Annual Ryegrass Varieties for Southern Illinois

S.A. Ebelhar and M. P. Plumer

Introduction: Annual ryegrass is being evaluated as a possible winter annual cover crop for no-tillage soybean production. A field study was conducted to determine the survival and growth of fourteen annual ryegrass varieties when grown as a winter cover crop for no-till soybeans. The varieties were planted at three locations across southern Illinois – Brownstown (Lat. 88° 58'; Long. 38° 57'), Springerton (Lat. 88° 29'; Long. 38° 06'), and Dixon Springs (Lat. 88° 43'; Long. 37° 27').

Procedures: Table 1 lists the companies which furnished seed for the study. The seed was planted 1/4 to 1/2 inches at a seeding rate of 20 lb/acre using a no-till drill. The annual ryegrass varieties were planted into corn residue which had been tilled lightly with a disk or field cultivator and then rolled to prepare a firm seedbed. The planting dates were 15 October at Dixon Springs, 26 October at Springerton, and 12 October at Brownstown. Planting was delayed some by delays in seed arrival, but was within a reasonable time of corn (or soybean) harvest which is where ryegrass would fit within a rotation in southern Illinois.

Table 1. List of seed companies with entries into 1998-99 study.

Company	Variety
Barenburg USA	Barmultra, Hercules
Forbes Seed and Grain	Southern Star
Jenks Seed Connections	WVPB-101
Landmark	Axis
Olsen-Fennell Seeds, Inc	OFI-A94, RIO, Stampede
Smith's Seed Service	Surrey, SSEBP242, FLX1997(G)4X
The Wax Company, Inc.	Marshall
Willamette Valley Plant Breeders	WVPB-AR-21

Findings: The dry matter production at Dixon Springs (the southern most location) was quite a bit less than the other two locations (Table 2), presumably due to low soil moisture levels at planting delaying seed emergence and early fall growth. Average yields at this site were 1278 lb/acre versus 2715 at Brownstown and 2265 at Springerton. There was no location by variety interaction, meaning that the varieties did about the same, relative to each other, at each of the locations. Several varieties did well at all three locations. At the Springerton location, even with the late planting date, most varieties did very well.

The results in Table 2 reflect varieties which were drilled. We also conducted a broadcast seeding study with each of the varieties. Broadcast seeding of varieties without incorporation of seed resulted in much lower production (Table 3) at all three locations. Most of the varieties that did well when drilled also did better when broadcast.

For the most part, varieties that did well in 1999 were the same as those that did well in 1998 (Table 2 versus Table 4). It is recommended that one look at two-to-three years of data before deciding on a variety, and even then it is best to choose several well performing varieties.

Summary:

• There are several annual ryegrass varieties that performed well in southern Illinois.
• Drilling ryegrass in the fall performed superior to broadcast seeding.
• One should manage annual ryegrass as a cover crop and not allow seed set in the spring. Killing the ryegrass prior to May 1 allows for good spring growth and will not allow seed set.
• Annual ryegrass may become a weed problem in wheat if seed set occurs.

Table 2. Dry matter yields of drilled annual ryegrass varieties at time of soybean planting, 1999.

Variety	Brownstown	Springerton	Dixon Springs	Average
	--------------------------- lb/acre ----------------------------
Southern Star	3762 ab†	3000 a	1476 a	2748 a
Stampede	3780 a	2820 a	1092 ab	2562 ab
SSEBP242	3066 abcd	3006 a	1500 a	2520 ab
Surrey	2536  bcd	2772 a	1464 a	2232 abc
RIO	2832 abcd	2340 ab	1488 a	2214 abc
WVPB-101	2958 abcd	2040 ab	1542 a	2178 abcd
OFI-A94	3132 abc	2220 ab	1092 ab	2148 abcd
Marshall	2748 abcd	2190 ab	1368 a	2100 abcde
Common Gulf	2574 abcd	2076 ab	1194 ab	1950 bcde
WVPB-AR-21	2316 cd	1764 b	1536 a	1872 bcde
Axis	1974 cd	2106 ab	966 ab	1686 cde
Hercules	1770 d	1560 b	1104 ab	1476 de
Barmultra	1770 d	1752 b	738 b	1422 e
Average	2715	2265	1278	2086
LSD(0.05)	1336	1007	622	708

†Means within a column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at the 5% level.

Table 3. Dry matter yields of broadcast seeded annual ryegrass varieties at time of soybean planting, 1999.

Variety	Brownstown	Springerton	Dixon Springs	Average
	--------------------------- lb/acre ----------------------------
Surrey	2454 ab†	1524 a	714 b	1566 a
RIO	2244 ab	1278 ab	864 ab	1464 a
Stampede	1890 ab	1128 abc	1326 a	1446 a
OFI-A94	2556 a	1008 abcd	696 b	1428 a
Southern Star	2136 ab	1410 a	660 b	1398 a
SSEBP242	2340 ab	1032 abcd	768 ab	1380 a
Marshall	2112 ab	966 abcde	642 b	1236 ab
WVPB-101	2040 ab	1044 abcd	546 b	1212 ab
Common Gulf	1662 bc	654 bcdef	516 b	948 bc
Axis	918 cd	432 cdef	510 b	624 cd
WVPB-AR-21	864 cd	378 def	546 b	600 cd
Barmultra	918 cd	216 f	414 b	516 d
Hurcules	894 cd	156 f	390 b	474 d
FLX1997(G)4X	630 d	288 ef	408 b	438 d
Average	1690	822	643	1052
LSD(0.05)	854	698	559	367

†Means within a column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at the 5% level.

Table 4. Dry matter yields of annual ryegrass varieties at time of soybean planting, 1998.

Variety	Brownstown	Springerton	Dixon Springs	Average
	--------------------------- lb/acre ----------------------------
Surrey	1824 a†	2940 a	2256 ab	2348 a
WVPB-101	1710 ab	2436 abcd	2424 a	2190 ab
Southern Star	1656 ab	2478 abc	2196 abc	2151 ab
RIO	1518 abc	2658 ab	2136 abc	2104 ab
SSEBP242	1536 abc	1992 bcde	2466 a	2040 abc
TAM-90	1722 ab	1938 bcde	2442 a	2034 abc
OFI-FL95	1710 ab	2010 bcde	2106 abc	1942 bc
WVPB-AR-21	1512 abc	2292 a--e	1836 abc	1913 bc
Marshall	1668 ab	2232 a--e	1824 abc	1908 bc
Big Daddy	1448 abc	1800 cde	1704 bcd	1669 cd
Common Gulf	1224 abc	2046 bcde	1686 bcd	1652 cd
Hercules	1158 bc	1704 de	1614 bcd	1492 de
Barmultra	1128 bc	1560 e	1572 cd	1420 de
Axis	942 c	1816 cde	1158 d	1259 e
Average	1478	2142	1953	1865
LSD(0.05)	661	759	664	393

†Means within a column followed by the same letter are not significantly different at the 5% level.

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