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Superintendent
David Davis
21262 Genoa Road
Linneus, MO 64653
Phone: 660 895-5121
FAX: 660 895=5122
Email: DavisDK@missouri.edu

Forage Systems Update
Vol 13, No. 1

What variety should I plant? That is a common question heard here at FSRC. To address this question we have seeded variety trials including both grasses and legumes. The grass variety trial was established on September 13, 2002 with twelve varieties of orchardgrass, nine varieties of perennial ryegrass, one variety of reed canary grass, one variety of smooth bromegrass, twelve varieties of tall fescue and one variety of timothy. In 2003 the grass variety trial was harvested only one time due to the extremely dry conditions during the summer. The harvest data includes four replications, but only one harvest date, one year. This does not represent a variety's true potential long term over multiple locations and weather conditions, but only shows a variety's initial harvest data given the environmental conditions seen at this time and site.

The legume variety trial was seeded in the early spring of 2002 and included four varieties of birdsfoot trefoil, three varieties of lespedeza, one alsike clover and twelve varieties of red clover. There are four replications in this study. In 2002 there were two harvest treatments for the clovers, one group was harvested two times and the other harvested three times. The birdsfoot trefoil and the lespedeza were harvested two times during the season. Due to dry conditions all plots were harvested only two times in 2003. The lespedeza was not manually reseeded in 2003 and did not reseed itself adequately, given the dry conditions, to be harvested the second year.

Grass Variety Trial Harvest Data June 2003

Legume Variety Trial Harvest Data 2002-2003