Alternative High Protein Forage Options
contributed article by Justin Fruechte, Ag Product Expert
Renovo Seed, Brookings, S.D.
Winter feeding has started and if you’re anything like me, you’re constantly analyzing your forage supply as you pull away from the haystacks. At this same time, we start to brainstorm ideas for spring planting realizing that low quality forage supplies need to be recuperated. It seems that the high yields of this year’s grass and alfalfa harvests came with low quality for most folks in the Upper Midwest.
Alfalfa
To talk about alternative forages with high protein content, I need to first mention the queen of forages with high protein: alfalfa. Alfalfa is, without a doubt, the most popular high protein forage used by producers across the country. It is adaptable, high yielding, and consistent. Most livestock producers should be using some level of alfalfa or alfalfa/grass in their operation for hay.
Sainfoin
If you live in the high-country desert, Sainfoin may be a more suitable option than alfalfa. Sainfoin is a long-lived, drought tolerant, hardy perennial legume. In a two-cut system its yield rivals alfalfa, as does its protein content. Other benefits include being bloat free and having resistance to alfalfa weevils and leaf hoppers. However, it tends to have more susceptibility to root pathogens and should not be used on low, wet soils. I’ve seen Sainfoin used best when seeded in a mixture of perennial cool-season forage grasses.
Forage Peas
Forage peas will be another popular spring seeded forage this year. It is best to use forage peas in combination with a cereal grain. To optimize protein content, use a blend of 60 percent forage peas with 40 percent forage barley. Try to plant this as soon as the field is fit this March or April, and you’ll allow yourself an opportunity to double crop with a warm season annual forage in June. Yield on pea/barley, pea/oat, or pea/triticale blends will be around three tons of dry matter per acre. This makes for a hefty windrow to cure correctly, so most growers have a backup plan to make baleage or haylage from these fields. Harvesting as wet feed will also help ensure higher protein and more palatable feed.
Teff Grass
When June rolls around and you are searching for another high protein forage option, look to teff grass. Teff is an annual warm-season grass that has proven to make hay with as high as 17 percent crude protein content. This small-seeded species needs to be seeded shallow into a firm seed bed, much like what you’d plant alfalfa in. Allow for 70 days before the first cutting, and with ample nitrogen and moisture you’ll have another cutting 25 days later. We’ve been extremely impressed with the quality of teff grass, and it can be used much like alfalfa hay in a diet without the risk of bloat.
Italian Ryegrass
The last high protein annual forage I want to mention is Italian ryegrass. This is a cool-season biannual grass with great persistence and quality. In the Upper Midwest, it should be seeded in the spring and harvested three to four times throughout the season. Expect a highly digestible feed with crude protein levels at 16 to 18 percent. Harvest it as wet feed, as it has a waxy leaf which inhibits proper dry down for hay.
Budget and plan out these options against your protein costs in rations. As fertilizer gets more expensive, these nitrogen-fixing legumes become even more appealing as high protein forage options. Take the time this winter to lock in your inputs for spring planting and you’ll be ready to roll when we thaw back out.
Photos courtesy Renovo Seed
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Renovo Seed, Brookings, S.D.
The team of folks at Renovo Seed have roots that run deep in farming, agriculture, and in the overall respect for the landscape. They opened their doors in 1987 and continue to walk alongside farmers, ranchers, and landowners across thousands of acres throughout the Midwest.
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