Crowder, J.

Nelson, L. R.

English

Texas A&amp;M Repository

    PUBLICATIONS 2004 RYEGRASS FORAGE YIELDS AT OVERTON FOR 2002-2003AND THREE-YEAR MEANSL. R. Nelson and Jim CrowderBackground. The annual ryegrass forage crop is an important winter annual in East andSouth Texas. Ryegrass has advantages over small grains in that it will produce more forage in warmweather than wheat and rye. It also will normally produce a greater total season forage yield thanoats, wheat, or rye. Ryegrass can be overseeded onto warm season pastures greatly reducing the costofpreparing a seedbed. A disadvantage ofryegrass is that it often is slow to establish in the fall andif overseeded, forage may not be available until mid-February. Ryegrass forage is of high qualityand grazing animals can normally graze ryegrass until about June 1.Research Findings. An annual ryegrass forage variety test is conducted annually at theTAMU Agricultural Research and Extension Center at Overton. Commercial varieties wereevaluated during the past 3 years. Fertilizer application rates and dates are noted in Table 1. Thetest site was on a sandy soil. Environmental conditions in the fall of 2002 were favorable for fallgrowth with adequate moisture through February. Below average rainfall in March and April andearly May reduced late spring growth and forage production. The coldest temperature was 21°F on24 January 2003; however, no freeze damage was noted. Planting dates were late Septembernormally and in 2002 the planting date was 26 September. Seed were drilled into a prepared seedbedat an 1/4 inch depth at 30 Ib/ac. Plot size was 4 x 12 ft with four replications. The entire plots wereharvested with a Hege plot harvester at a cutting height of2 inches on 16 December, 18 February,17 March, 14 April, and 12 May. In the 16 December harvest, Ed, Passeral Plus, TAM 90, andJackson were the higher producing varieties. In the second harvest on 18 February, all yields ofallvarieties were similar and were fairly good for the colder period. On 17 March, all entries hadresponded to fertilizer and warm temperatures to produce high yields. In the 14 April harvest, topyielding varieties were Beefbuilder Ill, Jumbo, Brigadier, Marshall, and Passeral Plus, closelyfollowed by other entries. On the 12 May harvest, Beefbuilder III and Jumbo produced higheryields. For the total season yield, the top 6 commercial entries were Beefbuilder ill, Jumbo,Brigadier, Marshall, Ed, and TAM 90. Over the last 3 years, higher yielding commercial varietieswere produced by Jumbo, Ed, Prine, TAM 90, and Marshall. Crown rust ratings recorded atBeaumont are shown in Table 1.Application. Data presented from these trials should be useful in selecting ryegrassvarieties for your ranch. Depending on variety availability, compare forage yields over multiple51years if possible to detennine which variety you want to plant.Table 1. Ryegrass forage variety test at Overton, Texas for 2002-2003.Harvest Harvest Harvest Harvest Harvest Total 3-Year Crown RustVariety 1 2 3 4 5 DMY Mean RatingDec. 16 Feb. 18 Mar. 17 Apr. 14 May 12 Beaumont--------------pounds of dry matter per acre-------------------- 0-9Beefbuilder III 666 749 1969 2642 1220 7246 -- 0.0Jumbo 493 516 1967 2479 1046 6501 7211 0.0Brigadier 600 688 1722 2358 876 6244 6678 0.3Marshall 523 514 1725 2823 570 6154 6885 5.0Ed 901 824 1760 2026 636 6147 7057 1.3TAM 90 781 829 1785 1920 813 6128 6361 2.3Passeral Plus 799 624 1668 2488 522 6101 6283 3.0HyEnergy 397 631 1882 2500 658 6068 -- 4.3Prine 382 499 1670 ·2499 992 6042 7166 0.6Lonestar 663 832 1886 1863 639 5883 - 0.6Ribeye 661 863 1892 1832 622 5870 6373 2.6WD-40 576 649 1726 2393 499 5842 6674 2.6Jackson 881 727 1676 1894 574 5753 6520 1.6Supergraze* 599 376 2265 1962 225 5426 -- 3.0Gulf 579 692 1636 1825 639 5372 6375 1.6BAREXTRA 354 238 1248 2677 619 5135 -- 0.3Aubade 390 442 1462 2212 553 5059 -- 4.3BARBERIA 233 325 1271 2426 88 4343 - 0.3Grand Mean 582 612 1733 2267 655 5845 6689 2.1CV 60 39 14 15 70 15 -- 67LSD (10% 287. 227 222 305 469 794 -- 1.5level)*Blend of rye and ryegrass.Planted on 26 September 2002. Fertilization: Preplant 91 Ib/ac ofN, PPs and K20 9 September 2002.Topdressed with 40 Ib Non 12 November, 33 Ib N/ac on 21 January, 40 Ib/ac ofN, P20 S and K20 on 6March and 40 Ib N/ac on 15 April 2003.52

Ryegrass forage yields at Overton for 2002-2003 and three-year means

https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/bitstream/1969.1/189753/1/article86.pdf

Ryegrass forage yields at Overton for 2002-2003 and three-year means

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Texas A&M Repository

Ryegrass forage yields at Overton for 2002-2003 and three-year means

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Texas A&amp;M Repository

Texas A&M Repository