By MEGGIE I. FOSTER
Assistant Editor

MADISON, Wis. — Producers may be hard pressed to find good, tested information on the different types of forage grass seed available in comparison to the bounds of pamphlets available on corn and soybean seed varieties, according to Everett Thomas of the Miner Institute and Oak Point Agronomics.

In his talk entitled, Forage grasses are not all created equal, during the World Dairy Expo on Friday Oct. 3 in Madison, Wis., Thomas, of Chazy, N.Y. said that it is essential to establish a selective criteria for forage grasses especially when it comes to maintaining a productive and profitable dairy herd.

“Based on my years of experience, forages are very introspective in selection, you want to know what the relative maturity is and how persistent the variety is,” said Thomas. “When making a selection, you need to ask, what do you have in stock, what do you have that’s cheap, what did I plant last year and what did my father/grandfather plant. Your choice of grass species and variety may depend on whether you’re seeding straight grass or a legume-grass mixture.”

Thomas also noted that grass seed should be a companion crop not a competitive crop in order to ensure a healthy and productive stand.

Although, there hasn’t been a considerable amount of research on forage grasses in the last 40 years, according to Thomas, he was able to discuss the positives and negatives of the six most popular varieties.

Timothy, he said, is the most common grass seed planted in North America, that continually shows a high yield and good quality.
“Timothy is highly adapted to varying soil types, tolerant of ice sheets and the only species many horse owners recognize,” said Thomas, adding that timothy is good for use on dry dairy cows. “Unfortunately, timothy has poor drought resistance, it goes to sleep during the summer and is less protectant against soil erosion.”

Bromegrass also has historically showed high yields and holds it quality well as it matures, he said.

“Bromegrass, in my opinion, has been undervalued for its potential, it really is very tolerant of cold weather and droughts,” he added. “The negative with bromegrass is the seeds don’t work very well in most planters and it’s a poor match for intensive managers because it is not tolerant of wet soils and intensive management.”
Orchard grass is another good option that is high yielding, tolerant to droughts and provides good summer protection, he added.
“However, orchard grass is prone to winterkill under extreme conditions, very susceptible to ice sheet injury, poorly adapted to wet soils and looses quality fast,” Thomas said.

Perennial ryegrass, often used as a cover crop in production agriculture, is a high yielding forage under an intense management system that will show good forage quality when managed properly, he said.

“But compared to other forage species it’s short-lived and has poor heat, cold and drought resistance,” Thomas admitted.

Reed canary grass, in which Thomas showed a significant amount of data dating to the 1960s, is said to be great for wet soils, is long-standing, shows a vigorous root system and has a very tough sod.

“The problem with reed canary grass is it’s really tough to get going with a slow germination and seedling growth, it also loses quality fast after heading,” he explained.

Tall fescue ranked at the top of Thomas’s list for top varieties for dairy producers.

“Seed companies are really hot on this one, it’s got more interest than any other variety right now because its tolerant of moist to wet soils and flooding, shows high yield, good winter survival and it keeps growing into the fall,” he said. “Fescue holds a lot of possibilites for dry cows, but we still need research in this area.”
One problem with tall fescue he mentioned, was the issue of low palatability especially during the summer.

Although one of the top issues for many dairymen is digestibility and selecting the forage seed variety to ultimately improve milk production, remarked a fellow Wisconsin dairy producer in the audience.

“Timothy is usually higher in NDF (Nutrient Detergent Fiber) than orchard grass at the same stage of maturity, while orchard grass is 1 percent or so higher in protein,” said Thomas. “Fiber digestibility differences between varieties of the same species are small at the same stage of maturity. The big differences lies within individual varieties and whether you select for early or late.”

But what it all comes down to, Thomas claims, “is relying on as much research that you can find when making a selection. There is much more quality difference between the species than for varieties within species, but there are huge differences in maturity in some but not all species.

He urges producers to remember that intake is really important, “so for dry cows look at NDF data and NDF-d (Neutral Detergent Fiber digestibility) as well as potassium.”

For more information on selecting grass seed varieties for dairy cattle, visit the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center’s website at http://ars.usda.gov/mwa/Madison/dfrc, host and sponsor of Thomas’ presentation in Madison.