Evaluating small grains with silage corn in a double-cropping system on dairy farms

• 2009 annual report

Commodities

• Agronomic: spelt

Practices

• Crop Production: double cropping
• Production Systems: general crop production

Growing enough feed on the typically smaller footprint of a New England dairy farm is challenging, and the farmer will test a double-cropping system where triticale and spelt are sown in the fall after silage corn is harvested and the grain silage is harvested in the spring. The system will also offer a winter ground cover and the potential flexibility for introducing other crops. The farmer will evaluate yield and how milking cows respond when small-grain silage is introduced into their diet; outreach will be through farm and extension meetings and extension newsletters.