Introduction

With higher land costs as well as the need for more forage in some parts of Ontario, there is increasing interest in following winter wheat and other cereals with a forage crop. Not only can this approach produce some extra feed, it also provides excellent winter cover crop benefits. There are a few double-crop forage options that can provide some cheaper, good quality forage. When potential winterkill with ryegrass or winter cereals does occur, consider that little has been lost, as it provided cover crop benefits and there is still the opportunity to plant an alternate crop in that field in the spring. Summer seeding alfalfa mixtures rather than waiting until next spring can provide the benefit of a full yield next year without the usual establishment year yield loss. Each option has its advantages and disadvantages, and every situation is different.

The challenge is getting the wheat harvested, the volunteer wheat controlled, and the next crop seeded in a timely manner. Competition from volunteer wheat can be a significant problem. Without vernalization winter wheat will not form a stem in the fall to provide significant growth and yields are very limited. A lot of volunteer wheat can result when light grain goes through the combine, such as fusarium infection situations. One approach to reduce the problem is to do some light tillage (at least behind the combine swath) to encourage the grain to germinate. A burndown with glyphosate 7–10 days later will remove much of the volunteer grain. Of course this takes time, and as the calendar gets later some options are lost. Dry summer weather following seeding can delay germination and growth.

Summer seeding oats for forage

  • moderate to high forage quality depending on the stage at cutting
  • adding peas to improve quality is an option
  • cut in the fall, wilting and harvest can potentially be challenging
  • follow these annuals with another crop any time next spring

Italian ryegrass

  • potentially high to very high "dairy" forage quality
  • a cut in late fall and a cut next May can be followed by corn silage, soybeans, sorghums, etc.
  • if first-cut stand is good, an option is continue to cutting every 4 weeks
  • risk of winterkill should be managed

Double cropping winter cereals for extra forage

  • fall rye or winter triticale
  • moderate to high forage quality depending on the stage at cutting next May (target flag-leaf)
  • some risk of winterkill
  • high yield potential
  • can follow with corn silage, soybeans, sorghums

Summer seeding alfalfa

  • full yield potential next year without the usual spring seeding establishment yield loss