Annual Ryegrass
- Improved cold tolerance
- Improved rust resistance
- Great seedling vigor
- Quick establishment
- Excellent digestibility
- High-yielding
- Ideal for grazing
Description
Annual ryegrass is a quick-growing cool season bunch grass used for erosion control, weed suppression, soil structure improvement and to add organic matter. It usually winterkills, but if it overwinters, it will grow quickly and produce seed in late spring. High production can be expected in the Southern US from November to May. Annual ryegrass tolerates close, continuous grazing extremely well. Lonestar annual ryegrass exhibits rapid establishment, improved seedling vigor, and tillering. Lonestar was selected for quick regrowth after cutting and high forage yields. It is ideally suited for managed, intensive grazing operations.
Ryegrass prefers fertile, well-drained loam soils but can establish on many soil types. It will outperform small grains on wet soils. Rapid aboveground growth can produce as much as 9,000 lbs/ac from a spring seeding. Annual ryegrass can be mixed with legumes or small grains but will dominate the mixture unless seeded at low rates or is mowed regularly. Spring seeding is recommended for production of large amounts of biomass or it could be seeded in late summer with a mixture of legumes to provide overwinter protection for the legume, but must be established at least 40 days before the first killing frost
PASTURE: Lonestar produces high quality temporary pasture. Its strong seedling vigor, high yield, and high quality also make it desirable when mixed with clover.
HAY AND SILAGE The high production capacity of this grass makes it popular for additional feed when short hay supplies are expected.
MANURE BUSTER: Lonestar is high yielding with high growth rates, and is able to absorb large amounts of nitrogen from manure application. Nitrogen toxicity can be a problem in heavily fertilized ryegrass therefore a forage analysis is recommended prior to feeding grasses fertilized with lagoon water.
COVER CROP: The extensive root system of Lonestar makes it an effective catch crop for nitrogen and can help break up compacted soils. It offers many bene ts including erosion control and improvement of aggregate stability and adds organic matter to the soil pro le. It can also be used as a nurse crop with fall-planted legumes such as clover.
WILDLIFE: Lonestar annual ryegrass is an excellent wildlife feed. It’s forage provides high-quality grazing and a quick source of energy for geese, ducks, wild turkeys, rabbits, deer, and elk.
Annual Ryegrass can be a serious problem in oat and wheat crops if allowed to set seed and has
been shown to develop herbicide resistance. The full seeding rate for cover crop applications is 10-20 lbs/ac and 0.25-1.0 inch seeding depth. If using as a component of a cover crop mix, limit the amount of annual ryegrass to no more than half the full rate (7-15 lbs/acre. Because it is extremely competitive. Annual ryegrass can be over seeded into corn at the last cultivation but the seeding rate should be increased by 30 percent.
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