Native to Ethiopia, teff grass holds up well under drought conditions. With drought common in many parts of the country, teff offers up an interesting option as cattle feed. But does it live up to the hype?
Cody Nelson of Bar N Ranch in Minnesota has good things to say about teff.
“They did really well on the teff,” Nelson says of his Shorthorn cattle. “It makes really nice feed.”
Nelson’s ranch is evidence that this crop can fit in well in northern, short-season areas. Although Nelson did not grow teff this year, in past years he has gotten roughly 6 or 7 tons of dry matter per acre off the crop. Although the tonnage may not be quite as high as other summer annuals such as sorghum-sudan, teff has one serious advantage over other crops: It dries more easily.
Cattle may not be accustomed to consuming teff, though.
“When you first put cattle on it, they’re going to be like, ‘What is this stuff?’” says Nelson, explaining that once they start eating it, they seem not to want anything else.
If a rancher is growing his or her own teff, one main challenge comes at planting time. Teff seed is extremely small and needs to be seeded shallow – 1/8 to 1/4 inch, no deeper. Nelson used a Brillion seeder to get the job done but speculates that a conventional drill could be used if the field were covered twice.
Nelson notes that the first cutting of teff doesn’t usually have a large yield. “You’ve got to get that first cut and then it explodes,” he says. Mowing with a Discbine mower-conditioner, Nelson gets three or four cuttings off of the teff, even in Minnesota’s northern climes.
One aspect of teff grass that has attracted interest from beef producers over the years is its quality. First-cutting teff often measures out in the 20s for crude protein. High-quality hay can be a boon to a rancher trying to turn a profit – but do the pros outweigh the cons?
Vanessa Corriher-Olson is an extension forage specialist at Texas A&M University. Corriher-Olson noticed that there had been a significant amount of interest in teff as a forage several years ago, although much of it came from the equine world.
“There was a lot of hype,” she says. So she and some colleagues decided to find out how the crop would perform in Texas’ sometimes unforgiving climate.
“We had some different challenges,” says Corriher-Olson, noting that drought caused some difficulties in some places while excessive rain created problems elsewhere. Before Corriher-Olson conducted her trials, there had been little or no research into teff in Texas. She found it would grow well in east Texas but not so well in other parts of the state, with drought being the most common cause for crop failure.
Photo courtesy of Carri Jagger, Ohio State University.
“It’s very pretty,” says Corriher-Olson of teff, explaining that it has a high potential for quality forage if grown properly. She emphasizes that planting shallow is essential for small-seeded teff. Also, if multiple cuttings are to be successful, a relatively high stubble height must be maintained – around 4 to 6 inches. In contrast, crops like bermudagrass can be cut down to about 3 inches. Teff does not compete with weeds particularly well; broadleaf weeds outcompete it when it is cut too short.
Another challenge with teff as cattle feed is its tendency to end up horizontal.
“It is subject to lodging,” says Corriher-Olson, noting that it can be quite difficult to harvest after lodging.
In Texas, the challenges associated with teff have mostly outweighed its potential as quality cattle feed. Beef producers in Corriher-Olson’s part of the state aren’t growing it. “They rely on warm-season perennials,” she says, naming bahiagrass and bermudagrass as dominant forages.
Maine’s climate couldn’t be more different from that of east Texas. However, Maine, like the area that Corriher-Olson covers as an extension specialist, is also a place where teff is not being produced as feed for beef. Although one farmer produced teff hay for sale for a few years in northern Maine, little or no teff is currently being produced in the state.
According to Maine State Extension Specialist Jaime Garzon, teff just isn’t a good choice for Maine beef producers. “Usually, the quality isn’t as good as other forages,” he says.
Garzon says a specific use for teff is for feeding overweight horses, as it is relatively low in carbohydrates.
“It can also be used in beef cattle diets, but you can use other higher-yielding and higher-quality summer crops with cattle, such as sorghum-sudangrass or sudangrass for direct grazing,” he says. “These species are adapted to dry soils and have some drought tolerance, like teff.”
Ohio State University Extension Specialist Dean Kreager says teff is not being fed to beef animals in his area.
“I don’t think it’s being used very much for beef cattle,” he says. He attributes this to the lower yields in comparison to other annuals. “It’s a warm-season annual. People are more comfortable with sorghum-sudan.”
Teff has relatively high yields, high levels of digestible protein and does well in adverse conditions. Ten or 15 years ago, it was sometimes touted as the next great crop for beef producers. Although it fits a niche for some farmers – like Cody Nelson in Minnesota – teff remains a minor crop (though not one to be overlooked) for ranchers and their cattle in any region of the U.S.
