Short Communication: Stocker cattle performance from grazed mixtures of triticale and wheat with annual ryegrass

• Published in: Applied Animal Science 2019-04, Vol.35 (2), p.199-208
• Main Authors: Marchant, Kaleb B., Dillard, S. Leanne, Holland, Courteney E., Gamble, Brian E., Muntifering, Russell B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: annual ryegrass; grazing; stocker production; triticale; wheat
• ISSN: 2590-2865; 2590-2865
• DOI: 10.15232/aas.2018-01818

The objective of this experiment was to determine productivity, forage quality, and stocker performance from triticale and wheat with annual ryegrass using adjustable stocking densities in response to changing forage availability. A 2-yr experiment was conducted to evaluate triticale (T), wheat (W), and annual ryegrass (RG) in mixtures. Six 1.42-ha paddocks of T + RG, W + RG, and T + W + RG (2 paddocks per treatment) were planted and initially stocked with 4 yearling crossbred beef steers per paddock. Forage allowance was maintained at 1 kg of DM/kg of steer BW using the put-and-take method. Destructive forage samples were taken at 2-wk intervals to determine forage mass and nutritive value. Suboptimal early-season growing conditions in yr 2 contributed to decreased mean forage mass (P < 0.001) and stocking density (P = 0.003) compared with yr 1. Across both years, mean forage mass (1,093 ± 88 kg of DM/ha), forage allowance (0.89±0.04 kg of DM/kg of steer BW), grazing days per hectare (375 ± 15), and ADG (1.44±0.13 kg) did not differ (P > 0.10) among treatments. Mean forage IVDMD (90.9 ± 0.84%) and concentrations of CP (19.5 ± 0.85%) and cell-wall constituents were not different (P > 0.10) among treatments. Binary mixtures of W and T with RG were comparable, and the ternary mixture offered no advantage over binary mixtures for beef production from winter grazing of these forage species.