Dealing with uncertain weather patterns is never easy. Annuals can provide livestock feed within a relative short period of time or during unexpected pasture shortages.
Annuals are also a staple in extended fall grazing and winter feeding options such as greenfeed and silage.
Cool season annual options include barley, oats and triticale. Barley is usually the preferred choice for swath grazing, greenfeed or silage and suitable for all soil zones.
Smooth-awned forage varieties should be used. Harvest is recommended at the soft dough stage. Oats provide a high yielding forage option particularly in the black and grey soil zones. Overall feed quality is considered lower than barley but can be a useful swath grazing or greenfeed crop. Oats should be cut at the late milk stage.
Triticale can produce similar yields to oats on black soils. It matures later compared to oats and barley. Triticale should be cut at the milk to early dough stage. Mixing cereals like oats or barley with forage peas can provide a higher protein greenfeed option. Cereal/pea mixtures should be cut based on staging of the cereal in the mixture.
Warm season annual options include millets and corn. Millets can be grown in all soil zones but perform best on well drained, south facing soils.
Because millets are a warm season crop, most of the growth will occur during the hottest summer months. Golden German Millet, a foxtail millet, takes between 70 to 90 days to heading and is generally higher yielding compared to proso millet. In comparison, a crown millet, which takes around 60 to 65 days to heading.
Millets for silage are cut around early heading while millets for swath grazing are cut about two to three weeks after heading. Corn can be useful as a silage crop but can also be grazed standing. Corn can provide high yields but is also an input intensive crop requiring high fertility and intensive weed control. Weather factors like early frost can dampen yields. Corn should be grazed at the 50 per cent milk line.
When considering annuals, it is important to know the economics involved to determine a good fit with the rest of the livestock operation. Fertility and weed control are often critical. Annuals should be feed tested as nitrates can be a concern. Gradual introduction to annual forages and limited access to high grain feed can help prevent grain overload in ruminants. Spread risk of feed loss by avoiding a feeding plan that relies on a single annual crop.
