Evaluation of perennial cereal rye longevity and forage production when harvested at different stages of maturities and under grazing

Non-Peer ReviewedPerennial Cereal Rye (PC rye) (Secale cereale) has been promoted as a highly productive perennial forage crop for hay/silage and grazing for dryland areas. However earlier research done at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada – Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre (AAFC-SPARC) have found that time of seeding and defoliation on PC rye can greatly affect the number of plants surviving through the winter. Current research at AAFC-SPARC indicated that the stage of harvest (preboot, boot and flowering) does affect stand survival and that PC rye longevity is lower (P<0.001) than other short lived forage species, such as, Dahurian wildrye and Slender wheatgrass under irrigation or dryland. Grazing studies at AAFC-SPARC also observed PC rye plant counts decline by over 48% after two years of moderate grazing at the boot to heading plant stage