Production and utilization of oats as forage for cattle in the Ord River Valley, Western Australia

Abstract

Three experiments were carried out to obtain data on the suitability for forage of ten oat (Avena sativa) cultivars; on optimum water and nitrogen regimes for growing oats for forage; and on the liveweight gains of cattle grazing forage oats. The early-flowering cultivars, Swan, Bentland and Benton, grew faster than the late-flowering cultivars, Trispernia and Algerian, but did not tolerate defoliation so well. The most practical treatment for growing oats for forage was watering each two weeks and applying 90 kg ha-1N at planting and another 90 kg ha-1N eight weeks later. Swan oats, Algerian oats and a Swan oats/vetch (Vicia atropurpurea) mixture, all sown in May, gave liveweight gains 373,300 and 370 kg ha-1 when grazed at 4.3 head ha-1, and 477,423 and 329 kg ha-1 at 5.7 head ha-'. Only Swan at both 5.7 and 4.3 head ha-1 and Algerian at 4.3 head ha-1 sustained liveweight gains for the whole 19-week grazing period. The prospects for profitable use of oats as feed for cattle in the Ord River Valley appear to be poor.