Selecting the Right Species and Variety for Your Hay Enterprise
IFAS
Slide 2
Many Factors Affect Forage Quality 1. Forage maturity at
harvest 2. Harvest and storage 3. Climate 4. Insects and diseases
5. Soil fertility 6. Forage species 7. Forage variety
Slide 3
Not all grasses (or legumes) are created equally
Slide 4
Forage Calendar JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Bermudagrass Bahiagrass Ryegrass, Pea, Clover Rye, Wheat, Triticale
Sorghum x Sudan Pearl Millet and Crabgrass Vetch Oat
Slide 5
What can you do to improve forage quality? Choose the best
species Choose the right variety Manage the forage for best
quality
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Forage Species SpeciesCPADFTDN Alfalfa (bud)22-2628-3264-67 Red
clover (early flower)14-1628-3264-67 Bermudagrass (4
wk)10-1233-3858-62 Ryegrass12-1627-3363-68 Adapted from Southern
Forages, Ball et al.
Slide 7
Forage Species Perennial Bahiagrass Bermudagrass Tall Fescue
Orchardgrass Timothy Bluegrass Perennial Peanut Alfalfa White
clover
Slide 8
Annual Pearl Millet Sorghum Sorghum-Sudangrass Crabgrass
Alyceclover Forage Soybean Wheat Oat Rye Triticale Ryegrass Clover
Vetch Medic Winter pea Forage Species
Bermudagrass Coastal- oldest, 15 million acresCoastal- oldest,
15 million acres Coastcross I-Coastcross I- hybrid between Coastal
and a highly digestible bermudagrass from Kenya. 12% more
digestible than Coastal lacks winterhardiness Tifton 85- 26% higher
yielding than Coastal and 11% more digestibleTifton 85- 26% higher
yielding than Coastal and 11% more digestible Tifton 44- Coastal X
German bermudagrassTifton 44- Coastal X German bermudagrass
Russell- similar to Coastal, fast spreaderRussell- similar to
Coastal, fast spreader Alicia- easy to establish, lower quality,
less digestible, rust susceptible, likes wet sitesAlicia- easy to
establish, lower quality, less digestible, rust susceptible, likes
wet sites Jiggs-quick to establish, likes wet sites, rust
susceptibleJiggs-quick to establish, likes wet sites, rust
susceptible
Slide 16
Bahiagrass Argentine, Pensacola, Tifton 9, TifQuik, UF-Riata
and Sand Mountain
Slide 17
UF-RiataPensacola Tifton 9
Slide 18
Bahiagrass entry Cool season yield lbs/A Season total yield
lbs/A Tifton 98858647 Pensacola7247433 Argentine5046425 Sand
Mountain9457447 UF-Riata14049461 Bahiagrass cool-season yield at
the NFREC-Marianna FL
Slide 19
Comparison of dollar spot incidence on bahiagrass varieties
Dollar Spot Fungus
QualityFlorigraze perennial peanut Arbrook perennial peanut
Ecoturf perennial peanut Annual peanut forage Annual peanut residue
Alfalfa CP18172018 1017-20 ADF34403427 3532-39 NDF45514333 4139-49
TDN55515760-70 5850-64 RFV128105132 130110-160 Comparison of annual
and perennial peanut with alfalfa NRC (2000) table values for
alfalfa
Slide 25
Forage Soybean Tyrone and Hinson Long-Juvenile New RR forage
soybeans
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Cool Season Grasses
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Rye most dependable Oat planted earliest Wheat grows later in
the spring Triticale - late plantings Ryegrass excellent quality
Wheat Oat Rye
Slide 28
Makes good growth even in low temperatures Well adapted to
sandy soils with low fertility Usually more productive than other
small grains Tends to stem up earlier than other grains Works well
in blends with ryegrass Seed costs are usually higher
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Oat Can be planted earlier- mid September Most palatable to
livestock May be damaged by cold temperatures Seed is also
harvestable Crown rust resistance is important Barley Yellow Dwarf
Virus (BYDV) Stem rust-occurs infrequently
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Horizon 201 and Ram Oat
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Wheat Must use Hessian Fly resistant variety Usually less
productive than oats or rye Tends not to make much growth in the
fall but a good spring producer Most varieties developed for grain
production
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Triticale (wheat x rye) good disease resistance, well adapted
Silage and hay types: Trical 342, Trical 2700 and Monarch
Slide 33
Forage Triticale Trical 342 Trical 2700
Slide 34
Ryegrass Makes good growth even in low temperatures Needs good
soil moisture to establish Works well in blends with other small
grains Seed cost are usually cheaper than small grains Excellent
silage and hay crop
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Ryegrass for high quality hay or silage
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Slide 37
Cool Season Legumes
Slide 38
Alfalfa Bulldog 805, Bulldog 505 New RR alfalfas
Slide 39
Red Clover Southern Belle and Red Ace (non-dormant) Barduro and
Bulldog Red (mid dormant) Kenland and Redland II
Slide 40
Crimson Clover Dixie, AU-Sunrise and AU-Robin
Slide 41
Ball, Berseem, Hop, and Rose clovers and Vetch, Winter Pea and
Medic low production, broadly adapted Berseem Hop Rose Vetch
Slide 42
Common Ball Clover
Slide 43
Take forage species and forage variety into consideration for
your operation
Slide 44
Have your hay tested and enter the Southeastern Hay
Contest!
