NIPAWIN, Sask. – Dale Pocock has brought a few dozen acres of Utah to
Saskatchewan.
Three varieties of imported U.S. forage wheatgrasses are waving in the
wind at his seed farm a couple of kilometres northeast of Nipawin.
The immigrant grasses were on display during a recent field day at
Pocock’s Sunnybank Seed Farm.
About 25 farmers and agrologists braved the hot prairie sun, curious to
see how the new forage crops are making out in their second year of
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production.
It’s all part of an effort by the Saskatchewan Crop Improvement
Association, of which Pocock is the chair, to bring in new forage
varieties with specific desirable qualities not available here.
The association has signed a unique agreement with the Utah Crop
Improvement Association giving it access to three varieties – Newhy,
Douglas and Vavilov – for seed increase, evaluation and sale in Canada.
The United States seed was all handpicked to remove any weed seed
contamination, especially from downey brome.
“We’re developing a made-in-Canada foundation seed of these varieties
to hopefully eliminate that problem,” said Pocock. “If you’re in an
area where it’s not prevalent, the big thing is to keep it out.”
The most promising of the new varieties appears to be Newhy, a hybrid
of bluebunch wheatgrass and quackgrass.
“They all have potential, but the number one initially is Newhy,
especially for its salinity tolerance,” said Pocock.
“We hope that it will be a bigger market than just salinity but that is
the big aspect right now.”
Among Newhy’s attributes are good forage quality, good recovery from
grazing or defoliation, leafiness, high palatability and moderate
spreading. The extreme aggressiveness of the quackgrass was reduced
significantly during the breeding process.
Pocock seeded two pounds per acre in September 2000 into dry conditions
and the field didn’t receive much moisture until late June 2001. The
crop was sprayed twice but received no fertilizer. It was cut and baled
in November, yielding slightly over two bales per acre. Pocock
estimated the seed yield would be around 100 lb. per acre.
Douglas crested wheatgrass is noted for its broad leaves, which can be
up to two centimetres wide.
While that might be expected to make it less tolerant to heat and
drought, it has performed well under those conditions in Montana. It
retains its palatability longer than regular crested wheatgrass,
retaining forage quality and leafiness late in the season.
Vavilov is a Siberian crested wheatgrass that thrives in dry, sandy
soils. Pocock cautioned it is not a top forage producer on normal soil.
Certified Newhy seed is available from some seed dealers. Both Douglas
and Vavilov have yet to be approved for registration, but Pocock
expects that to happen shortly.
“Our association is looking at supplying a small part of the market,
even certified,” he said.
“But our big objective here is to get foundation seed out and to go out
non-exclusive to get more people producing this so it’s very readily
available.”
