C A L I F O R N I A
FieldCrops A SPECIAL GROWERS’ REPORT OF AG ALERT ®
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UC researchers test safflower as silage alternative ByCeciliaParsons Tulare County dairy farmer Tom Barcellos planted this safflower field in early April. This high-biomass crop grown for dairy silage needed less water than a wheat crop for silage. Harvesting proved to be a challenge due to high moisture content of the crop. Additional field trials will look at seeding rates and irrigation.
The safflower trial included fields at T-Bar Dairy inTipton and SBS Ag inTulare. NickClark, UCCE agronomy andnutrientmanagement advisor inTulareCounty, said dairy producers are showing interest in safflower as an alternative due to its lower water needs and ability to produce biomass. “We are looking at water use, nutrient recovery and feed quality at these trials. The growers will tell us what’s working,” Clark said. Seed cost for safflower at $22 an acre was considerably less thanwheat at $100 an acre. Stephen Kaffka, director of the California Biomass Collaborative and cooperative ex- tension specialist in theDepartment of Plant Sciences at UCDavis, said these initial field trials at dairieswere intended to showif the crophadpotential as lowinput- highbiomass forage that needed little or no irrigation or rainfall and no applied fertilizer. Safflower is verydeep-rootedand itmayalso recover nitrates andwater fromdeeper in the soil profile than other crops. The research is being fundedby theCaliforniaDairyResearchFoundation inpartner- shipwith the dairy sustainability programs at Nestle’s International andHilmar Cheese. Kaffka said the safflower crops at both locations were robust and healthy throughout thewinter. Noweedor insect pressurewasnoted, but some lodgingoccurred right before harvest. Hewas alsopleasedwith thePandK recovery alongwith thenitrogenuptakeby the plants. He said these results are being quantified though crop and soil samples and
Inhopesof cuttingdownonwaterdemandby traditionaldairy foragecrops,Universityof Californiaresearchersareexploring the feasibilityofusingawell-knowncrop inanewway. Fall-planted safflower was grown in production settings in the San Joaquin Valley last year to determine if it could be a viable complement or alternative to winter wheat and triticalecrops fordairysilagedue to its lowwaterneeds. Theaimwas togrowmoreproduct with less water. Winter wheat for silage is typically planted in late fall andharvested in the springwhile still high inmoisture content. After chopping, the forage is ensiled and fed to dairy cows. Much of the time the winter forage crop is followed closely by a second crop of corn or sorghum, which is harvested in late summer as a silage crop. Both silages are important parts of dairy cow rations in the San JoaquinValley. InTulareCounty, the state’s largest dairy producer, wheat silagewas grownon 156,000 acres in 2019. Dairies can often blend lagoon water with fresh to irrigate this crop, but it does require about 12 inches of appliedwater for acceptable yield. Safflower, a traditional oilseed crop, is normally planted in the spring and harvested late in the summer for the seed. This short, spiky appearing plant is drought resistant. When planted in the fall, safflower growth is vegetative and the plants can reach 6 feet in height. Safflower plants have a deep taproot that can help remove nitrates from the soil. Sincemost silage crops are irrigatedwith a blend of fresh and dairy lagoonwater, nitrate recovery could help dairies complywith nutrientmanagement plans.
See SAFFLOWER, Page 12
July 21, 2021 Ag Alert 11
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