Forage and Woody Sprout Establishment on Cleared, Unbroken Land in Central Alberta

Abstract

Five cultivated forages and rough fescue, a native bunchgrass, were successfully established on cleared but unbroken land in central Alberta that was either untilled or lightly tilled with a tandem disc. Woody suckers caused considerable competition for the forages and susceptible species were only partially controlled by one application of an herbicide. The sucker density of four shrub species increased greatly between the second and third year after clearing and seeding whereas the density of suckers of the only tree, aspen, declined. There was a one-third reduction in land-clearing costs using this method of forage establishment rather than using a crawler-tractor-drawn serrated disc or moldboard plow to break the land.