Annual ryegrass is a quick-establishing, cool-season annual grass. Annual ryegrass can do it all – improve soil structure, alleviate compaction, control erosion, and sequester leftover nutrients.
Seeding Rate (lbs. / acre)
- Drill: 15-20
- Broadcast: 20-25
- In a mix: 5-15
Annual Ryegrass Benefits & Info
- Produces quality forage with exceptional yield in a short period, often shining in poor soil conditions
- Proven to help reduce soybean cyst nematode populations
- Excellent compaction breaker
- Good varieties are winterhardy and will survive northern winters
- WATCH OUT – beware of annual ryegrass blends, or common and/or VNS lots of annual ryegrass – they may not have the winterhardiness needed nor have uniform maturity, which is so critical for successful spring management
- Choose the best performing, winter-tolerant varieties of annual ryegrass. Varieties such as WinterHawk (a durable diploid annual ryegrass with industry-leading winterhardiness); Centurion (a diploid variety selected for cover cropping, with deep roots and
improved forage quality), and Bruiser (a late-maturing diploid selected for disease resistance and cold tolerance)
Forage Considerations
- Annual ryegrass works extremely well (higher seeding rates) either by itself or in a mix for forage production
- High quality; high tonnage
- Excellent short rotation opportunity