Tag Archives: forage crop

Annual Ryegrass Recommended for Forage & Cover Crop this Fall

Annual ryegrass was among the recommendations for forage this fall by the Where Food Comes From webside. The grass, already a popular cover crop in the US, can do double duty where farmers seek added food for livestock. Click here for full article...below is a paragraph from the article.

Late August to Early September Plantings
Spring oat, spring triticale, and annual ryegrass can also be planted from late August to mid-September, immediately after an early corn silage harvest. These later planting dates will produce lower yields (1500 to 3000 lbs dry matter/acre) and harvest will be delayed into months with poor drying conditions (November to early December), but would be an excellent option for grazing or green chopping. Forage quality will be very high with these later plantings – CP will range from 20 to 32%, NDF will be 30 to 38%, and NDF digestibility will be 75 to 85%. If an early spring forage harvest is desirable next year, winter triticale and winter rye should be included in mixture with the spring oat and spring triticale planted in late August and early September.