| Perennial Ryegrass |
Perennial
Ryegrass is very productive in the spring
and fall months. Summer productivity
is very dependent on weather. For this reason,
we often recommend mixing Perennial Ryegrass
with more drought tolerant grasses that have
good palatability and legumes to fill in
the
summer slump. However, when good growing conditions
are present you can not beat Perennial Ryegrass.
Most of our premium pasture mixes contain
at
least some Perennial Ryegrass. Deep moist soils
with excellent fertility with keep Ryegrass
productive for 3 to 10 years depending on
weather
extremes and management.
Be careful when
turning cows out on Ryegrass in the morning
with a heavy frost as it really slows down its
regrowth (only for the next growth). Wait until
the frost is melted off. |
| Perennial Ryegrass Management
Tips....... |
Some of the keys
to Ryegrass grazing management are as follows:
Graze when tillers are at the 3 leaf stage.
Ryegrass will only have 3 living leaves per
tiller. As new leaves are formed, older leaves
die off. By waiting too long, dead matter accumulates,
which is low in quality and palatability. During
droughts, take care not to abuse or overgraze
paddocks when grazing. All Perennial Ryegrasses
should be grazed down prior to over-wintering,
especially the New Zealand varieties that grow
longer into the fall. |
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A
Barenbrug blend of late European varieties
including Mara. This blend produces a very
dense sward - the yield is higher than
it looks. The blend is very winter-hardy.
BG 34 has been rated by the Netherlands government
as achieving the maximum ratings in tests and trials. BG 34 is becoming the leading
Perennial Ryegrass where all Ryegrasses are judged by it. It is a very heavy
producer under high fertility and moisture.
With long leaves and short stem, BG 34 is winter-hardy. It is fast to establish,
even in less than ideal conditions. It is very late maturing. BG 34 makes
less seedheads and stays leafier than any other Ryegrass we've seen.
BG 34 is becoming the standard of high quality
pastures in the northern part of the USA. Dairymen who harvest BG 34 report increase
in milk production of up to ten pounds per-cow per-day. Barenbrug is improving
BG 34. As newer, better varieties are released, they are added to the blend.
BG 34 is very late marturing, thus you get serveral more weeks of high quality
harvesting in the spring.
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| BG 24T |
A new blend
of Perennial Ryegrass. A little earlier
growing than BGT 34 with excellent yield
capability and good winter-hardiness.
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- Excellent companion - the highly
successful BG 34
- High yielding, high quality Perennial
Ryegrass blend
- Gives good early spring growth
- better for more free draining
soils
- The right combination of palatability
and persistence
- In European studies Barnhem has
proved to be very high in sugars
- Mara gives good winter-hardiness
and Barfort is very dense
- Bargala is an exciting new Tetraploid
with very high yields
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| Tetra-Plus |
The
new Tetra-plus blend from Barenbrug has
been revised and
now consists
of all
tetraploid perennial ryegrass varieties.
New perennial ryegrass varieties selected
by Barenbrug in United States have improved
stand density and winter hardness. Tetra-plus
consists of new tetraploid perennial ryegrass
variety Remington. Research has shown that
Remington is very persistent even under
very cold temperatures at trial sites in
New York,
Pennsylvania and Wisconsin whereas many
other varieties in these university trails
are
winterkilled. Tetra-plus is a unique cominbatino
of good forage quality, high productivity
and stand longevity. Tetra-plus is ideal
for green-chop and silage making. |
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| Mara |
Mara
is a medium-late variety out of Romania
that has super winter-hardiness and summer
tolerance. This is one of the toughest
and highest yielding Perennial Ryegrasses
on the market. Mara has excellent seeding
vigor and wider leaves compared to most
Diploids. It is a componen t of BG 34 and
many of our pasture mixes.
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| Bargala |
Bargala
is a high yielding tetraploid variety with
excellent
first cut
and annual
dry matter
yields. It has excellent crown rust resistance,
and palatability to animals. Bargala is
slightly earlier marturing than Remington. |
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| Remington |
Remington is
a new intermediate maturing tetraploid
variety. It is especially developed by
Barenbrug breeders for producers in the
United States. Remington was developed
by doubling the chromosomes of a very
winterhardy ecotype from
the mountains of Romania. Remington was
tested under the code LpTROM99 in many
private and official trails in the United
States. It showed exceptional winter
hardiness in Wisconsin; tolerance to
heat and stand persistence in Kentucky;
and high dry matter production in New
York trials. Remington is the key component
of Tetraplus.
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| Barsprinter |
A
new variety, commercialized after superb
performance in
screen trials
in United
States.
Barsprinter has very good winter hardiness
along with excellent rust disease tolerance.
It is noteworthy for stand density. It
is slightly earlier heading than Mara. |
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| Barruti |
Barruti
is a unique variety in the Barenbrug USA
portfolio. It
is an
early marturing
variety
suited to produce early in the spring and
summer before the soil moisture becomes
scarce. Traditionally early maturing varieties
have
not been winter hardy. Barruti is developed
to break those odds; it is early maturing
and very winter hardy. |
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| Barnhem |
Barnhem
is a very late maturing variety. It has
outstanding
forage quality. In a large
milk production trial, it was shown that
Barnhem is high in sugars (water soluable
carbohydrates), and also high milk production.
Barnhem has excellent grazing tolerance
and winter hardiness for US growing conditions.
Barnhem is the key component of BG-34 perennial
ryegrass blend. |
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Advantages
of Diploid and Tetraploid Breeds |
| Diploid Perennial Ryegrass |
Tetraploid Perennial Ryegrass |
- Denser
- More winter hardiness
- Persists better under
poor management
- More persistent
- Better suited for pasture
- More seed per pound
- Can tolerate close
grazing better
- Can tolerate wetter,
heavier soil
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- Higher Sugar
- Higher Palatability
- Better suited for cropping
- Higher disease resistance
- A little more drought
tolerant
- Tetraploids can do
better in sandy soils
- Under ideal fertility
and plenty of water can have higher
production
- More tillering that
results in faster repairing of heavy
traffic
- *Be sure to leave a
3" residual when grazing Tetraploids
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In the past, Tetraploids were not very
dense and had a lot of stem at maturity. The
newer varieties are denser and a little more
tillering. There is a big difference from
the
old Tetraploids that are on the market and
the new ones coming out from the European market
like Barfort, Bargala and also a new exciting
Tetraploid coming from Romania where
Mara originates. The new Diploids are also
more palatable.
The New Zealanders
say, "If you want maximum milk production
per acre, plant Diploids. If you want high production
per cow (while feeding some stored feed), plant
Tetraploids."
Another confusion
in the past has been with hybrids. Intermediants
like Bison, Polly, Bestfore, etc. are not true
Perennial Ryegrasses. True perennials will not
produce as much seed and be as stemmy, if fertility
is good in the summer. Hybrids and intermediants
are crosses between perennial and Italian perennial
and annual, or anywhere in between in arying
percentages. Some of the newer hybrids and intermediants
are good for more short-term hay or pasture. |
Most Persistent Rating
Diploid Perennial ******
Tetraploid Perennial *****
Hybrid/Intermediate Ryegrass ****
Diploid Italian ***
Tetraploid Italian **
Diploid Annual *
Tetraploid * |
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