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© Wilmington College 2005 

  Annual Forage Crops

Common Name:

 Annual Ryegrass

Latin Name:

 Lolium multiflorum

Variety:

 Feast II

Crop Origin:

 Mediterranean area

Type:

 Annual

Date Planted:

 25 May, 2005

Growth Stages in Ohio

Annual ryegrass Jan 1 06.JPG (2730286 bytes) Annual ryegrass feb 6 06.JPG (1567802 bytes) Annual Ryegrass March 4 06.JPG (3407853 bytes) Annual Ryegrass Apr 4 06.JPG (3411436 bytes) Annual Ryegrass May 5 06.JPG (2723764 bytes) Annual ryegrass 3 June 05.JPG (3283543 bytes)
January February March April May June
Ryegrass annual 1 July 05.JPG (3613046 bytes) Annual ryegrass 7aug05.JPG (2555465 bytes) Annual ryegrass 3 sep 05.JPG (2582255 bytes) Annual ryegrass 1 oct 05.JPG (2654574 bytes) Annual ryegrass 4 Nov 05.JPG (3187316 bytes) Annual ryegrass 2 dec 05.JPG (3767155 bytes)
July August

September

 October November December

Cultivation in Ohio

Primary Uses:

 Forage, cover crop

 Planting:

 Plant into a firm, well prepared seedbed at around 0.5 inch depth.  Fall planting is typically between mid September and mid October, with spring seeding in April and May.

 Seeding Rate:

 10 to 20 lbs pure live seed per acre

Fertility:

 Prefers pH in the range of 6.0 to 7.0 but can tolerate 5.0 to 8.0.  Suited well to clayey or silty soils with adequate drainage.  A heavy N feeder; scavenges N from soil in fall and winter to reduce losses caused by leaching.

Insects:

 Harbors few aphids

Diseases:

 None reported

Harvest:

 Put off haying or grazing on newly established ryegrass till plants are 10 to 12 inches in height.  May be continually grazed but it is detrimental if it is continually below 1.5 inches in height.

Comments:

 Also known as Italian Ryegrass.                                                                                      MVB

Identification

Leaf:

 Annual_Ryegrass_Leaf.jpg (1170223 bytes) Annual ryegrass plant.JPG (1561440 bytes)

Flower:

 Annual ryegrass flower.JPG (956576 bytes)

Seeds:

  Annual_Ryegrass_seed.JPG (1287552 bytes)

Distribution:

 Ryegrass annual distribution map.jpg (30982 bytes)

More Information

Links:

 http://cropsoil.psu.edu/extension/facts/agfact19.pdf
http://eesc.orst.edu/AgComWebFile/EdMat/EM8691.pdf