Cool-Season and Warm-Season Forage Grass Trial

Objective:      

To evaluate the performance of selected grass forages in northwestern Montana

Personnel:     

J.A. Torrion, Amanda Shine, Eeusha Nafi

Summary:

Fourteen cool season and two warm season forage grasses were planted on April 22, 2020 to evaluate their performance (yield and quality) and suitability for production in northwest Montana. Specific management information is provided in Table 1. This trial was under rainfed condition.

Yield results were reported as summation one to two cuttings (Table 2). Whereas, forage quality results were presented as per cuttings and mean of two cuttings where applicable. Total yield averaged 2.3 t/A and ranged from 1.7 t/A for dryland tall fescue to 3.3 t/A for teff grass. Although having only one cutting, smooth brome and creeping wheatgrass contributed to relatively high yield, 2.7 and 2.4 t/A, respectively.

Water-soluble carbohydrates (WSC) averaged 14% and 15.9% in 1^st and 2^nd cutting, respectively. In the 1^st cutting, perennial ryegrass 1 had the highest WSC at 18%, while Meadow fescue had the highest WSC content (20.4%) in the 2^nd cutting. Forage lignin content was 3% on average of two cuttings. Creeping wheatgrass had the highest lignin content at 3.2% in the 1^st cutting, and in the 2^nd cutting, both meadow brome and teffgrass had the highest lignin content (3.9%). The lowest lignin content the meadow fescue_2 at 1% in the 1^st cutting and both meadow fescue 1 and tall fescue had the lowest lignin content at 2.4% in the 2^nd cutting. Crude protein (CP) content averaged 10.9% in the 1^st cutting, ranged from 8.4% for smooth brome to 14.3% for dryland mix_2. In the 2^nd cutting, CP averaged 10.2%, ranging from 7.9% for meadow brome to 14.7% for tall fescue or meadow fescue mix. Relative forage quality (RFQ) did not significantly differ between the two cuttings. RFQ, on average of the cuttings, was 154.5. The highest RFQ was found for meadow fescue_1 for 1^st and 2^nd cutting, 180.7 and 192, respectively. Both smooth brome and creeping wheatgrass had the lowest RFQ (137) in the 1^st cutting, while teffgrass had the lowest RFQ in the 2^nd cutting at 124.7.