Grass varieties on the farm

• Perennial Ryegrass
• Italian Ryegrass
• Hybrid Grasses
• Timothy

• Bents
• Meadow grasses
• Yorkshire Fog

• Less responsive to fertiliser
• Growing season is reduced
• Less nutritious
• Make poorer quality silage
• More competitive in low fertility or wet conditions
• More able to cope with long growing periods for silage 10 weeks +

• Over-grazing
• Under-grazing
• Poaching
• Excessive slurry applications
• Big, late cuts of silage
• Poor nutrition
• Poor drainage

Species	Water Soluble Carbohydrate
Italian ryegrass	3.6
Perennial ryegrass	3.4
Timothy	2.2
Permanent pasture	1.5

• Generally considered a long term grass
• Rapid establishment and withstands intensive grazing
• Responds well to Nitrogen-long growing season
• Good companion grass with clover
• Doesn’t like infertile soils
• Can be sub divided into early, intermediate and late varieties
• Diploid and Tetraploid varieties are available

Diploids Early Heading date mid may	Intermediate Heading date late May	Late Heading date early June
Tetraploids Early Heading date mid may	Intermediate Heading date late May	Late Heading date early June

• Available in perennial, Italian and hybrid grasses
• Higher sugar grasses compared to diploids
• Higher moisture levels
• Good companion to clover because of open nature
• They don’t like poaching
• They can be short-lived if poorly managed
• Can be used instead of Timothy on lighter soils
• Max amount to sow in a mix = 30%

	Silage yield (t/ha)	Grazing yield (t/ha)	Sward density (0-9)	Spring yield (t/ha)	First silage cut
Perennial ryegrass Earlies	14.5	11.9	6.4	1.9	15-22 May
Perennial ryegrass Intermediates	14.4	11.6	6.5	1.2	23-30 May
Perennial ryegrass Lates	14.7	11.5	6.8	1.0	1-7 June
Italian ryegrass	18.4	13	4.7	2.8	23-30 May
Hybrid grasses	17.9	12.6	4.8	2.6	15-22 May
Timothy	9.9	9.7	6.6	1.2	23-30 May

• Small
• Medium
• Large
• Very large

Cutting	Grazing
Heading date	High graze yield
High silage yield	Early soring growth
Highly digestible	High energy/ digestible
More erect types - clean cutting	Out compete weed grasses
Doesn't run to stem between cuttings	Good sward density
Durability	Durability

	1st Cut 01/06/09	HFIS 1st Cut Average	2nd Cut 03/08/09	HFIS 2nd Cut Average
Dry Matter	37.4	27.7	15.7	25
pH	4.4	4.1	4.2	4.1
Ammonia	7.0	8.1	5.0	8.8
Protein	12.3	12.7	12.3	12.9
ME	11.6	10.8	11.2	10.2
D-Value	73	67	70	64

	Weight gain per day on silage alone	Meal required to gain 1 KG
1st Cut Silage	0.97 KG/day	0
2nd Cut Silage	0.52 KG/day	4