Posted on February, 20, 2025 at 10:01 am
Southwest livestock producers have numerous small-grain options for winter grazing, including some new cultivars with improved cold tolerance.
Ellen Melson, post-doctoral research assistant, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Commerce, Texas, offered a small grain update during the Texas Plant Protection Association annual meeting in Bryan, Texas.
“In Texas, small grains provide a valuable source of high-quality forage in the fall, winter, and spring for grazing livestock,” Melson said. “Many of the wheat acres in the state are primarily used for grazing or dual purpose.”
She said oats, barley, and rye produce more forage earlier in the winter season; wheat and triticale produce late, but timing is cultivar-specific.
Soft and hard wheat cultivars are good forage options, depending on the region, she added. “Up in the northeastern part of the state we're mostly soft wheat, but most of the rest of the state is hard wheat.
“One of the pros for wheat forage is the number of great cultivars available in the state that are regionally adapted, so producers may choose different disease and pest resistance options. At AgriLife, we are evaluating those for forage, specifically in the small grains breeding program. We’re breeding more for forage wheat since it's important in the state.”
Melson said since wheat has excellent freeze tolerance it produces more forage later in the winter season rather than earlier.
“The biggest negative for wheat as a forage is the Hessian fly, especially in the Blacklands and the Rolling Plains region down through central Texas. Hessian fly is becoming a bigger issue, so look at something resistant in these areas because it's difficult to control.”
She said oats may have a place, too. “One of the big pros about oats is it's very palatable. It is a high-quality forage and typically will produce more forage earlier in the winter.”
Oats are also immune to Hessian fly. “So, in our region, we've been encouraging producers to consider oats as an alternative forage option over wheat, especially if they're only grazing it out, because of Hessian fly problems.”
She added that cultural practices with forage grains mean producers plant early, often planting in the same fields year after year. “That exacerbates the issues with Hessian fly, producing perfect conditions for infestation.”
Melson said switching to oats also helps protect surrounding wheat acreage being grown for grain. “The biggest pushback I hear from producers is that at some point in the past 20 years they grew oats and were frozen out. They refused to touch them again.”
Things have changed. “We now have some much-improved oat cultivars with excellent freeze tolerance from Texas A&M and other places. Savage is a newer Texas A&M oat that's does well. We have data that show that in a 14-degree freeze for 86 hours Savage still performed well. We still saw freeze damage, but Savage recovered and did great.”
Melson said oats are more susceptible than wheat with potential for crown rust. “That can be managed with a resistant variety chosen. Also, oats can be grown for dual purpose, but we don't have a good market in Texas for the grain.”
Another small grain, triticale, is in a Texas A&M High Plains breeding program. “Triticale has high forage mass, good disease resistance, and produces forage about the same time as wheat, later in the winter season,” Melson said. “New cultivars are focusing more on early forage as well. Triticale has pretty good drought tolerance.”
She added that triticale seed can be in short supply and pricey. It can get Hessian fly infestation but is not a preferred host.
She said as a breeder she emphasizes the importance of cultivar choice.
Melson said rye produces the most overall forage mass but is lower quality. “Rye has good freeze tolerance, produces more forage earlier in the season, and has good disease resistance. Rye can be a host for Hessian fly but is not the preferred host.”
Melson said a big issue is a limited U.S. rye breeding improvement program, so most available varieties are much older.
Barley is another option, but Melson doesn’t see many people growing barley for forage. “Most of the barley breeding programs in the U.S. are geared towards malting,” she said. “Barley does have a bit lower freeze tolerance than wheat and limited seed availability. But barley can be a great choice, especially in some forage mixes. A few forage mixes include barley.”
Along with wheat and triticale, barley will host Hessian fly but is not the preferred host, Melson added.
Forage producers may not realize the damage Hessian fly causes.
“Producers grazing wheat out don't realize how much forage they're losing. It kills tillers, and in high infestation, they lose a lot of forage potential and the ability of forage to overcome grazing pressure,” Melson said.
Producers should look closely at cultivar differences and choose the best ones for their specific regions, conditions and end uses.
She recommended looking at Texas A&M regional trials and noted that early production in the High Plains will increase water use, an increasing concern for the region.
“Forages need to be planted in late September, certainly by early October, for increased forage production. Begin grazing at about six to eight inches tall, when the cattle can't pull the plant up.
“Anyone producing for grain production should remove animals before first hollow stem.”
Source: Farm Progress