Autumn harvest of forage

By Dori Modney with files from the Alberta Beef Producers

New Forage U-Pick program to assist producers

Jun 17, 2020 | 3:36 PM

CALGARY, AB. — A total thirteen different western Canadian organizations have combined their efforts to introduce “Forage U-Pick”. Karen Schmid, Alberta Beef Producers (ABP) Research and Production Manager, calls it a cool tool to provide Western Canadian users with information for forage selections, seeding rates and weed management.

“It’s really just a starting point for decision making to help producers find forage species that are best suited for a particular region and use. We do recommend that it be used in conjunction with other expert opinions and technical resources.”

Schmid explained how the program works.

“First you choose your province, from B.C. to Manitoba, and then you can further select your soil zone or eco region and they you can select specific criteria like whether you want to use the forage for pasture or hay, if you’re interested in grasses, legumes or native or tame species. Then, you check off specific field conditions, like salinity or erosion tendency within the field. There’s about ten different criteria to choose from, but limiting your search to your top two or three priorities will give you your best result.”

Schmid went on to elaborate on what to expect with Forage U-Pick.

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“Once you get your results, more detailed information on each species can be accessed by clikcing the picture. There’s also a seeding rate calculator that helps you choose the right seeding rates for your species of interest, which is especially important if you’r doing mixtures, and then there’s a section on weed management that has a comprehensive list of weed management aps and resources, as well as how to identify common weeds in your area and some general management info. So it’s a pretty neat tool and I would really encourage people to check it out on the beef research.ca site and you can find it by simply searching for ‘Forage U-Pick ‘.

According to Schmit, many organizations were involved in developing the U-Pick program.

“This wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the Beef Cattle Research Council, the Saskatchewan Forage Council, the Alberta Beef Forage and Grazing Centres, the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and a wide network of forage researchers, forage agronomists ans specialists from B.C. to Manitoba – it was a huge team effort, and we’re really grateful for the support of all those people.”