2019-2020 Short-Lived Forages Trial

With the extended cool period through late spring 2020, the very warm, droughty summer and the overall unusual year we have been having, forage stocks may be low.  Consider fall planting a cover crop that will insure feed supply in the spring.  Annually, the Forage Variety Evaluation Program at Penn State establishes a variety comparison of short-lived forages intended for this purpose. 

Last year's trial was planted on September 25, 2019.  Entrants in the variety test are able to choose between two different harvest management systems:  The first management treatment is a single harvest system where forages are harvested at early to mid-boot stage maturity only once.  In this system the 2020 harvest began on April 28 and was finished on May 29.  In the multi-cut management system forages are harvested about every three weeks beginning at flag leaf (~20 inches).  Either approach may allow for an extended window of harvesting which can spread out risk and provide time to harvest for improved forage quality.

Figure 1 Forage at the boot stage with the seedhead still rolled in the leaves. Image credit: Tyler Rice

Soil fertility is designed around maintenance applications of phosphorus and potash to meet soil test requirements.  Plots receive 30 units of nitrogen in the fall and 100 units of nitrogen in the spring at green-up.  In the multi-cut system plots receive 50 units of nitrogen following each cutting.

This trial is a living experiment where nontraditional options can be explored and tried and true species and varieties prove their worth in a cropping system.  The extended goal of this trial is to ensure producers a dependable forage supply in years that may be lean.

2019-2020 Short-lived Grass and Cover Crops Trial