A COMPARISON OF THE HERBAGE YIELD OF ITALIAN RYEGRASS AND TALL FESCUE MIXTURES IN THE SECOND AND THIRD YEAR AFTER SOWING

Abstract

The annual yield of tall fescue was higher than that of Italian ryegrass in the third year after sowing, but the total yield of herbage from grass plus clover swards was similar.In both the second and third year after sowing, the yield of herbage in the spring grazing was higher when fescue was used as the sown grass. The method of establishment of both tall fescue and Italian ryegrass affected the total and seasonal yield in the second and third year after sowing, but the magnitude of these effects was not nearly as marked as it was earlier in the life of the leys. In the second year after sowing, swards of both Italian ryegrass and tall fescue had a higher yield of total herbage and of white clover, and a lower ingress of unsown species, when established without a cover crop and grazed frequently in the year of sowing.The inclusion of red clover did not increase total yield of DM in the second and third year after sowing, and it slightly decreased the yield of the tall fescue mixture in the third year following sowing when N was applied. S170 tall fescue was readily grazed by sheep in spring and autumn.The apparent recovery of applied N varied with the mixture sown, and the management given during establishment.