Pa-Van Ranch was the host ranch for the BC Living Labs Fall Field Day to showcase and discuss corn and multi-species cover crops for extended fall grazing. Devin Chursinoff shared his rationale and experiences in testing these practices on his ranch with a group of 17 ranchers and government staff.
The field is 13km from their home farm and Devin shared that they used to hay and feed cows here but really started to look at the overall costs of mechanical harvesting and feeding with starting and driving the tractor every day during the winter. This option of extended grazing would have the cows do the work and moving the cattle now takes about an hour every 3 days when the livestock are on site.
This year they planted a 2-acre grid system of corn with 10’ corridors of multi-species cover crop. Devin and his wife Brittani hope the corridors make it much easier to move the fence and cattle in the winter using this approach vs using a tractor to run over corn, opening up a pathway for the fencing. Working with Mike Witt of Forage Based Solutions who is providing agronomic advice and support to the BCLL Cattle and Forage Joint project, Devin planted corn and a multispecies cover crop and follow up treatments as follows:
The second corn seeding was required due to wireworm which can occur in lands recently in sod. The cost of the second batch seed was covered by the supplier guarantee. A lower heat unit corn was planted in the second planting to try to time optimal cob maturity while gaining peak forage volume with the remaining season. (Even with later seeding the corn was only slightly shorter but with comparable cob weight.) The cob weight difference was measured to see if the North (old sod, and south, old corn ground yielded differently). Devin also did some experimenting with increasing seeding/plant density to reduce stalk size and potentially increase utilization.
This site is irrigated (300 gal/ minute) with a pivot powered by a diesel generator (40hp) and they irrigate just over 3 days per week during the growing season or about 90 hours /week. They use about 4litres of fuel per hour. About 22” of water is needed to grow corn.
Overall last year they had 220 cattle in the 2 acres for 3-days. For the first day the cattle focus on the cobs, day 2 mainly the leaves and day three they are mainly doing clean up and hay (6 bales) is provided to keep them full and to reduce the chance of acidosis. If the cobs are too mature or starchy this requires additional care to prevent acidosis. Mike Witt indicated the higher the heat unit of the corn, the higher the yield and the lower the heat unit the “starchier” the corn is. Staging of when you graze the corn is important to reduce this risk. Frost will terminate the corn from further growth and starch production; you can check if this is the case if the shank is dry. The group discussed supplements and strategies to reduce the chance of acidosis occurring when adjusting to new feed with a higher starch content. The Fossens from nearby Rock Creek, also shared their experiences in managing their livestock when grazing corn.
Wildlife damage was another topic and Devin noted that deer do come on the field and really favour the soybeans in the open corridors but not in the corn rows. So far, the damage is minimal as this field has only had these crops for two years and elk don’t seem to be too close. Devin and participants then discussed cow feeding behaviour, trampling and overall corn residue following grazing. Devin and others indicated that cows learn how to graze corn and after the first year, trample less. It also depends on how wet the field conditions are, but they generally saw about 1 ton/acre residue of stalks. This means seeding the following year requires discing.
Devin indicated that one of their biggest challenges for winter grazing which will start in the 1st week of November following weaning (on October 21st) this year is ensuring is ensuring an adequate (non-frozen) water supply when water is low this time of year and requires heating through means other than electricity as there is no power at this site. Participants discussed some potential options to make this work based on their experiences.
The overall goal for the field is to get 52 days for 250 cows on 36 acres which is equivalent to 375 cows/ac/day. Devin’s initial costing of the field trial with their overall carrying costs factored in, was about $2.17 per cow. He felt the financial support they received as part of the BC Living Labs Cattle and Forage Joint project helped reduce some of the potential risk in trialing this practice.
More discussion followed during a lunch of delicious sandwiches provided by Granby Meat Co.
The BC Living Lab Cattle & Forage Project is a joint project between BC Cattlemen’s Association and BC Forage Council and is a part of a larger provincial BC Living Labs initiative being led by Investment Agriculture Foundation. To learn more about the provincial project, visit www.bclivinglab.ca. For more information and to receive any updates email the project team at: livinglabs@bcforagecouncil.com
By: Karen Raven P.Ag. BCCA Liaison to the BC Living Lab Cattle and Forage Joint Project
