Comparative Winterhardiness of Cultivated and Native Alaskan Grasses, and Forage Yield and Quality as Influenced by Harvest Schedules and Frequencies, and Rates of Applied Nitrogen

Abstract

Objectives of this investigation were to compare certain traditional forage grasses with several native Alaskan grass species for forage yield, forage quality as measured by percent crude protein and digestibility (in vitro dry-matter disappearance or percent IVDMD), and comparative winterhardiness in three separate experiments. Management variables included different harvest frequencies (2, 3, and 4 times per year), and five different rates of applied nitrogen (N). Experiments were conducted at the University of Alaska’s Matanuska Research Farm (61.6oN) near Palmer in southcentral Alaska. All species were tall-growing, cool-season perennials. Traditional forage grasses included ‘Polar’ hybrid bromegrass (predominantly Bromus inermis x B. pumpellianus), ‘Engmo’ timothy (Phleum pratense), ‘Garrison’ creeping foxtail (Alopecurus arundinaceus), and a non-cultivar, commercial meadow foxtail (A. pratensis). Native Alaskan species were Siberian wildrye (Elymus sibiricus), slender wheatgrass (Agropyron trachycaulum), arctic wheatgrass (A. sericeum), bluejoint (Calamagrostis canadensis), and polargrass (Arctagrostis arundinacea)