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 Cool Season Forage Crops

Common Name:

 Reed Canary Grass

Latin Name:

 Phalaris arundinacea

Variety:

 landrace

Crop Origin:

 North America

Type:

 Perennial cool season

Date Planted:

 24 June, 2003

Growth Stages in Ohio

Reed Canarygrass Jan 1 06.JPG (2869425 bytes) Reed Canarygrass feb 6 06.JPG (1887028 bytes) Reed Canarygrass March 4 06.JPG (3394883 bytes) Reed Canarygrass Apr 4 06.JPG (3490049 bytes) Reed canarygrass May 5 06.JPG (2806608 bytes) Reed Canarygrass 3 June 05.JPG (3181566 bytes)
January February March April May June
Reed Canarygrass 1 July 05.JPG (3349368 bytes) Reed canarygrass 7aug05.JPG (2751009 bytes) Reed canarygrass 3 sep 05.JPG (2696341 bytes) Reed canarygrass 1 oct 05.JPG (2659571 bytes) Reed canarygrass 4 Nov 05.JPG (2803918 bytes) Reed canarygrass 2 dec 05.JPG (2935782 bytes)
July August

September

 October November December

Cultivation in Ohio

Primary Uses:

 forage

 Planting:

 Best planted in spring no more than 1/2 inch deep when planted by a drill with press wheel. 

 Seeding Rate:

 14 lbs/acre

Fertility:

 Does well on poorly drained and wet soils.  Has high tolerance to low pH soils.  Apply about 40 lb N/acre for each ton of forage harvested.  Annually apply about 30 lb Phosphate/acre and potassium as indicated by soil tests. 

Insects:

 none indicated

Diseases:

 none indicated

Harvest:

 Recovery after cutting is excellent in spring and early summer.  It browns quickly after frost.  Highest quality hay is obtained before heads appear.  It should be grazed to maintain the height below 12 inches in spring.

Comments:

 Older varieties (pre 1976) had high levels of alkaloids giving it low palatability.  Listed as a noxious weed in Washington state.

Identification

Leaf:

  Reed Canarygrass leaf2.JPG (1249892 bytes)  Reed Canarygrass leaf1.JPG (2255100 bytes)

Flower:

 Reed Canarygrass flower.JPG (2953718 bytes) Reed canarygrass plant.jpg (1881615 bytes)

Seeds:

 Reed_Canarygrass_seed.JPG (1319273 bytes) Reed_Canarygrass_seedhead.JPG (1907419 bytes)

Distribution:

 reed canarygrass distributon map.jpg (31118 bytes)

More Information

Links:

 http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=PHAR3
http://hcs.osu.edu/hcs412/Species/reedcanaryseeda.jpg 
http://cropsoil.psu.edu/Extension/Facts/agfact26.pdf
http://www.caf.wvu.edu/~forage/Tutorial/sldpg4.htm