PERFORMANCE OF RYEGRASS VARIETIES IN ALABAMA, 1997-98

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ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

PERFORMANCE OF RYEGRASS VARIETIES IN ALABAMA, 1997-98

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Performance of Ryegrass Varieties in Alabama, 1997-98
K. M. Glass and D. I. Bransby

The Alabama Ryegrass Variety Evaluation is a continuing study of available varieties and breeding lines from private companies and state agricultural experiment stations. Experiments are planted annually in northern, central, and southern locations to evaluate the varieties and lines under the different environmental conditions of Alabama. Entries in each experiment are determined by the companies or institutes which control each variety, or line, not by experiment station personnel. The experiments are conducted by experiment station personnel and the results are presented in a fair and unbiased manner.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES AND DISCUSSION
Ryegrass entries were seeded at a 20-pound-per-acre rate in rows seven inches apart, using plots 5 x 20 feet with four replications. Good stands were obtained at the following locations: Sand Mountain Substation, Crossville, E.V. Smith Research Center, Tallassee and Gulf Coast Substation, Fairhope. The experiments were fertilized with phosphorus and potassium according to Auburn University soil test recommendations. At planting, nitrogen was applied at the rate of 50 pounds per acre, and an additional 50 pounds of N per acre was applied after each cutting. A 32- or 49-inch swath of each plot was harvested to a cutting height of 1 ½ to 2 inches with a flail harvester each time the ryegrass reached a height of six to 10 inches. A herbage sample of approximately 1 pound was taken from each plot at each harvest for determining forage dry matter percentage. In 1996, the tests were planted October 7, October 17, and October 15 at Crossville, Tallassee, and Fairhope, respectively. Good stands were obtained at Crossville and Tallassee. Less than adequate planting conditions reduced stands and yields at Fairhope. All locations had wet conditions, but normal growth occurred on most varieties. In 1997, the tests were planted October 6, October 8, and October 23 at Crossville, Tallassee, and Fairhope, respectively. Good stands were obtained at all locations. All locations had wet conditions, and in some cases harvest was delayed somewhat due to the wetness. Strategies to meet seasonal forage needs are an important consideration for livestock producers. Tables 1-3 provide yield data by harvest for 1997-98 at a given location, while table 4 shows one-, two-, and three-year total yields by location. Seasonal and total forage dry matter yields by locations are provided in table 5. The three seasonal periods are fall—forage production through February; early spring—March and early April production; and late spring—production after April 20. A three-year average provides a more dependable comparison of ryegrass varieties than do single-year results.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Appreciation is expressed to Mien-Huei Tzeng, Research Data Analysis, for the data processing of this report. Also acknowledged are the contributions of R.A. Dawkins and M.E. Ruf, Sand Mountain Substation; N.R. McDaniel and M.D. Pegues, Gulf Coast Substation; and J.S. Bannon and S.P. Nightengale, E.V. Smith Research Center, for growing and harvesting the experiments. Glass is an Agricultural Program Associate and Bransby is a Professor in the Auburn University Department of Agronomy and Soils. Information contained herein is available to all persons regardless of race, color, sex, or national origin.

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ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

TABLE 1. SEASONAL DRY MATTER Y IELD OF RYEGRASS VARIETIES AT G ULF COAST SUBSTATION , FAIRHOPE, A LABAMA, 1998
Acre yield by harvest date Brand-Variety 12/17 lb. WVPB-AR-A-13 Marshall Hercules WVPB-AR-F-11 WAX ME94 RIO OFI FL95 Surrey TXR 95-5 Tetragold WVPB-AR-93-101 Southern Star OFI A94 TAM 90 T-444 Plus Gulf (Source A) WVPB-AR-R-3 Big Daddy TXR95-6 362 376 850 279 594 660 667 597 288 762 543 680 440 507 634 327 260 362 369 1/20 lb. 1,180 1,330 1,279 1,398 1,233 1,221 1,239 1,212 1,203 1,086 1,313 1,205 1,160 1,251 1,134 1,356 1,204 1,349 1,297 1/24 lb. 2,311 2,060 1,884 2,133 1,977 1,928 2,046 2,067 1,970 1,722 1,673 1,799 1,871 1,634 1,629 1,783 1,967 1,886 1,805 3/20 lb. 1,673 1,827 1,428 1,400 1,352 1,281 1,192 930 1,327 1,235 1,191 1,138 1,148 1,236 1,167 1,072 1,029 1,179 921 4/10 lb. 1,128 945 815 924 883 793 888 985 852 769 739 736 756 739 805 861 821 769 927 5/08 lb. 1,404 1,279 1,219 1,149 1,165 1,081 920 974 1,073 1,067 1,131 1,002 1,142 1,005 980 941 1,028 756 933 lb. 8,058 7,817 7,475 7,283 7,204 6,964 6,952 6,765 6,713 6,641 6,590 6,560 6,517 6,372 6,349 6,340 6,309 6,301 6,252 Season total

Gulf (Source B)
Jackson FL X1997(G) 4N Gulf (Oregon State) Grazer Ribeye Test Mean C.V. (%) L.S.D. (.10)

615
365 614 451 372 490 499 33 193

1,183
1,137 1,271 1,082 1,251 1,106 1,227 16 227

1,727
2,067 1,789 1,607 1,794 1,389 1,861 15 324

1,020
915 951 1,026 674 833 1,166 15 202

712
673 542 820 976 607 819 24 234

994
956 905 971 706 999 1,031 21 257

6,251
6,113 6,072 5,957 5,773 5,424 6,602 13 1,039

Planted: October 23, 1997. Soil: Malbis Fine Sandy Loam.

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TABLE 2. SEASONAL DRY MATTER YIELD OF R YEGRASS VARIETIES AT PLANT BREEDING UNIT, TALLASSEE , A LABAMA, 1998
Acre yield by harvest date Brand-Variety 1/20 lb. Ribeye WAX ME94 T-444 Plus OFI FL95 RIO TXR95-6 Gulf (Source A) Surrey WVPB-AR-R-3 Jackson Grazer Big Daddy OFI A94 TAM 90 WVPB-AR-F-11 WVPB-AR-93-101 Gulf (Oregon State) FL X1997(G) 4N Gulf (Source B) Marshall TXR 95-5 Tetragold Hercules WVPB-AR-A-13 Test Mean C.V. (%) L.S.D. (.10) 874 686 989 539 744 676 674 862 577 631 591 793 631 842 323 701 627 455 829 374 342 487 639 243 630 36 265 3/16 lb. 1,452 1,438 1,056 1,348 1,204 1,201 1,142 1,313 1,288 1,181 1,879 1,073 1,329 1,146 1,034 1,238 998 806 1,053 783 802 758 667 480 1,111 25 333 4/02 lb. 837 897 654 827 790 763 846 741 813 806 550 823 815 773 837 677 734 789 719 840 655 709 544 484 747 17 150 4/29 lb. 2,892 2,247 2,572 2,326 2,131 1,936 1,948 2,125 2,058 2,138 2,120 1,950 2,091 2,244 2,137 1,932 1,985 1,967 1,809 2,301 2,241 1,714 1,421 1,463 2,073 23 570 5/22 lb. 1,421 1,951 1,360 1,402 1,403 1,682 1,624 1,092 1,371 1,342 948 1,432 1,069 910 1,327 1,041 1,211 1,509 1,116 1,125 1,134 1,402 697 1,043 1,276 38 578 lb. 7,476 7,219 6,631 6,442 6,272 6,258 6,234 6,133 6,107 6,098 6,088 6,071 5,935 5,915 5,658 5,589 5,555 5,526 5,526 5,423 5,174 5,070 3,968 3,713 5,837 14 929 Season total

Planted: October 8, 1997. Soil: Cahaba Fine Sandy Loam.

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T ABLE 3. SEASONAL DRY MATTER Y IELD OF RYEGRASS V ARIETIES AT S AND MOUNTAIN S UBSTATION, C ROSSVILLE, A LABAMA , 1998
Acre yield by harvest date Brand-Variety 3/04 lb. OFI FL95 RIO WAX ME94 WVPB-AR-R-3 WVPB-AR-F-11 TAM 90 OFI A94 Gulf (Source B) Surrey WVPB-AR-93-101 Jackson Marshall Gulf (Source A) TXR95-6 Ribeye FL X1997(G) 4N T-444 Plus Gulf (Oregon State) Big Daddy Tetragold Hercules TXR 95-5 WVPB-AR-A-13 Grazer Test Mean C.V. (%) L.S.D. (.10) 486 373 406 371 290 478 419 956 665 323 349 195 367 574 732 511 580 364 520 500 432 179 147 745 457 32 173 4/02 lb. 1,585 1,447 1,396 1,433 1,300 1,385 1,382 1,168 1,106 1,320 1,334 1,326 1,321 1,166 1,113 1,038 1,037 1,116 1,064 1,095 958 1,250 898 855 1,212 13 185 4/22 lb. 1,419 1,371 1,322 1,388 1,464 1,294 1,279 1,214 1,239 1,298 1,213 1,404 1,264 1,211 1,182 1,256 1,185 1,149 1,058 1,121 1,080 1,193 1,183 802 1,233 13 193 5/11 lb. 1,127 1,268 1,167 1,058 1,091 972 1,041 781 1,034 995 1,022 981 924 910 801 871 872 1,041 1,008 748 888 729 969 687 958 16 179 lb. 4,617 4,459 4,291 4,250 4,145 4,129 4,121 4,119 4,044 3,936 3,918 3,906 3,876 3,861 3,828 3,676 3,674 3,670 3,650 3,464 3,358 3,351 3,197 3,089 3,860 8 376 Season total

Planted: October 6, 1997. Soil: Hartsells Fine Sandy Loam.

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T ABLE 4. TOTAL DRY M ATTER Y IELD OF RYEGRASS V ARIETIES, 1998, AND TWO - AND THREE -YEAR A VERAGES AT G ULF COAST SUBSTATION , PLANT B REEDING UNIT , AND SAND MOUNTAIN S UBSTATION
Dry matter/acre Brand-Variety 1998 lb. 2-yr. avg. (1997-98) lb. 3-yr. avg. (1996-98) lb. 8,600 8,143 8,111 8,087 8,082 8,008 7,746 7,709 7,623 7,542 7,412 7,137 7,116 6,974 6,930 6,514 – – – – – – – – – Grazer WVPB-AR-F-11 Gulf (Source B) Gulf (Oregon State) Hercules OFI FL95 TXR95-6 OFI A94 FL X1997(G) 4N T-444 Plus TXR 95-5 Tetragold WVPB-AR-A-13 Brand-Variety 1998 lb. 6,088 5,658 5,526 5,555 3,968 6,442 6,258 5,935 5,526 6,631 5,174 5,070 3,713 Dry matter/acre 2-yr. avg. 3-yr. avg. (1997-98) (1996-98) lb. 4,881 4,510 4,550 4,729 3,762 5,169 5,122 4,844 4,743 – – – – lb. 4,579 4,450 4,244 4,221 4,022 – – – – – – – –

GULF COAST SUBSTATION Marshall 7,817 8,036 WAX ME94 7,204 7,716 TAM 90 6,372 7,691 RIO 6,964 7,559 WVPB-AR-F-11 7,283 7,819 Hercules 7,475 7,573 WVPB-AR-93-101 6,590 7,441 Jackson 6,113 7,127 Surrey 6,765 7,012 Ribeye 5,424 6,906 WVPB-AR-R-3 6,309 7,152 Big Daddy 6,301 6,746 Gulf (Source A) 6,340 6,830 Gulf (Source B) 6,251 6,661 Gulf (Oregon State) 5,957 6,456 Grazer 5,773 5,946 OFI FL95 6,952 7,398 OFI A94 6,517 7,236 FL X1997(G) 4N 6,072 7,149 TXR95-6 6,252 7,112 WVPB-AR-A-13 8,058 – TXR 95-5 6,713 – Tetragold 6,641 – Southern Star 6,560 – T-444 Plus 6,349 –

PLANT BREEDING UNIT (continued)

SAND MOUNTAIN SUBSTATION
Marshall RIO WAX ME94 Jackson Surrey TAM 90 Gulf (Source B) Grazer Ribeye Hercules Gulf (Oregon State) Big Daddy Gulf (Source A) OFI FL95 TXR95-6 OFI A94 FL X1997(G) 4N WVPB-AR-R-3 WVPB-AR-F-11 WVPB-AR-93-101 T-444 Plus Tetragold TXR 95-5 3,906 4,459 4,291 3,918 4,044 4,129 4,119 3,089 3,828 3,358 3,670 3,650 3,876 4,617 3,861 4,121 3,676 4,250 4,145 3,936 3,674 3,464 3,351 4,533 4,332 4,387 4,163 4,214 3,931 4,000 3,802 3,677 3,558 3,591 3,494 3,484 4,508 3,982 3,960 3,784 – – – – – – 3,827 3,748 3,690 3,571 3,554 3,365 3,288 3,233 3,203 3,105 3,098 3,038 2,929 – – – – – – – – – –

PLANT BREEDING UNIT
Big Daddy WAX ME94 Ribeye RIO Surrey Jackson WVPB-AR-R-3 WVPB-AR-93-101 TAM 90 Gulf (Source A) Marshall 6,071 7,219 7,476 6,272 6,133 6,098 6,107 5,589 5,915 6,234 5,423 5,042 5,747 5,695 5,187 5,078 5,007 4,968 4,800 5,065 5,012 4,633 5,471 5,408 5,321 5,255 5,084 4,889 4,805 4,746 4,739 4,681 4,602

(continued)

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TABLE 5. THREE -YEAR A VERAGE SEASONAL D ISTRIBUTION OF RYEGRASS VARIETY PRODUCTION AT GULF COAST SUBSTATION, P LANT BREEDING U NIT, AND SAND MOUNTAIN SUBSTATION 1996-98
Seasonal forage yield/acre Brand-Variety Fall lb. Marshall WAX ME94 TAM 90 RIO WVPB-AR-F-11 Hercules WVPB-AR-93-101 Jackson Surrey Ribeye WVPB-AR-R-3 Big Daddy Gulf (Source A) Gulf (Source B) Gulf (Oregon State) Grazer Big Daddy WAX ME94 Ribeye RIO Surrey Jackson WVPB-AR-R-3 WVPB-AR-93-101 TAM 90 Gulf (Source A) Marshall Grazer WVPB-AR-F-11 Gulf (Source B) Gulf (Oregon State) Hercules Marshall RIO WAX ME94 Jackson Surrey TAM 90 Gulf (Source B) Grazer Ribeye Hercules Gulf (Oregon State) Big Daddy Gulf (Source A) 3,083 3,137 3,403 3,200 3,055 3,229 3,022 3,007 3,113 3,190 2,743 2,957 3,014 2,930 2,862 2,691 567 481 586 518 506 435 405 496 528 622 313 407 317 586 551 491 – – – – – – – – – – – – – Early spring lb. GULF COAST SUBSTATION 3,175 2,844 2,592 2,581 2,732 2,524 2,598 2,507 2,447 2,236 2,537 2,026 2,123 2,112 2,029 2,069 PLANT BREEDING UNIT 1,509 1,996 1,952 2,102 2,007 1,877 1,892 1,794 1,847 1,611 1,671 1,975 1,671 1,584 1,495 1,498 SAND MOUNTAIN SUBSTATION 1,654 1,654 1,607 1,656 1,644 1,594 1,645 1,731 1,460 1,413 1,359 1,412 1,341 Late spring lb. 2,342 2,162 2,115 2,306 2,295 2,255 2,126 2,196 2,063 2,116 2,132 2,155 1,979 1,932 2,038 1,754 3,395 2,931 2,782 2,635 2,571 2,576 2,508 2,456 2,364 2,448 2,618 2,196 2,462 2,075 2,175 2,033 2,173 2,094 2,083 1,915 1,911 1,771 1,643 1,502 1,743 1,693 1,739 1,626 1,588 Total lb. 8,600 8,143 8,111 8,087 8,082 8,008 7,746 7,709 7,623 7,542 7,412 7,137 7,116 6,974 6,930 6,514 5,471 5,408 5,321 5,255 5,084 4,889 4,805 4,746 4,739 4,681 4,602 4,579 4,450 4,244 4,221 4,022 3,827 3,748 3,690 3,571 3,554 3,365 3,288 3,233 3,203 3,105 3,098 3,038 2,929

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Sources of Ryegrass Seed
Barenbrug USA, Tangent,Oregon Ribeye (formerly BARUSA LM95) Hercules Tetragold Elberta Farmer’s Coop. Elberta, Alabama Gulf (Source B) Forbes Seed & Grain Inc., Junction City, Oregon Southern Star Olsen-Fennell Seeds, Inc., Salem, Oregon RIO OFI-A94 OFI FL 95 Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon Gulf (Oregon State) Piedmont Fertilizer, Auburn, Alabama Gulf (Source A) Smith Seed Service, Halsey, Oregon Big Daddy Surrey Tetrablend 444 Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas TAM 90 TXR95-5 TXR95-6 The Wax Company, Inc., Amory, Mississippi Jackson Marshall WAX ME94 University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida FL X1997 (G) 4N USDA, Tifton, Georgia Grazer Willamette Valley Plant Breeders, Inc., Brownsville, Oregon WVPB-AR-93-101 WVPB-A-13 WVPB-R-3 WVPB-F-11