Perennial forage grains for fall grazing of beef cattle

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Perennial grains, especially domesticated intermediate wheatgrass (IWG), are approaching commercialization as food crops. Due to the perennial nature of this crop i.e. multiple seed harvest (years) off of a single planting, grazing of post-harvest regrowth in the late fall would provide added competitiveness to beef producers, by offering the novel potential for a cash crop and high quality animal feed production sequentially off the same area of land. In addition, using cattle to recycle plant biomass into much needed nutrients for future growth could provide both organic and conventional grain producers with both economic and environmental options to sustain perennial crop production. IWG has been shown to have a high water-use efficiency rate with respect to carbon capture when compared to annual grains. The potential for perennial grains to provide nesting habitat for wildlife, especially waterfowl will be assessed as they involve limited soil disturbance (tillage) and early spring growth. Fall regrowth is predominantly leafy, providing highly nutritious feed for beef cattle when forages typically used for extended grazing are low quality. Maintaining cattle on pasture later into the year reduces costs of feeding and mitigates manure removal and distribution. This project aims to identify economic and environmental benefits of producing perennial grains, both on its own and in conjunction with a perennial legume, and the added benefits of grazing the post-harvest regrowth to both beef producer and grain producers. Through a multidisciplinary, collaborative effort this project will investigate the agronomic, environmental and economic value of late fall grazing of IWG on both the grain and beef cattle crops. This will include water use, greenhouse gas mitigation, habitat development and biodiversity impacts of these practices. Anticipated outcomes include beneficial impacts of IWG grazing on beef quantity and quality, reduced nutritional inputs via grazing for IWG grain production, enhanced biodiversity, environmental improvements and wildlife encouragement. Supporting partners include commodity groups (Manitoba Beef Producers), industry organizations (Ducks Unlimited Canada) and government (Manitoba Beef and Forage Initiative) who will be involved in a number of capacities including involvement in project measurements, data analysis and through integrated tech transfer strategies for data dissemination to the end users. Training of highly qualified personnel will be core to the project with involvement across the breadth of the research team and supporting partners.