fababean plant

Fababeans in silage? Give it a shot, says pulse researcher

Nutritionally, fababean silage is a good option — but the return on investment is a question mark

Reading Time: 2 minutes No one really seems to know for sure how fababeans will work in silage — but Robyne Bowness has a few educated guesses. “Fababeans should make a fantastic silage crop,” said Bowness, pulse research scientist with Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. “Nutritionally for the animals, fababean is a very good option. It’s high in protein, […] Read more

irrigation equipment

The big two irrigated crops seeing some competition

Forages and cereals still dominate irrigated 
acreage, but oilseeds and specialty crops 
are growing in popularity

Reading Time: 3 minutes Each year, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development publishes a compilation of all 13 of the province’s irrigation districts’ data for the previous year. The latest figures show cereals and forages (pasture, hay and silage crops) still account for two-thirds of the 1,390,000 acres in the districts, but the trend is clear — forage production isn’t […] Read more


forage barley

Silage varieties for Alberta cattle producers

Reading Time: < 1 minute This year’s version of Silage Varieties for Alberta is now available. Under the umbrella of the Agricultural Research and Extension Council of Alberta, eight applied research groups performed forage testing of various varieties at 12 locations throughout the province. This was the sixth year of tests. “Varieties of barley, oats, triticale and peas commonly used […] Read more