Wholecrop mix recommendations

[pg106]

I know this may have been covered before on a different thread, but I am looking into sowing a wholecrop mix this year and was wondering what sort of mix would be recommended for finishing cattle on?

I have been looked into different mixes with peas/lentils/lupins mixed with rye/triticale and have heard of some including vetch in the mix also. Was just wondering which work well together and have good feed value, as well as what everyones experiences are with them?

 

[Baling Hay]

I know this may have been covered before on a different thread, but I am looking into sowing a wholecrop mix this year and was wondering what sort of mix would be recommended for finishing cattle on?

I have been looked into different mixes with peas/lentils/lupins mixed with rye/triticale and have heard of some including vetch in the mix also. Was just wondering which work well together and have good feed value, as well as what everyones experiences are with them?

Grass and clover, no research has ever shown wholecrop to be really any good for cattle. Maize is a different matter though.

 

[pg106]

Grass and clover, no research has ever shown wholecrop to be really any good for cattle. Maize is a different matter though.

In an ideal world yes, but from my understanding, due to my father having 65acres of combinable crops and with the new regulations coming in for the SFP, we technically need 2 crops in this block of land. We decided to go away from combining cereals the year before last and have sown half the block as "temporary pasture/grass" which counts as one crop, we still need an alternative for the remaining land and were thinking that wholecrop would be a good option.

 

[Baling Hay]

In an ideal world yes, but from my understanding, due to my father having a 65acres in combinable crops and with the new regulations coming in for the SFP, we technically need 2 crops in this block of land. We decided to go away from combining cereals the year before last and have sown half the block as "temporary pasture/grass" which counts as one crop, we still need an alternative for the remaining land and were thinking that wholecrop would be good option.

Ah, I see. @Great In Grass is the man you need!

 

[bovine]

Grass and clover, no research has ever shown wholecrop to be really any good for cattle. Maize is a different matter though.

Really?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21821807
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22443947
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17235167
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8270696
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8046072
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9027572

Practically every aspect of it has been explored in the literature. I suspect I could find you 100 papers if you want research.

In parts of the UK maize is hard to grow. Wholecrop is a very useful source of starch for cows. Smaller farms can layer it with the grass to good effect.

Decent summary of the benefits:

http://www.dairyco.org.uk/news/tech...est-use-of-cereal-based-forages/#.VMl_LS4cbHc

 

[alan6430]

Just grow spring barley by itself, much easier to manage, grow it as u normally would as if combining, making sure u aim for maximum grain yield, that way u should have higher grain to straw ratio. I did this last year and worked a treat, really happy, will do it again

 

[Great In Grass]

SB/Peas is a very popular mixture in it's different guises and can be undersown with grass to great effect. Vetches added to such a mix raises protein levels a little while also adding to the nitrogen fixing properties of the peas, this type of mixture however tends to be too thick to be undersown, the vetches can also be a problem to kill of after harvest. Analysis vary and often bear no relationship to how the crop feeds out.

The rolls royce of mixtures to my mind is spring barley/spring triticale with blue or white lupins, spring wheat/lupins is another possibility but yield is less. You can expect fresh weight yields of a triticale/lupin mix to be 12 tonne+/acre at a dry matter of 25-30%, D-values in excess of 70, ME around 11 maybe as high as 12, crude protein 13/14 or slightly higher and starch 20% plus.

@Scholsey grows some great wholecrop perhaps he'll pop in and give his views.

A thread which may be of some interest: http://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/barley-pea-vetch-wholecrop.23319/#post-432589

 

[GTB]

@Great In Grass can you undersow with lupins? To me the beauty of wholecrop is the ability to undersow with grass so that the field can be reseeded without losing production.

 

[Scholsey]

SB/Peas is a very popular mixture in it's different guises and can be undersown with grass to great effect. Vetches added to such a mix raises protein levels a little while also adding to the nitrogen fixing properties of the peas, this type of mixture however tends to be too thick to be undersown, the vetches can also be a problem to kill of after harvest. Analysis vary and often bear no relationship to how the crop feeds out.

The rolls royce of mixtures to my mind is spring barley/spring triticale with blue or white lupins, spring wheat/lupins is another possibility but yield is less. You can expect fresh weight yields of a triticale/lupin mix to be 12 tonne+/acre at a dry matter of 25-30%, D-values in excess of 70, ME around 11 maybe as high as 12, crude protein 13/14 or slightly higher and starch 20% plus.

@Scholsey grows some great wholecrop perhaps he'll pop in and give his views.

A thread which may be of some interest: http://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/barley-pea-vetch-wholecrop.23319/#post-432589

I get on well with Spring barley/peas, this will be 3rd year growing it and fits well in a 5 years grass 2/3 years maize 1 year SBP rotation as gives good window to plant the grass seed. It feeds well but I use it mainly for youngstock and dry dairy cows although have used it to get me out of a hole with the milkers once or twice. Always feeds better than it analyses.

 

[Great In Grass]

@Great In Grass can you undersow with lupins? To me the beauty of wholecrop is the ability to undersow with grass so that the field can be reseeded without losing production.

Yes you can, I've not seen a wholecrop mixture containing vetch undersown however far to thick. As you say though great way to establish a new ley.

 

[Great In Grass]

I get on well with Spring barley/peas, this will be 3rd year growing it and fits well in a 5 years grass 2/3 years maize 1 year SBP rotation as gives good window to plant the grass seed. It feeds well but I use it mainly for youngstock and dry dairy cows although have used it to get me out of a hole with the milkers once or twice. Always feeds better than it analyses.

Should I ask, happy with the inoculant?

 

[Baling Hay]

Really?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21821807
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22443947
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17235167
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8270696
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8046072
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9027572

Practically every aspect of it has been explored in the literature. I suspect I could find you 100 papers if you want research.

In parts of the UK maize is hard to grow. Wholecrop is a very useful source of starch for cows. Smaller farms can layer it with the grass to good effect.

Decent summary of the benefits:

http://www.dairyco.org.uk/news/tech...est-use-of-cereal-based-forages/#.VMl_LS4cbHc

Absolutely none of those studies listed compare the effects of adding wholecrop to grass silage apart from the 3rd one which results showed that the mix of wholecrop and grass silage did increase intakes but did not increase milk yield which resulted in poorer feed efficiency vs. grass silage alone. Urea treated wheat wholecrop did show some beenfit but maize was the only one which showed to be worthwhile. Fermented wholecrop was a waste of time.

 

[pg106]

SB/Peas is a very popular mixture in it's different guises and can be undersown with grass to great effect. Vetches added to such a mix raises protein levels a little while also adding to the nitrogen fixing properties of the peas, this type of mixture however tends to be too thick to be undersown, the vetches can also be a problem to kill of after harvest. Analysis vary and often bear no relationship to how the crop feeds out.

The rolls royce of mixtures to my mind is spring barley/spring triticale with blue or white lupins, spring wheat/lupins is another possibility but yield is less. You can expect fresh weight yields of a triticale/lupin mix to be 12 tonne+/acre at a dry matter of 25-30%, D-values in excess of 70, ME around 11 maybe as high as 12, crude protein 13/14 or slightly higher and starch 20% plus.

@Scholsey grows some great wholecrop perhaps he'll pop in and give his views.

A thread which may be of some interest: http://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/barley-pea-vetch-wholecrop.23319/#post-432589

Thank you very much for your help, greatly appreciated! Where would be the best place to source seed for these mixes?

 

[Great In Grass]

Thank you very much for your help, greatly appreciated! Where would be the best place to source seed for these mixes?

I dare say I could help in that department. As long as your on mainland UK, would you like some details sent via PM tomorrow?

 

[pg106]

I dare say I could help in that department. As long as your on mainland UK, would you like some details sent via PM tomorrow?

I'm in Northern Ireland unfortunately but I am open to suggestions, if you could forward some info it would be appreciated!

 

[Great In Grass]

I'm in Northern Ireland unfortunately but I am open to suggestions, if you could forward some info it would be appreciated!

I can get most stuff over to you, I'll send you a PM tomorrow.

 

[Gander]

@pg106 watch this for info re undersowing Lupin/Tritiacle mix