Planning for early grazing
Normally, perennial spring pastures do not provide sufficient forage for grazing until the third week in May in central Alberta.
Research at Agriculture Canada’s Lacombe Research Centre has shown that planting fall rye as early as Aug. 15 will provide sufficient forage for grazing by May 1 of the next year.
By comparison, planting winter wheat and triticale at similar times will provide enough forage for grazing after May 18. Seeding rye earlier than normal (Sept. 1) results in three extra weeks of spring grazing than would be expected from perennial grasses.
Read Also
VIDEO: Green Lightning and Nytro Ag win sustainability innovation award
Nytro Ag Corp and Green Lightning recieved an innovation award at Ag in Motion 2025 for the Green Lightning Nitrogen Machine, which converts atmospheric nitrogen into a plant-usable form.
The extra grazing would be worth approximately $5 per cow or $1,000 for a 200-head cow herd.
– Agriculture Canada
Regional chickpea trial
It is predicted that between 8,000 and 10,000 acres will be devoted to commercial chickpea production in Saskatchewan this year.
Chickpeas are ranked as one of the top priorities for special crop research in Saskatchewan, said Ray McVicar, special crops specialist with Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food.
“The world market for chickpea is as big as it is for lentil, and chickpea is also well adapted to the drier areas of the province, such as southern Saskatchewan,” said McVicar.
New cultivars, which have a shorter growing season and are resistant to ascochyta, are being developed to make chickpeas adaptable to the Prairies.
A two-year regional chickpea trial project is testing available chickpea cultivars and potential cultivars. It also aims to introduce chickpeas to Saskatchewan producers and to collect data on yield, maturity and quality from a wide range of environments.
Ten sites were established in 1995 and the data collected from them was compiled and published in the Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food bulletin Varieties of Grain Crops, 1996. It was the first time producers had access to information on the performance of chickpeas in their own area, said McVicar.
This year, the chickpea trial has been expanded to include 16 sites: Swift Current, Stewart Valley, Congress, Maple Creek, Frontier, Riverhurst, Weyburn, Kindersley, Elrose, Saskatoon, Scott, North Battleford, Davidson, Regina, Denzil and Landis. The trials involve 14 chickpea lines, three desi and 11 kabuli.
Seeding the plots was challenging this year, due to delivery delays and the weather. The seed, which was grown in Arizona, was subject to extra scrutiny due to discovery of the karnal bunt fungus there.
The trial plots were seeded between May 21 and June 4. McVicar said that will provide another strict test for the adaptation of chickpea cultivars to Saskatchewan conditions.
Final results of the two-year project will be summarized in Varieties of Grain Crops, 1997. Meanwhile, producers can visit test sites. Information regarding specific location and crop progress is available from the nearest rural service centre.
– Saskatchewan Agriculture
