Lay Summary In the Intermountain region of the western United States, high quality forages like alfalfa (Medicao sativa L.) and perennial fall grass pastures like cereal grains, legumes (Fabaceae spp.), and brassica (Brassica spp.) are commonly utilized by wildlife, particularly elk (Cervus), which can result in significant negative economic impacts for farmers and ranchers. In recent years, utilization of cover crops has become more prevalent among agricultural producers. Cover crops provide numerous benefits including, but not limited to, agronomic benefits to the soil, cash crop between crop rotations, early fall and winter grazing, and harvested as hay or silage for use by livestock. Cover crops typically include combinations of cereal grains, legumes, and brassica. Limited evidence suggests that some species of brassicas like forage rape (Brassica napus) and turnip (Brassica rapa) are an acquired taste for livestock and limit voluntary feed intake in livestock and deer. Objectives of this study were to evaluate wildlife behavior on three different cover crops in the fall, and characterization of forage quality and forage yield on said cover crop combinations the subsequent spring. Results from this study suggest that use of cover crops can be manipulated to encourage or deter wild ungulate species as a management tool and still provide adequate quality forage for livestock the following year.
Yelich et al. (Tue,) studied this question.