178
-Foraging Around, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 13,2002
Many of the cool-season
forages that we use today
were brought to the U.S. by
early European settlers. Vari
ety development in the U.S.
did not begin until the early
1900 s. There were very few
varieties available until the
1930 s and 1940 s when the
USDA and universities put a
major emphasis on variety
development. Commercial
forage breeding was initiated
in the late ’sos and ’6os and
rapidly expanded in the ’7os
and ’Bos.
While management is very
important, improved varie
ties almost always pay for
themselves in the long run.
Here are some improvements
that could improve your
bottom-line.
• Orchardgrass. New vari
eties are coming on the
market that have a low crown
and dense, prostrate growth
habit (less clumping). These
varieties are better suited for
Small Grains And Pea Mixtures
For Alfalfa Establishment
Many Pennsylvania alfalfa pro
ducers have used or are considering
the use of small grains and pea mix
tures as a nurse crop during alfalfa
establishment. Recent research at
the University of Wisconsin was
conducted to determine the effect of
field pea mixtures on alfalfa estab
lishment when seeded in mixtures
with oat or barley. Sixteen oat and
nine barley varieties were grown
alone and in mixtures with
‘Trapper’ field pea to produce oat,
oat-pea, barley and barley-pea nurse
crops. The nurse crops were under
seeded with ‘Blazer’ alfalfa.
No single oat or barley variety,
whether mixed with pea or not, was
superior in forage yield or forage
quality. In addition, no variety af
fected alfalfa yield in the year after
alfalfa establishment. Pea in the
mixture also did not affect alfalfa
yield in the establishment year or in
the year after establishment.
The oat-pea forage mixture was
lower in NDF and significantly
higher in CP than the barley-pea
forage mixture. The addition of pea
to oat decreased neutral detergent
fibers (NDF) by 7.1 percentage units
and increased crude protein (CP) by
4.4 percentage units. Adding pea to
barley decreased NDF by 6.2 per
centage units and increased CP by
3.0 percentage units.
Although the barley-pea mixture
was highest in forage yield, oat-pea
mixtures were considered the best
companion crop because they had
superior forage quality.
New Forage Genetics: Do They Work In The Northeast?
pastures than traditional
varieties. They are not higher
yielding, but improved qual
ity and palatability generally
result in improved perform
ance.
• Perennial Ryegrass.
There are diploid varieties
and tetraploid varieties.
Tetraploid varieties are usu
ally higher yielding than di
ploids with larger leaves and
tillers, less ground cover,
more disease resistance and
tend to have higher digestibil
ity. Diploid types tend to
have finer leaves, produce
more tillers, have better stand
persistence, and are more tol
erant to heavy grazing.
• Italian Ryegrass. Stands
survive up to two years. Ital
ian ryegrass provides high
yields of quality forage,
shows quick regrowth, early
spring growth, and late fall
growth. It requires longer rest
periods than perennial rye
grass for maximum produc
tion.
• Festulolium. This was
developed from crosses be
tween Italian ryegrass and
meadow fescue. Festulolium
combines the disease resist
ance and winter hardiness of
meadow fescue with the high
quality and season-long pro
duction of Italian ryegrass.
• Tall Fescue. Endophyte
free varieties have now been
available for many years.
These show dramatically in
SUMMER SEEDING ?
MOISTURE IS AMPLE, BE PREPARED FOR SEEDING!
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CONTACT YOUR SEEDWAY DEALER OR LOCATION TODAY
MIFFLINBURG, PA 800-338-2137 EMMAUS, PA .. .800-225-4131
MECHANICSBURG, PA .. .877-788-8982 YORK, PA 800-836-3710
TULLY, N.Y. The
Empire State Pasture Day is
scheduled to take place Aug.
17 at the John Burgett Farm,
Route 281, Tully, New York,
from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This large-scale, outdoor,
onfarm event will focus on
the numerous aspects associ
ated with rotational grazing
and pasture/hayland man
agement. Activities for the
day will include field demon
strations, displays, and pres
r
I.
creased animal gains.
Endophyte-free varieties are
typically harder to establish
and shorter-lived than
endophyte-infected varieties.
New endophyte-free varieties
are being released that are
longer-lived and more palat
able. A new class of tall
fescue is being developed that
contains non-toxic or novel
endophytes. Researchers
have discovered endophytes
Empire State Pasture Day Set
entations. A variety of guest
speakers will be presenting
throughout the day on sea
sonal calving, crossbreeding,
nutrition for different species
on pasture, and multiple spe
cies grazing. Grazing and
pasture related vendors will
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that do not produce toxins. In
some cases they still produce
alkaloids that help plant sur
vival. One of these types of
endophyte has been patented
under the name MaxQ and
has been put into different
varieties.
Information from
Ray Smith
Forage Extension Specialist
Virginia Tech
be onsite for convenient prod
uct sampling and questions.
Food vendors will be onsite.
For further information re
garding this event, go to
www.grazeny.com or call
Broome County SWCD at
(607) 724-9268.
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