INFLUENCE OF SEEDING AND N RATES ON GRAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF WINTER BARLEY UNDER SEMIARID CONDITIONS

Producers need to carefully consider environmental condirions and rela tive price incentives for producing high yield and high feding value g rain when choosing the appropriate N rate for winter barley. In favora ble years, increasing the N rate increased yield at the expense of gra in characteristics associated with livestock fedd value, while in adve rse years the opposite occurred. However, increasing N rate always inc reased the protein yield of barley. Altering seeding rates had no effe ct on the parameters measured. Livestock producers should recognize th at differences in barley grain yield, protein concentration and bulk d ensity commonly occur in semi-arid climates, and are often influenced by the N rate used.