Corn intercropping strategies for extended winter grazing of beef cattle

通过在秋末/冬季在牧场上饲养肉牛来延长放牧季节已被许多草原生产者采用，因为与圈养牛相比，它大大降低了劳动力和饲料成本。该行业现在的定位是进一步推动这一模式，包括延长放牧战略，利用新的植物物种的替代女性和背景牛在秋季/冬季。由于牛通常在夏季吃草/豆类饲料，而在秋季/冬季质量急剧下降，因此用于延长放牧的高质量饲料储备对保持动物生产力至关重要。玉米提供了防风和丰富的能量，帮助奶牛度过寒冷的冬季。然而，其有限的粗蛋白含量限制了动物的增重率和能量效率，因此限制了这种冬季放牧制度对奶牛和营养需求高的生长牛的适用性。与牛肉和饲料行业合作，并使用一系列农艺学，动物和经济分析，我们的多学科科学家团队将确定玉米与高蛋白饲料间作的潜在可行性，以增加这些混合牧场的营养价值在加拿大西部冬季条件下的秋末/初冬放牧肉牛。调查间作玉米的农艺管理措施将提供灵活的选择，以增加整个草原的采用。由于人们对间作、作物-牲畜一体化和再生农业的兴趣日益增加，这些新的放牧战略将提高加拿大牛肉生产的长期弹性、适应性、竞争力和盈利能力，以加强粮食安全。参与该项目的支持伙伴是马尼托巴牛肉生产者、马尼托巴饲料和草地协会、肉牛研究理事会、阿尔伯塔牛肉生产者、萨斯喀彻温省畜牧协会、萨斯喀彻温省饲料理事会和饲料联盟。

Extending the grazing season by maintaining beef cattle on pasture in late fall/winter has been adopted by many Prairie producers as it significantly reduces labour and feed costs compared to feeding cattle in confinement. The industry is now positioned to push this paradigm further to include extended grazing strategies utilizing novel plant species for replacement females and backgrounded cattle in the fall/winter. As cattle typically graze on grass/legume forages in the summer that sharply decline in quality in fall/winter, a high quality stockpiled forage for extended grazing is crucial to maintaining animal productivity. Corn provides a wind break and abundant energy that helps cows through cold winter months. However, its limited crude protein content restricts animal rate of liveweight gain and energetic efficiency, therefore limiting the suitability of this winter grazing system for both cows and growing cattle with high nutrient demands. Partnering with the beef and forage industry, and using a range of agronomic, animal and economic analyses, our multidisciplinary team of scientists will identify the potential feasibility for intercropping corn with high protein forages to increase the nutritive value of these mixed stands for beef cattle grazing in late fall/early winter under western Canadian winter conditions. Investigation of agronomic management practices for intercropping corn will provide flexible options to increase adoption across the Prairies. Due to the growing interest in intercropping, crop-livestock integration, and regenerative agriculture, these new grazing strategies will enhance the long-term resiliency, adaptability, competitiveness, and profitability of Canadian beef production to enhance food security.Supporting partners involved in this project are Manitoba Beef Producers, Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association, Beef Cattle Research Council, Alberta Beef Producers, Saskatchewan Cattlemen's Association, Saskatchewan Forage Council and Union Forage.