Animal and forage responses on Maximus, a tetraploid cultivar vs Marshall, a diploid cultivar of annual ryegrass

Abstract

This 2‐year grazing study carried out at Raymond, Mississippi, USA, evaluated animal performance and forage characteristics of a tetraploid (“Maximus”) vs a diploid cultivar (“Marshall”) of annual ryegrass at three stocking rates (SR; 3.5, 5.0 or 7.5 animals per ha). Angus cross‐bred heifers (Bos taurus; initial body weight [BW] = 240 kg) were continuously stocked on pastures at set stocking rates for the duration of the study. Stocking rates and cultivars were arranged in a 3 × 2 factorial design that was completely randomized with two replications. There was no cultivar effect (p = .449) on average annual herbage mass (HM). However, HM decreased linearly with increasing SR (p = .001) from 3.8 to 2.5 t ha−1 during Year 1 and 4.4 to 3.8 t ha−1 during Year 2 (p = .028). In Year 2, there was a difference in water‐soluble carbohydrates (WSC) between cultivars (p = .012; Marshall, 117.0 vs Maximus, 139.0 g/kg). There was no cultivar effect (p > .10) on average daily gain (ADG) in either year of the study. In both years, ADG decreased linearly with increasing SR (p = .001) from 1.22 to 0.98 kg/d during Year 1 and 1.31 to 1.08 kg/d during Year 2. Across years, gain ha−1 increased linearly (p < .001) with increasing SR. Our results showed no difference in animal performance and HM between the two cultivars. Producers’ choice of annual ryegrass cultivar should be based on seeding cost and agronomic traits that allow for better adaptation of the forage.

Feed Quality and Productivity in Some Varieties of Italian Ryegrass- Lolium Multiflorum Lam.

“…The degree of rainfall is a characteristic of cultivated varieties with possible effects on yield at the annual ryegrass (Kenworthy et al, 2016). Solomon et al (2017) shows that there are differences in yield between diploid and tetraploid varieties, so that tetraploid varieties have a higher protein content, which leads to increased digestibility of feed. Other studies show that tetraploid varieties are less tolerant to periods of water stress (Dornelles et al, 2021) but they have a high resistance to diseases.…”