Alberta farmers looking for feed options

Pea straw should be considered

By Diego Flammini, Farms.com

Unfortunately for farmers in Alberta, the appetites of livestock don’t diminish when feed supplies become limited. As farmers and ranchers continue to battle adverse conditions resulting in a shortage of feed supplies as winter approaches, they’re being challenged into trying different feed options for their animals.

With the pea harvest in Alberta beginning to pick up, the leftover straw can be used as a feed alternative.

“Pea straw is an excellent filler in a pregnant cow ration”, said Barry Yaremcio, beef and forage specialist at the Ag-Info Centre. “It has reasonably good quality, probably 2-3% more protein on a pound-for-pound basis compared to barley or oat straw and roughly the same amount of energy.”

Yaremcio suggests that baling the straw as soon as possible is the best option if considering using pea straw for feed.

“In some situations if things go right, being right behind the combine is the best way to go,” he said. “If that straw lays on the ground too long, it settles, you have to get the pickup on the baler closer to the ground and the problem there is you could be picking up dirt and throwing dirt into the bale as well as pea straw.”

Yaremcio warns that if the dirt is moist and comes into contact with the pea straw, there’s a risk of white mold forming.

Below is a chart showing the different characteristics of varying types of straw.

Join the conversation and tell us the kinds of straw you would consider using to feed your cattle if there was a shortage of supplies.