinrichs, Nordica, Peace, or Rangelander	10

19	Perennial Hay/Silage
	Alfalfa	Nordica, Peace, or Rangelander	7
	Smooth Bromegrass	Carlton, or Manchar	5

20	Areas subject to flooding
	Alsike Clover	Aurora, or Dawn	4
	Timothy	Climax, Farol, or Tiller	2
	Reed Canary Grass	Palaton, or Rival	4

21	Clay soils or where stands have done poorly
	Red Clover	Altaswede	3
	Timothy	Bottnia II, Climax, Farol, or Tiller	3
	Smooth Bromegrass	Carlton	3
	Alsike Clover	Dawn	3

For More Information

BCMAL
Fort St. John, B.C.
250 - 787 - 3240

BCMAL
Dawson Creek, B.C.
250 - 784 - 2601

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