Increasing the resilience and sustainability of forage crops in a context of climate change

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Forage crops are, taken globally, the most important crop in eastern Canada and Quebec in terms of area, being cultivated on almost one million hectares in Quebec alone among which alfalfa-grass mixtures predominate. Forage crop management has been affected in recent years by the increasing occurrence of drought and mild winters associated with climate change, which creates forage shortage and jeopardize persistence. Consequently, their acreage has been steadily reduced to the profit of annual grain crops, especially corn, which have a greater environmental impact. Forage crops are not only central to the dairy industry, but they also contribute to the sustainability of agricultural production as they provide multiple benefits to the environment acting as carbon sinks and reducing erosion. The long-term objective of this research program is to contribute to the development of strategies that will increase the resilience and sustainability of forage crops and forage-based agroecosystems in a context of climate change by increasing their productivity, nutritive value, and persistence. This will be achieved by increasing our understanding of environmental factors and management decisions affecting forage crops growth and development. Specific short-term objectives are to: i) identify conditions maximizing the success of Sudangrass use as a companion crop for the establishment of perennial species in a context of forage shortage, ii) determine the potential of increasing forage nutritive value and persistence of alfalfa-grass mixtures by integrating reduced-lignin (RL) alfalfa cultivars and studying the growth, development, and complementarity of plants included in these mixtures. In experiments conducted in the field and controlled environments we will research the use of Sudangrass, an annual forage, that can be used to increase forage production in the establishment year of perennial species to address forage deficits associated with abiotic stress. This research will aim at increasing our understanding of factors that will minimize competition faced by perennial species when grown with Sudangrass. In field experiments, we will also investigate the use of newly developed reduced-lignin alfalfa in the context of eastern Canada where alfalfa is predominantly grown in mixtures with grasses. We will study the lignin accumulation pattern of reduced-lignin alfalfa during its development along with that of grasses when grown in mixtures. This understanding will allow us to identify optimal alfalfa-grass mixtures that will allow producers to take advantages of reduced-lignin alfalfa cultivars in mixtures with grasses. This program will impact the agricultural sector by ensuring a more stable supply of more digestible forages, which will address both economic and environmental needs as a greater use and persistence of more digestible forages is associated with more profitable animal production with lower impact on the environment.