A new variety of cicer milkvetch developed by Agriculture Canada’s research centre in Lethbridge, Alta., promises to dramatically improve the crop’s profile in livestock grazing across Western Canada, says the forage breeder who developed it.
AC Oxley II makes cicer milkvetch, until now a somewhat under-rated forage, “an ideal pasture legume,” said researcher Surya Acharya.
The new cultivar outyielded the check cultivar Oxley by 19 percent in western Canadian forage tests. It produced 23 percent more dry matter than Oxley under dryland conditions and 11 percent greater yield under irrigation. Also, the new variety is easier to establish.
Read Also
CDC ends emergency bird flu response in U.S.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has ended its emergency response for H5N1 avian flu, owing to a decline in animal infections and no reports of human cases since February.
The research centre will maintain breeder seed of AC Oxley II. Seed distribution rights have been granted jointly to Prairie Seeds of Nisku, Alta., and Newfield Seeds Company Ltd. of Nipawin, Sask.
Seed is expected to be available for commercial planting in the spring of 2002.
Acharya said the new cicer milkvetch has best potential as a pasture legume.
“This legume is long-lived, nonbloating, grows well, has no serious diseases or insect pests, and pocket gophers leave it alone,” Acharya said. “Cattle readily graze cicer milkvetch, and it is more palatable for sheep than alfalfa, especially when the crop is in mature stage.”
After flowering and seedset, the top leaves and stems continue to grow and produce lush, green, high-quality forage. Unlike alfalfa, cicer milkvetch stems are hollow and are not as tough when mature.
The new variety can also be grown for hay but the hollow stems can make curing difficult as a monoculture, so it is recommended it be grown as a mixture with grasses. The legume yields five to six tons of dry matter per acre, about the same as alfalfa in a two-cut system, but less than alfalfa in a three-cut system.
The forage yield is about the same whether it is grazed or cut.
Steps to follow
While the new variety shows improved seedling vigor, seeding methods are especially important because of the crop’s slow growth at seedling stage. However, Acharya said vigorous stands of cicer milkvetch can be established in one season using these seeding guidelines:
- Use freshly inoculated, newly scarified seed. Use the special Astragalus bacterial inoculant.
- Seed cicer milkvetch alone or with a grass, not a companion crop.
- Seed shallow into a clean, firm seedbed. Seeding rate should be double that of alfalfa because of the bigger seed size.
- Fertilize according to soil test recommendation.
- New seedling stands can be susceptible to sclerotinia, so cicer milk-vetch should not be seeded in fields infected with this pathogen.
- Mow the crop when it is 25 to 30 centimetres high to ensure the grass does not take over the stand before the cicer milkvetch is established.
