This article was originally posted on Field Crop News by Joel Bagg
Orchardgrass can be very productive, particularly in pastures and hay fields with aggressive cutting schedules. It is a very fast growing, perennial, cool-season grass. However, because it heads so very early in the spring and then declines quickly in digestible energy and protein, it has not been as widely used for stored forage in Ontario compared to other forage grasses. This is changing more recently, as plant breeders are researching and developing newer orchardgrass varieties with later maturity.
An Alternative To Timothy?
Timothy has always been the most popular grass in Ontario because of its late maturity, ability to mix with alfalfa and go through the small seed box, ease of establishment, and lack of aggressiveness with alfalfa in a forage mixture. However, timothy is shallow-rooted and susceptible to hot, dry weather. While it grows well in the spring, it has relatively poor regrowth and typically contributes little to yield in 2nd and 3rd cuts. This has resulted in many farmers considering at least partially substituting other grasses in their hay and haylage mixtures.
Here you can see the rest of this posting from Joel Bagg on the Field Crop News site.
