Many areas in Alberta have experienced some of the worst droughts in recent years. Severe and sustained drought is particularly stressful for beef cattle operations, which rely heavily on sufficient and timely rainfall to grow forage for their herds. Many perennial grass and legume forage species enter dormancy when faced with heat and water shortages. Therefore, selecting suitable drought-tolerant forage species is of prime importance during periods of frequent rainfall deficiencies. Spring cereals used as annual forages tend to perform better during hot and dry years when most perennial forages are less suited. Barley is one of the most common annual cereal forage crops in Alberta, offering better feed quality than oats, wheat, or triticale.

In 2024, a field trial was established at the LARA Research Farm in Fort Kent, Alberta, to investigate whether mixed cultivation of two-row and six-row barley in varietal seed mixtures could increase forage yield and nutritional quality compared to their component varieties grown in pure stands. The treatments included two two-row varieties (AB Maximizer and AAC Lariat) and two six-row varieties (AB Tofield and AB Standswell) grown both in pure stands and in twelve possible binary mixtures with 1:1, 1:3, and 3:1 seeding ratios. CDC Austenson was included as a check variety. The results indicated that mixed cultivation of a high-yielding two-row variety with a low-yielding six-row variety in a 3:1 seeding ratio could increase overall forage dry matter (DM) yield and nutritional quality, providing a diet capable of meeting the dietary requirements of different classes of beef cattle. However, as this study was conducted in a single environment during one growing season, the ability to draw broad conclusions was limited.

Further research is needed to explore how variety selection, seeding ratios, and trials under diverse environmental conditions affect the potential of these mixtures to stabilize forage productivity and quality over time.

Click here to view full report from our 2025 Annual Report.

Click here to view full report from our 2024 Annual Report.