Forage Seed Research Trials 2021
In spring 2021, the Sask Forage Seed Development Commission contracted forage seed research trials at the following locations: Melfort (Northeast Agriculture Research Foundation), Prince Albert (Conservation Learning Centre), and St. Brieux (SM Ag Research Ltd), and Redvers (South East Research Farm). An in-person field tour was held at Redvers and a virtual tour of the Melfort red and alsike clover trials was posted on YouTube. Some of these are multi-year projects so stay tuned for field tours in 2022.
List of field trials 2021:
Minor Use pesticide evaluations in red clover and alsike clover grown for seed production – tolerance, efficacy, and yield evaluations at Melfort, SK. 2021 was a good year for clover trials at Melfort considering the weather.
Minor Use pesticide evaluations in pre-seed and in-crop screening trials: 11 product treatments tested on 4 grass seed crops hybrid bromegrass, perennial ryegrass, slender wheatgrass, tall fescue. Due to drought conditions, the trials may be repeated in 2022. Data from 2021 is available to Saskatchewan forage seed growers on request.
Year 2 Evaluation of intercropping of perennial ryegrass seeded with Liberty Link™ canola as a management strategy for the successful establishment of perennial ryegrass. We tested 7 combinations of Liberty spray application timing and rates. While the canola yields were average in 2020, the perennial ryegrass suffered from winterkill. Two replicates exposed to particularly harsh conditions had no active ryegrass growth by the end of May 2021 so we did not analyze the data from the few remaining perennial ryegrass plots.
Year 1 evaluation of intercropping of perennial ryegrass seeded with Liberty Link™ canola – herbicide use patterns and winter survival: forage grass tolerance and canola yield evaluations 2021., St. Brieux, SK.
Minor Use pesticide evaluations in annual ryegrass grown for seed production – tolerance, efficacy, and yield evaluations 2021, herbicides and plant growth regulators. The trial site at St. Brieux evaluating herbicides had high levels of variability due to the drought and this impacted emergence. Seed yield results are not reported and evaluations will be repeated in 2022. At Prince Albert, we evaluated two plant growth regulators, Manipulator and Parlay at 1x and 2X rates. Data collection included phytotoxicity ratings, plant density, lodging, height, biomass, seed yield, seed quality, and thousand kernel weight. Due to hot and dry growing conditions and some landscape variability between replicates, minimal lodging was observed and plant growth was stunted. Yields were very poor and although there were no statistically significant differences in mean seed yield between treatments, the coefficient of variation was high at 28% and results are not conclusive for evaluation of treatment effects on annual ryegrass seed yield. Contact office@saskforageseed.com if you are a registered forage seed grower and wish to see the final report.
Demonstration of intercropping perennial ryegrass (PRG) with oat using different seed placements (side band and deeper than PRG, same row as PRG, monocrop PRG, monocrop oat) and seeding rates (0.25 X, 0.5X, 0.75, 1X). Three locations planted in 2021 (Redvers SE Research Farm, Prince Albert Conservation Learning Center); the Melfort NE Agriculture Research Foundation site was discontinued and will be re-seeded in 2022. Following a field tour at the Redvers field site, an article was published as a farm news media release, August 5, 2021. Click to read the Sask. research farm tackles intercropping article. This is an ADOPT 2020 project funded by Saskatchewan Agriculture with industry contribution of seed from FP Genetics and Brett Young. CDC Arborg oat crop is harvested at two locations and’ so far-so good’ for CE-1 PRG. Check website updates for 2022 field tour dates.
Demonstrating the dual-use potential of a new variety of intermediate wheatgrass when grown in northeast Saskatchewan under organic and conventional cropping systems. We will demonstrate the feed-grazing value in year 1 and seed production value in year 2. Three locations were planted in 2021 - two sites under organic production and one conventional site. This is an ADOPT 2021 project funded by Saskatchewan Agriculture and done in collaboration with Sask Organics. Due to drought conditions, the demonstrations will be replanted in 2022. Check website updates for 2022 field tour dates.
Establish forage seed crops for use in research trials in 2022 - red clover, alsike clover, tall fescue, hybrid bromegrass and slender wheatgrass. Herbicides treatments similar to those testing in 2020 and 2021 will be evaluated in a red clover trial at the AgriARM research farm, Conservation Learning Center at Prince Albert, and in alsike clover at the AgriARM research farm, NE Agriculture Research Foundation at Melfort. The forage seed grasses established were successfully established at Melfort in 2021 and three trials will be designed as replicated trials and pesticide applications onto established stands (2nd-year growth) of tall fescue, hybrid bromegrass, and slender wheatgrass.
Forage Seed Variety Demonstration Trials - funded by the forage seed levy and the Strategic Field Program, Saskatchewan Ministry of Agriculture, dryland and irrigated sites. Browse Research Projects for more details and photos of the varieties from the dryland site where yield data was successfully collected on some of the entries. The irrigated site was highly variable in 2021.
On-Farm Experiment (OFE) demonstration of night spraying to control a major insect pest of red clover grown for seed production in NE-SK. Local growers and agronomists attended the June 2021 technology demonstrations of the field robot - OMNiPower (Raven Industries); the CONNECT sprayer (Pattison Liquid Systems); and the only registered product available to growers, Decis insecticide (Bayer Crop Science). Both fields were harvested in September 2021. . We observed noteworthy differences in seed yield related to the treatments: night spray, day spray, and no spray, despite the inherent variability in the commercial fields related to drought and heat stress of summer 2021. Forage seed growers who contributed their forage seed levy each received a free copy of the industry magazine Forage Seed News, Fall/Winter 2021 issue to read more about the project, funded by Saskatchewan Agriculture through the ADOPT program.
Tolerance of Established Red and Alsike Clover to Authority, Authority Supreme, and Valtera
