Annual cool season crops for grazing by beef cattle. A Canadian Review

With the current high feed grain costs and other economic uncertainties in the Canadian beef cattle industry, producers are trying to lower their unit costs of production. Costs can be lowered through extension of the grazing season using perennial pastures and annual crops for grazing. Oat (Avena sativa L.) and fall rye (Secale cereale L.) have traditionally been used to a nominal extent for extending the grazing season. However, there is limited information including a small number of animal grazing trials on the use of other annual cereals and annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.) for low cost grazing systems relative to feeding traditional harvested and stored forages. This review discusses annual cool season crops that show promise for supplementary grazing systems. Systems such as swath grazing of a cereal crop, grazing the regrowth from silage mixtures of spring and winter cereals, or fall grazing annual Italian ryegrass can be used to extend the grazing season. Economic considerations will ultimately determine if there will be an increased role in the future for grazing annual crops on cropping land as a means of extending the grazing season to reduce year-round costs for the beef cow calf operator.