Don Armitage

Our farm consists of a cropping enterprise, cow-calf enterprise and a calf backgrounding and grazing enterprise. The bi-products of the cropping enterprise, straw and chaff are very useful to the cattle enterprises.

I am aware that it is better to return the straw to the cropland in most cases. However, there are some circumstances where the straw causes clearance problems at seeding and it is helpful to have another use for it. We use the straw for bedding of course, but have also used it for feed over the years. In particular we have used ammoniated barley straw as the roughage portion of the cow diet in mid gestation. Most types of straw can be mixed with better quality feed with a tub grinder or bale shredder to make a ration for background calves or cows.

Generally, good quality grass alfalfa hay is too high in quality on its own for background calves or cows. It would be wasteful to make it their complete ration. The main focus of our operation for the past three years has been saving the chaff for cow feed with the new McLeod Harvest technology.

Chaff is something that you don’t really want back on the field. It can interfere with the next year’s germination if it isn’t well spread. In addition it contains weed seeds and some grain, which have to be sprayed out again next year when they germinate. It is amazing how much chaff there is when you see it in a big pile. From an average mix of crops (wheat, canola, flax, peas) with average yields, you can expect about 600 lb of chaff per acre. 10 acres worth will carry the average beef cow through the winter-feeding season. Chaff is not a complete ration. It has an average energy value of 49% TDN whereas a beef cow’s mid gestational requirements will be about 52% TDN. It requires a bit of supplementation with barley or good hay and also minerals and vitamin A. If you assign a feed value of $0.03 per lb. to the chaff, you are achieving an extra return of $18 per acre on your cropping enterprise. In addition the reduction in the weed seed bank over the years should eventually lead to herbicide savings. The economics of integrating crop and cattle enterprises are very positive.