1. Selecting the Right Species and Variety for Your Hay Enterprise
IFAS
Selecting the Right Species and Variety for Your Hay Enterprise

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

3. Not all grasses (or legumes) are created equally

4. Pearl Millet and Crabgrass
Forage Calendar
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Bermudagrass
Bahiagrass
Sorghum x Sudan
Pearl Millet and Crabgrass
Rye, Wheat, Triticale
Oat
Ryegrass, Pea, Clover
Vetch

5. What can you do to improve forage quality?
Choose the best species
Choose the right variety
Manage the forage for best quality

6. Red clover (early flower)
Forage Species
Species CP
ADF
TDN
Alfalfa (bud)
22-26
28-32
64-67
Red clover (early flower)
14-16
Bermudagrass (4 wk)
10-12
33-38
58-62
Ryegrass
12-16
27-33
63-68
Adapted from Southern Forages, Ball et al.

7. Forage Species Perennial Bahiagrass Bermudagrass Tall Fescue
Orchardgrass
Timothy
Bluegrass
Perennial Peanut
Alfalfa
White clover

8. Forage Species Annual Pearl Millet Sorghum Sorghum-Sudangrass
Crabgrass
Alyceclover
Forage Soybean
Wheat
Oat
Rye
Triticale
Ryegrass
Clover
Vetch
Medic
Winter pea
Forage Species

9. Forage Variety Variety CP ADF NDF Digestibility Improved 24 30 45 68
Common 18 33 40 60

10. Variety Trials

11. Forage varieties differ in when they mature

12. Variety selection is important to the timing of the hay or silage harvest
Florida 401 Rye
Wrens Abruzzi

13. Warm Season Grasses and Legumes

14. Bermudagrass Coastal Coastcross Tifton 85 Tifton 44 Russell Alicia
Jiggs

15. Bermudagrass Coastal- oldest, 15 million acres
Coastcross I- hybrid between Coastal and a highly digestible bermudagrass from Kenya. 12% more digestible than Coastal lacks winterhardiness
Tifton % higher yielding than Coastal and 11% more digestible
Tifton 44- Coastal X German bermudagrass
Russell- similar to Coastal, fast spreader
Alicia- easy to establish, lower quality, less digestible, rust susceptible, likes wet sites
Jiggs-quick to establish, likes wet sites, rust susceptible

16. Bahiagrass
Argentine, Pensacola, Tifton 9, TifQuik, UF-Riata and Sand Mountain

17. Pensacola
UF-Riata
Tifton 9

18. Bahiagrass entry Cool season yield lbs/A Season total Tifton 9 885
Bahiagrass cool-season yield at the NFREC-Marianna FL
Bahiagrass entry
Cool season
yield
lbs/A
Season total
Tifton 9
885
8647
Pensacola
724
7433
Argentine
504
6425
Sand Mountain
945
7447
UF-Riata
1404
9461

19. Dollar Spot Fungus
Comparison of dollar spot incidence on bahiagrass varieties

20. Sand Mountain (Alabama Crop Improvement)
TifQuik (Georgia Seed Commission)
UF-Riata (Ragan and Massey Seed)

21. Pearl Millet Tifleaf 3 SS 635 SS 501

22. Perennial Peanut

23. Perennial Peanut Varieties
Florigraze
Arbrook
UF-Tito
UF-Peace

24. Comparison of annual and perennial peanut with alfalfa
Quality
Florigraze
perennial peanut
Arbrook
Ecoturf
Annual peanut forage
Annual peanut residue
Alfalfa CP 18 17 20
 10
17-20
ADF 34 40 27
 35
32-39
NDF 45 51 43 33
 41
39-49
TDN 55 57
60-70
 58
50-64
RFV
128
105
132
 130
NRC (2000) table values for alfalfa

25. Forage Soybean Tyrone and Hinson Long-Juvenile New RR forage soybeans

26. Cool Season Grasses

27. Wheat – grows later in the spring Triticale - late plantings
Rye – most dependable
Oat – planted earliest
Wheat – grows later in the spring
Triticale - late plantings
Ryegrass – excellent quality
Rye
Oat
Wheat

28. Rye 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

29. 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

30. “Horizon 201” and “Ram” Oat

31. 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

32. Triticale (wheat x rye) good disease resistance, well adapted
Silage and hay types: Trical 342, Trical 2700 and Monarch

33. Forage Triticale
Trical 342
Trical 2700

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

35. Ryegrass for high quality hay or silage

37. Cool Season Legumes

38. Alfalfa Bulldog 805, Bulldog 505 New RR alfalfas

39. Red Clover
Southern Belle and Red Ace (non-dormant)
Barduro and Bulldog Red (mid dormant)
Kenland and Redland II

40. Crimson Clover
Dixie, AU-Sunrise and AU-Robin

41. Ball, Berseem, Hop, and Rose clovers and Vetch, Winter Pea and Medic low production, broadly adapted

42. Common Ball Clover

43. Take forage species and forage variety
into consideration for your operation

44. Have your hay tested and enter the Southeastern Hay Contest!

45. Forage Variety Testing