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Show By Robert S. Muxdock County Agricultural Agent YOUR GRAIN PROGRAM Despite the weather we can complete our planting plans and get our seed on hand. Selecting among grain alternatives is easier than with forage crops. It costs about the . same to prepare the seed bed, plant and harvest each kind of grain. The main problem lies in deciding which grain fills your needs best. Whether your grain is produced for sale, for feed, or for nurse crop there is usually a "best choice." Grain for Feed: "Digestible nutrients" nu-trients" is the measure of feeding value. A good comparison of the feed value produced per acre of different grains can be made easier eas-ier than for forage crops. Yields are similar, feed quantities are comparable. Here's a table comparing com-paring feed production of one farmer who produced barley, oats and wheat for feed. - Our Farmer's Experience Yield TDN TDN per ac. per bu. per ac. Barley 60 bu. 37.3 lb. 2238 Wheat 55 bu. 48.0 lb. 2640 Oats 62 bu. 25.2 lb. 1562 Figure Your Comparison Here Yield TDN TDN per ac. per bu. per ac. 37.3 lb. 48.0 lb. 25.2 lb. This farmer produced about 1-3 more feed on his barley acreage and almost twice as much feed on his wheat acreage as was produced pro-duced with oats. How do your feed grain crops compare? BARLEY Barley is a basic feed in dairy, beef fattening, lamb fattening and hog fattening rations in Utah. Where there is a price or production produc-tion advantage it can be used successfully suc-cessfully in any feeding program if proper precautions are observed. Varieties to Plant: Bonnevile Plant where water and fertility are adequate. Velvon Plant where fertility is low or for dry land areas. Price Supports: Barley is subject sub-ject to the price support at 82 y2 of parity. The price support level has been lower than market prices so very little barley has come under un-der the loan program. For 1954 the price was supported at $1.04 per bu.. OATS I Almost every comparison made will show the total digestible nu- 1 trients produced per acre to be . low compared to barley or wheat. Some farmers make extravagant claims as to the value of oats as a feed for young stock. Others disdain these statements by saying say-ing that if good forages are fed and barley is fed with care equal- ly as good results can be obtained. The best variety for Utah conditions condi-tions according to Experiment Station Sta-tion tests is Overland. CORN Some corn producing from 90 to 100 bushels of corn for grain per acre has been produced here. Where this can be done it is likely like-ly that no other grain crop will approach it as a feed producer. WHEAT The new varieties of wheat developed de-veloped at the College have completely, com-pletely, changed the place of wheat on irrigated farms. No longer long-er need we expect a near failure one year out of three from rust, smut, or some other hazzard. They have developed new varieties for fall planting on irrigated land, spring plantings to thicken up dry farm wheat, as well as improved varieties and strains for spring planting. These new wheats are changing barley's supremacy as feed grain. "Tailor-made" Varieties: a. For spring plantings with adequate ade-quate water and fertility plant Lemki, the new Lemki 53 or as a third choice Federation. b. For spring plantings on poor soil or dry land with questionable question-able water, plant Baart (A white wheat.) c. For spring plantings in fields of fall wheat with winter killing, kill-ing, plant Komer, Supreme or Lee (These are hard red wheats.) d. For fall planting under irrigation irri-gation with good fertility, plant Brevor (A white wheat with exceptional yields.) As a reminder: Use Certified Grain and then you will know the crop you produce will not be full of weeds and other undesirable crops. |