Agronomy and Horticulture Department
Date of this Version
2008
Citation
The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. NF-FO-07-01 (etc.)
Abstract
Introduction
In an effort to assist cattle producers in Oklahoma and Texas judge forage crop performance, a trial was held to determine forage yield of commercially available varieties and advanced experimental lines of annual ryegrass. The objective of this report is to summarize results from the 2008 trial.
Materials and Methods
The trial was conducted on a Wilson silt loam at the Noble Foundation Headquarters Farm near Ardmore, Okla. The trial consisted of 25 entries contributed from seven sources (Table 1). The entries were seeded in a clean-tilled seedbed on Sept. 17, 2007. Each entry was drilled in 5- by 15-foot plots, in 7-inch rows, at 25 lb/acre (pure live seed basis) at a ½-inch planting depth with a HEGE 500 drill. Fertilization consisted of preplant incorporation of 23 lb P205/acre and 20 lb K2O/acre on Sept. 13, 2007. Plots were topdressed with 80 lb N/acre on Oct. 29, 2007, and Feb. 4, 2008. Plots were harvested with a HEGE sickle bar forage plot harvester at a 3-inch height on Jan. 4, March 14, March 31, April 29 and June 3, 2008. The trial was a randomized complete block design with three replications. Data were analyzed with the general linear models procedure in SAS (Statistical Analysis Software, Cary, N.C.), and means were separated by the least significant difference (LSD) method (P ≤ 0.05).
Results and Discussion
Precipitation was below the 30-year average for Ardmore (Table 2). The deficit occurred primarily during the fall, limiting fall forage production. Good precipitation during the spring allowed for good spring forage production. Consequently, yields on average were 1000 lb/acre greater than average yield of entries in the 2007 trial. by J.A. Guretzky / jaguretzky@noble.org, and S. Norton / slnorton@noble.org Forage yield depended on the harvest date and entry (Table 3). Entries that stood out for producing the most forage during early spring, more than 4000 lb/acre by April 1, included Attain, Big Boss, Diamond T, Ed, Fantastic, Flying A, ME4, ME94, Surrey II, TXR2006-T22 and WD-40. Ed, ME4, ME94 and WD-40 also produced good forage yields during this same time period last year. Entries that stood out for producing more forage during late spring (April 29 harvest) included AM-4T, Attain, Barextra, Big Boss, Florida 4N, Hercules, ISI-LWD4, Jumbo, Marshall, MO 1, Surrey II, Tam TBO, TXR2006-T22 and Verdure (Table 3). When forage yield was examined over the whole season, differences among entries were mostly not significant. Forage yield among the top entries ranged from 6079 to 7420 lb/acre (Table 3). Any entry producing more than 6000 lb/acre across the season performed well.