Winter Cereal Forage Variety Evaluation at Maricopa, 2016

Abstract

Winter cereals such as barley, oats, triticale, and wheat are commonly grown as forage for the dairy industry. The purpose of this study is to generate information on yield potential of various winter cereal forage varieties. A trial testing the yield potential of eleven winter cereal forage entries including barley, oat, triticale, and wheat varieties was established at the Maricopa Ag Center on October 16, 2015. Forage yields were obtained at cuttings on December 10, February 29, and April 18. The highest yielding entry at the first cutting was Stockford barley. At the second and third cuttings, the highest yielding entry was Summit 515 wheat. Summit 515 wheat was also the highest yielding entry averaged over all cuttings. As a group, the wheat entries were higher yielding that the other winter cereals except at the first cutting where the barleys were higher yielding.