The Farm Progress Show in Decatur, IL, on Sept 1 - 3 was well attended again…perhaps 300,000 this year. I’m wondering whether the good weather and late harvest had something to do with it.
Interest in annual ryegrass and other cover crops continues to grow. I talked to growers from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri and other states. There were growers from other countries, too, and I was surprised how popular annual ryegrass is in Brazil.
There seems still to be a disconnect between farmers and seed reps who are familiar with annual ryegrass management, but fewer growers are confusing their past experience with cereal rye with annual ryegrass.
Some confusion still exists about “Oregon” ryegrass. There are actually more than 45 varieties of annual ryegrass, and while most are grown in Oregon, there is no variety called Oregon. It’s important to know what varieties are being planted, because some (King, Bounty, Royal) have shown better cold tolerance than other varieties, like Gulf. More testing and seed breeding of hardier varieties will be welcomed, to reduce winterkill risk.
The Iowa state Farm Progress site manager said he wants to plant annual ryegrass in an area where equipment is unloaded, to help with the compaction problems. That’s certainly one of the biggest attributes of annual ryegrass - its ability to break through compacted layers and gain nutrients and moisture in deeper soil.
Tags: all cover crops, Annual ryegrass, annual ryegrass as a cover crop, Dan Towery, winterkill
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