Hogging down buckwheat
I feel like I've been a bit of a Debbie Downer in my last few posts, so time to share some promising results! Last year, I blogged quite a bit about alternative ways to feed pigs, and settled on growing forage that the pigs can harvest themselves as the most cost efficient method for my operation. I even planted an acre of field peas at the old farm in the fall of last year, and they were coming in well in the spring. I moved before I could put the pigs on them, so I don't know how that experiment would have worked out in the end. What I can report on is my efforts with buckwheat this year.
I rotate the pigs fairly rapidly through my pasture, so after I moved them off the first paddock of the spring, I wanted to plant something. Because it was spring, and because it was a fairly small area, the pigs had rooted quite a few areas up. Here is a picture I took back in May that shows the general area.
I rotate the pigs fairly rapidly through my pasture, so after I moved them off the first paddock of the spring, I wanted to plant something. Because it was spring, and because it was a fairly small area, the pigs had rooted quite a few areas up. Here is a picture I took back in May that shows the general area.
So, in mid June, I ran my disc over the area, then broadcast organic buckwheat seed. I chose buckwheat because there aren't many other forage choices that can germinate well and grow rapidly in early summer. In a month, the buckwheat was already flowering, and I was able to get the pigs and steer back onto the paddock in late July.
Surprisingly, the steer had little interest in the buckwheat, preferring the grasses and clover. As you can see above, the pigs really liked it. I was particularly happy that the young pigs, only 2.5 months old, were enthusiastically eating the forage. It didn't take them long to eat through everything.
I find it very difficult to evaluate the overall value of forage as compared to buying feed. With buckwheat especially, there's not a whole lot of data on it's nutritive value. I did find one study, but it is focused on ruminants. In general, my goal with pig forage is to increase the protein, starch, and sugar content of the forage over the typical naturalized grasses, minimize cellulose and lignin, and maintain or improve palatability. When you're harvesting grain, hay, or silage, it's easy to get a good count of the amount of feedstuffs you're harvesting, but when the pigs are doing the harvesting, it's much harder.
Nonetheless, I'm pleased at a basic level that the pigs are enthusiastically eating a forage I planted. I plan to do much more of this in the future.
I find it very difficult to evaluate the overall value of forage as compared to buying feed. With buckwheat especially, there's not a whole lot of data on it's nutritive value. I did find one study, but it is focused on ruminants. In general, my goal with pig forage is to increase the protein, starch, and sugar content of the forage over the typical naturalized grasses, minimize cellulose and lignin, and maintain or improve palatability. When you're harvesting grain, hay, or silage, it's easy to get a good count of the amount of feedstuffs you're harvesting, but when the pigs are doing the harvesting, it's much harder.
Nonetheless, I'm pleased at a basic level that the pigs are enthusiastically eating a forage I planted. I plan to do much more of this in the future.
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