It is that time of year when area cattlemen and forage producers look for recommended varieties to plant this fall. Below are recommendations for ryegrass, oats, and wheat. The UGA OVT forage data can be obtained here. Statewide variety selection is critical because variety selection is the most important decision a farmer makes. Farmers want and need to grow the best-adapted crop cultivars to be successful. But producers do not have the time or the resources to plant more than a few cultivars to determine which are best adapted to Georgia’s growing conditions. The information below is from Dr. Lisa Baxter, UGA Forage Agronomist and UGA OVT.
RYEGRASS
Early Varieties: Centurion, Diamond T (C, P), Double Diamond (C), Earlyploid, Flying A, Grits, ME-4, ME-94 (P, M), Nelson (C), Prine (C), RM4L, TAMTBO (C, P), Triangle T (C, P), Winterhawk, and WMWL-2 (P, M).
Late Varieties: Diamond T (P, L), Double Diamond (P), Earlyploid (C), Flying A, Grits, ME-4, ME-94 (P, M), Prine (C, P), Ranahan (C, P), RM4L (P), TAMTBO, Triangle T (P), Winterhawk (P,M), WMWL (P, M), and WMWL-2 (M).
Season-Long: Centurion, Diamond T (P, M), Double Diamond (C), Earlyploid (C, P), Flying A, Grits, ME-4, ME-94 (P, M), Nelson (C), Prine (C, P), Ranahan (P), RM4L (P), TAMTBO (C), Triangle T (C, P), Winterhawk (C), and WMWL (M), and WMWL-2 (M).
† Annual ryegrass variety recommendations are broken down into early and late producing traits. Recommended varieties have consistently demonstrated above average yields in UGA variety trials. Other varieties may provide satisfactory yields but were either not consistently above average or were not submitted to the Statewide Variety Trial program.
Notations: * A variety that should not be planted within 100 miles of the Gulf of Mexico or 50 miles from the Atlantic Coast because of the risk of severe yield declines due to leaf rusts or other fungal infections.
Wheat
AGS 2024, AGS 4043 (C), Johnson (P), and SSI30-06 (P)
Dyna-Gro Plantation, AGS 3026, *GrazeAll, *Pioneer 26R10 and *Pioneer 26R41 have performed well in the past but has not been recently evaluated. No varieties have been recently tested in Limestone Valley.
Oats
Recommended Varieties†
Horizon 306, Horizon 720^; Horizon 306.
NF402, *Legend 567, and *LA99016 have performed well in the past, but not been recently evaluated. No varieties have been recently tested in Limestone Valley.
† Recommended varieties have consistently demonstrated above average yields in UGA variety trials. Other varieties may provide satisfactory yields but were either not consistently above average or were not submitted to the Statewide Variety Trial program.
^ Performed better in early season yield evaluations compared to later in the season for the three recommended varieties.
RYE
Kelly Grazer III, Swift, and Wrens Abruzzi
Bates RS4, Elbon, and FL 401 have performed well in the past, but not been recently evaluated. No varieties have been recently tested in Limestone Valley.
What does early and late mean? Early” yield represent forage growth from planting to March 1. “Late” represents production from March 1 until regrowth was of too low quality to justify further harvest. “Season” columns represent varieties with the highest total season yields, which may be of most interest to those who intend a single end-of-season harvest for hay or ensiling or will be supplementing feed during lower forage growth periods.
M = Mountains; P = Piedmont; C = Coastal Plain; No note indicates the variety is recommended statewide.
What is the difference between these winter annual forages? Dr. Lisa Baxter, UGA Forage Agronomist, discusses numerous winter annual forages and how they fit into a winter annual forage program in the the youtube video below.
Below is a great pod cast from Cow Talks for UF/IFAS and is tailored for producers and Extension agents in Florida. Dr. Ann Blount, Dr. Leanne Dillard, and Henry Jordan giving the 2023 Cool-Season Forage update. Dr. Ann Blount is a UF/IFAS Emeritus Professor of forage breeding currently working with the Southern Seed Certification for Florida and Alabama and for the Alabama Crop Improvement. Dr. Leanne Dillard is an Associate Professor and Forage Extension Specialist at Auburn University specializing in increasing forage utilization and efficiency by improving grazing and harvesting management. Henry Jordan is the variety testing manager at Auburn University. Topics include seed selection, forage mixes and
Source : uga.edu