can buckwheat be used as "HAY"?? Dry it, bundle it,, and feed during the winter as needed? I planted some buckwheat as a green cover crop this year, on a New part of the garden,, its doing great,,I tilled it under twice already,, IM thinking about "hay ing" some for the animals for winter

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), July 26, 2001

Answers

Hi, Stan. That sounded like an interesting idea so I went surfing for you. Found this at my alma mater :) http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/hort/faculty/bjorkman/buck/NL/900.html#f orage

Buckwheat for forage With delayed crop planting and missed hay harvest this year, late plantings of buckwheat are being eyed for their forage value by some dairy farmers. If a farmer is coming up short on the forage production and has some land cover cropped to buckwheat, that is a historic use that can be worth considering.

There is no question that cattle will happily eat buckwheat. In fact, buckwheat straw can't be used as bedding for that reason.

But what is the forage value of buckwheat? To answer that question, Cornell professors Thomas Bjšrkman of Horticultural Sciences and Larry Chase of Animal Science had some samples of buckwheat analyzed by the Dairy One lab in Ithaca.

The buckwheat was picked when the grains were 30 to 50% brown. The seeds had mostly filled, but are not yet hard. It would be perhaps 3 to 4 weeks before they would be combined for grain.

The results indicate that buckwheat harvested as hay has about 9% protein (similar to corn silage), 36% ADF and 43% NDF, similar to good quality alfalfa hay, and 72% in vitro total digestibility, also similar to good alfalfa. Buckwheat hay should be similar to forages that dairy farmers are familiar with, and has good digestibility. The protein would need to be raised to make a balanced ration.

The value of buckwheat forage can be calculated based on the fiber content. If alfalfa hay costs $100 per ton, buckwheat would be worth about $65 per dry ton. The dry matter yield in a weak stand (20 to 24" high) would be 1 ton per acre, and in a strong stand (30 to 36" high), 2 to 3 tons. Depending on your feed needs, that could be a competitive use for a late crop or one showing poor seed set.

The main concern is that a skin rash can develop if the ration of light-colored cows is greater than 30% buckwheat and they are in the sun. Most dairies wouldn't have that much buckwheat to feed, and sunshine is rare enough in a Northeastern winter, that this concern might be small. It is also possible to feed grain buckwheat, but is has no outstanding value compared to other feedstuffs.

Under normal conditions, corn and soybeans are easier to grow and cheaper to buy than buckwheat. However, buckwheat for feed could make sense in short-season areas where the land base is more than can be planted to other crops. It can also make sense to feed buckwheat grain if an open market is not available, or if the amount produced on the farm can't be economically trucked to the buyer. Dairy farms in Northern New York with a field or two of buckwheat may be in this situation. A fact sheet on the feed value of buckwheat by Drs. Chase and Bjšrkman will be added to the online buckwheat production guide soon. (www.nysaes.cornell.edu/hort/buckwheat/)

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), July 26, 2001.

Toxicity ob buckwheat is covered here: http://sis.agr.gc.ca/pls/pp/ppack.info? p_psn=231&p_type=all&p_sci=comm&p_x=px

But it sounds like a good alternative.

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), July 27, 2001.