WOOSTER, Ohio— Perennial
grasses provide both early and late
season grazing opportunities. The
“1998 Ohio Forage Performance
Trials” publication will help you
determine which variety is best for
you and your herd.
Perennial grasses such as
bromegrass, orchardgrass, timothy,
tall fescue, and reed canary grass
are great for grazing as well as hay.
These grasses have important char
acteristics that vary among each
species.
Ed Vollborn, grazing leader in the
South District of Ohio State
University Extension, said the most
important items measured were
yield, quality, and persistence.
“For example,” Vollborn said,
“The contributing factors for mea
suring persistence are winter hardi
ness, disease resistance, and
drought tolerance. The key factor for
quality measurement is maturity.”
Vollborn said tall fescue stands
up well in high-traffic areas.
“Timothy, often used for hay, can
only be grazed when sod is firm,
orchardgrass would not be the best
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Study Tells Which Perennial Grass Is Best For You
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choice for drainage ditches and
waterways because it’s a bunch-type
grass and doesn’t form a sod.
Instead, it forms clumps that are
interspersed with bare soil.”
Orchardgrass is a versatile,
perennial bunch-type grass that
establishes rapidly. It’s suitable for
hay, silage, or pasture. “Orchardgrass
is the most productive cool-season
grass grown in Ohio —especially
when it’s fertilized regularly.”
Vollborn said.
It has rapid regrowth capabili
ties, produces well under intensive
cutting or grazing, and obtains more
summer growth than most cool-sea
son grasses. It expresses limited
growth under drought conditions.
Orchardgrass is especially well
suited for mixtures with tall
legumes such as alfalfa and red
clover. As hay, very early maturing
varieties of orchardgrass are not
well-suited for mixtures with these
legumes. One of the limitations of
this species is the rapid decline in
palatability and quality with matu
rity. Early maturing varieties gener
ally produce more forage for grazing
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Foraging Around, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 12, 2000-Page
and stockpiling. Orchardgrass vari
eties at the Jackson Branch of Ohio
State’s Ohio Agricultural Research
and Development Center have held
up from a quality standpoint into
February the last two winters.
Tall fescue is a versatile and per
sistent perennial forage, Vollborn
said. Fescue has many uses, includ
ing erosion control, reclamation, and
turf. Tall fescue can tolerate some
what poorly drained soils and low
pH situations. It grows and estab
lishes on medium fertility soils and
is somewhat resistant to drought.
It’s the most desirable grass to
stockpile for late autumn and winter
grazing. Tall fescue varieties also
provide adequate forage quality for
beef cattle and sheep during the
autumn and early winter. Tall fes
cue is also tolerant of heavy grazing
traffic.
“During winter months, higher
yields of quality stockpiled fescue
are obtained when compared with
other species of cool season grasses,”
Vollbom said.
“New varieties of endophyte-free
and low-endophyte tall fescue have
the potential to increase animal per-
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formance during the summer graz
ing season,” said Chris Penrose,
agriculture and natural resources
extension agent in Athens County.
Endophyte-free fescue varieties
are free from the fungus
Acremonium coenophialum, which
causes elevated body temperatures
in animals. The toxins can cause
blood restriction to cattle extremi
ties.
Timothy is a hardy perennial
bunch grass that grows best in cool
and moist climates, it produces most
of its annual yield in the first cut
ting. Summer regrowth is usually
limited because of its intolerance for
hot and dry conditions. Timothy is
primarily used as hay and is espe
cially popular for horses. It’s less
competitive with legumes than most
other cool-season grasses and it’s
adversely affected by frequent cut
ting. A study currently taking place
at OARDC’s Southern Branch is
looking at higher than traditional
seeding rates for timothy.
Reed canarygrass is a high-yield
ing perennial grass tolerant to many
soil and climatic conditions, it can
be used for hay, silage and pasture,
but has a reputation of poor palata
bility and low quality. Vollborn said
this is because older varieties of the
grass contained high levels of alka
loids—chemical compounds which
reduced palatability. New varieties
of reed canarygrass are available
and offer improved quality and
palatability. They can also be used
for feeding lactating dairy cows.
Only new low-alkaloid varieties are
recommended if the crop is to be
used for animal feed. These vari
eties are Palaton, Venture, and
Rival.
Reed canarygrass is winter hard,
drought tolerant, and resistant to
leaf diseases. It’s a persistent grass
that responds well to high fertility
and tolerates spring flooding, low
pH, and frequent cutting or grazing.
It also forms a dense sod.
Traditional thinking would say
that limitations include slow estab
lishment. Forage quality and
palatability are thought to decline
rapidly after heading. Current stud
ies are proving otherwise, however.
Vollborn and colleagues from
extension, the OARDC, and Ohio
State University have studied key
characteristics of these important
grass species commonly grown in
the
195