Forage potential of pulse-cereal mixtures in central Alberta

The use of pulse crops for animal feed is a production option for farmers in western Canada. In this study, the forage potential of three pea (Pisum sativum L.) cultivars, Magnus, Tipu, and Trapper, and one fababean (Vicia faba L.) cultivar, Outlook, grown as pure stands and in mixtures with the barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivar Leduc, the oat (Avena sativa L.) cultivar Cascade, or the triticale (× Triticosecale Rimpani Wit.) cultivar Wapiti were assessed at Lacombe, AB from 1988 to 1991. The dry matter (DM) yields of the pea and fababean cultivars were similar at 8–9 t ha −1 . Although there were year-to-year and pulse-to-pulse variations, the mixtures with oat yielded more DM (10–11 t ha −1 ) than the mixtures with barley or triticale or the pure stands of the pulses (8–10 t ha −1 ). The fababean pure stand and mixtures had high moisture contents (> 70%) at harvest. Outlook had the highest protein content; Tipu and Trapper, intermediate; and Magnus, the lowest. While the mixtures with triticale and barley had protein contents similar to the pure stands of pulses (14–15%), the mixtures with oat had lower protein contents (12%). Only in 1990 did the oat mixtures have higher protein yields ha −1 than the pure stands. The mixtures had similar acid detergent fiber (ADF) contents to the pure stands of pulses. If the choice of a pulse-cereal mixture is for high quality with maintenance of protein content, mixtures with barley or triticale should be selected over those with oats.