Historical Seed and Forage Information from the Beaverlodge Research Farm - Forage Introductions (1969-1979)

Beaverlodge Research Farm, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Information on Seed and Forage Production
Compiled by Nigel A. Fairey

Beaverlodge Research Farm, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
P.O. Box 29, Beaverlodge, Alberta T0H 0C0

Over the past few decades, the Beaverlodge Research Farm of Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada has been involved in conducting research for the forage seed industry in Canada, with particular emphasis being directed toward the development of opportunities for the grass and legume seed growers of the Peace River region of Alberta and British Columbia.

Many of the reports on projects conducted by the staff of Beaverlodge Research Farm were published and distributed prior to the advent of the Internet which can provide instant access to vast amounts of useful information. Much of the historical information generated at Beaverlodge Research Farm remains useful to today’s growers and their commercial partners in the forage seed industry. Hence, a number of reports have been converted into electronic files to make them accessible to the present participants of the forage seed industry. The information was released in various types of documents:

Forage Introductions

A series of bulletins were released over an extended period of years that contain comparisons of the seed- and
herbage-producing potential of numerous varieties of many species of forage/amenity grasses and legumes, when grown in the Peace River region. The experimental information was obtained from single plots (5 rows, each 6.1 m long and spaced 30 cm apart) sown at Beaverlodge starting around the mid-1960s. From each plot, two rows were harvested for herbage and the remaining three for seed. Each variety was seeded in three successive years, using irrigation if necessary, and each seeding was retained for three harvest years. The published bulletins of the results included the following:

Forage Introductions 1969 (Publication NRG 69-16)
This is the first bulletin of the series.

Forage Introductions 1970 (Publication NRG 70-16)
This is the second bulletin of this series. The seed and herbage yields for each variety are cumulative averages that include the experimental results that were reported in the first bulletin of the series, i.e., NRG 69-16.

Forage Introductions 1972 (Publication NRG 72-16)
This is the fourth bulletin of this series. The seed and herbage yields for each variety are cumulative averages that include the experimental results that were reported since the first bulletin of the series was published, i.e., NRG 69-16.

Forage Introductions 1974 (Publication NRG 74-16)
This is the sixth bulletin of this series. The seed and herbage yields for each variety are cumulative averages based on all the previous years of experimental results that were collected since the evaluation trials began, and were reported initially in the first bulletin of the series, i.e., NRG 69-16.

Forage Introductions 1975 (Publication NRG 75-16)
This is the seventh bulletin of this series. All the experimental results collected over the previous years of the project are included.

Forage Introductions 1977 (Publication NRG 77-16)
This is the eighth bulletin of this series. All the experimental results collected over the previous years of the project are included, i.e. since the project started in the mid-1960s.

Forage Introductions 1978 (Publication NRG 78-16)
This is the first bulletin reporting on a special series of field trials conducted jointly by Agriculture Canada and Alberta Agriculture. The information supplements that reported in Forage Introductions 1977 (Publication NRG 77-16).

Forage Introductions 1979 (Publication NRG 79-16A)
This is the ninth bulletin reporting on introduced varieties of grasses and legumes, and includes all the information collected from single plots of each variety seeded at Beaverlodge. All results from the previous 10 years are included. It is a companion bulletin to “Forage Cultivar Trials (Publication NRG 79-16B)” that has results from replicated trials conducted at four sites in north-western Alberta.

For more information about the content of this document, contact Calvin Yoder.
This document is maintained by Shelley Barkley.
This information published to the web on April 19, 2005.
Last Reviewed/Revised on December 10, 2010.