Key Findings
NHAES scientists have identified some of the best performing and most nutritious forage crops for three periods of the year when forage growth slows or stops in the Northeast.
For the Early Spring slump: Winter annual forage mass-nutritive value trade-offs are affected by harvest timing
For the Mid-to-Late Summer slump: Evaluating warm-season annual forages to fill summer forage gaps in short-season climates
For the Early Fall slump: Identifying optimal early-season harvest timing in annual fall forages
About the Co-Authors
Richard Smith, Associate Professor of Natural Resources and the Environment
Contact information: Richard.Smith@unh.edu
603-862-2724, UNH Agroecology Lab website
Andre Brito, Professor of Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food Systems
Contact information: Andre.Brito@unh.edu
603-862-1341, Brito Lab website
This research first published in the Crop, Forage & Turfgrass Management.
Researchers: E. Billman, I. A. Souza, R. Smith, K. Soder, N. Warren, F. Teixeira and A. Brito
Forage ‘slumps’ occur during periods of the growing season when traditional forage plants—eaten by livestock—don’t grow well or aren’t readily available. These 'slumps' impact dairy and livestock production–and threaten livelihoods–by making it more difficult and expensive to feed grazing animals. Across northern New England, farmers often choose cool-season perennials, such as alfalfa, orchard grass and red and white clover, for their forage crops. However, with these traditional forages, growth stops or slows during three seasonal ‘slumps’: early spring; the middle of summer, when excessive heat slows or stops most plant growth; and during the late fall, prior to the arrival of killing.
Scientist Rich Smith, an associate professor in the Natural Resources and the Environment department, and his colleagues, including NHAES scientist Andre Brito, an associate professor in the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food Systems department, and research scientist Nick Warren, manager of the UNH Agroecology Lab, studied "three periods when traditional forages are not productive and see if [they] could identify cool and warm season annual crops that could help supplement these periods."
“We not only examined how these species performed in terms of production and nutritive value,” added Smith, “but we also identified other qualities in each species, like how weed suppressive they were and how well they grew when planted together in a mixture. It was really interesting seeing how different (or similar) these species were when compared head-to-head.”
The researchers found that barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and triticale (Secale x Triticum) performed best (in terms of the amount that grew and the nutritional value of the plant) in the early spring, Japanese millet (Echniochloa esculenta) mid-summer, and canola (Brassica napus L.) for late fall.
For the early spring slump, they published their findings in Winter annual forage mass-nutritive value trade-offs are affected by harvest timing. For the mid-to-late summer slump, they reported findings in Evaluating warm-season annual forages to fill summer forage gaps in short-season climates. And for the early fall slump, they shared their findings in Identifying optimal early-season harvest timing in annual fall forages.
This study took place over three growing seasons (2015-17) at UNH’s Kingman Research Farm. For each ‘slump’ period, the researchers grew and evaluated 5-6 different species. Each trial included at least one legume, several species of grasses, and in most cases a non-legume broad-leaf species). Additionally, the researchers harvested the plants at different growth stages to determine the optimal timing that balanced both productivity and nutritive value.
This material is based on work supported by the NH Agricultural Experiment Station through joint funding from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (under Hatch award numbers 7000871 and 1017808) and the state of New Hampshire. Co-authors include E. Billman, I. A. Souza, R. Smith, K. Soder, N. Warren, F. Teixeira and A. Brito.
