Oats and silage corn rotation increases income by 170 yuan per mu compared with corn-wheat rotation

In 2016, the Tianjin Forage and Feed Work Station stepped up efforts to promote oat cultivation, introduced and demonstrated 4 excellent oat varieties, built 4 production demonstration bases, and the city's planting scale reached 9,000 mu. It mainly promoted the two-crop-a-year rotation planting model of oats + silage corn, which can increase benefits by 170 yuan per mu compared with the traditional corn + wheat planting.

In early June, all oats in Tianjin entered the harvest period, with an average yield of 2.2 tons of oat silage per mu (equivalent to 600 kg of hay per mu), and a net income of 600 yuan per mu for one season; dairy farmers using locally produced oats to replace imports save at least 700 yuan in feed costs per ton. By promoting the oats + silage corn rotation planting model, the channel for coordinated development of planting and breeding was opened up, achieving a dual improvement in economic benefits at both the planting and breeding levels.

On June 12, Director Shen Xin of the Municipal Agriculture Committee, Deputy Director Mao Kejun, and Chief Economist Yang Qingsong, accompanied by relevant responsible comrades including Secretary Lian Guifeng of the Municipal Animal Husbandry Bureau, Director Wang Hongjun, and Deputy Director Wang Zhihua, went to Tianjin Shenchi Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Development Co., Ltd. to conduct a special investigation on the situation of grass-livestock integration and integrated circular production of planting and breeding in Tianjin, and inspected the production of high-quality oats on site. In 2016, the Tianjin Forage and Feed Work Station stepped up efforts to promote oat cultivation, introduced and demonstrated 4 excellent oat varieties, built 4 production demonstration bases, and the city's planting scale reached 9,000 mu. It mainly promoted the two-crop-a-year rotation planting model of oats + silage corn, which can increase benefits by 170 yuan per mu compared with the traditional corn + wheat planting. Through the implementation of the oats + silage corn rotation production model, the land output efficiency, land resource utilization rate, and supply capacity of high-quality forage were significantly improved, alleviating the current contradiction between supply and demand of high-quality forage, and it has important demonstration and guiding significance for promoting the structural adjustment of agricultural planting, improving the ecological environment, and realizing the coordinated and synchronous development of economic and ecological benefits.

In recent years, oats have become one of the main high-quality forages for dairy cattle breeding, and demand has grown rapidly year by year. According to research, in 2015 the use of high-quality oat forage in Tianjin reached 11,000 tons, with 80% relying on imports and transfers from other places, which increased feeding costs. Since 2012, our station has stepped up efforts to promote the cultivation of high-quality oats. Through support at the policy, funding, and technical levels, the city's oat production has achieved rapid improvement in scale and facility levels. In particular, in order to implement the municipal party committee and municipal government's important measures on accelerating the development of modern urban agriculture, vigorously promoting agricultural structural adjustment, and implementing the strategic goal of “one reduction and three increases,” and moderately scaling up the cultivation of high-quality forage, policy publicity has further increased enthusiasm for the production of forage crops such as oats.