Herbage Accumulation of Three Bahiagrass Populations during the Cool Season

Abstract

Fall and winter are periods of critical forage shortage in subtropical regions of the world, including the extreme southeastern USA. Cool‐season herbage accumulation has not been documented for bahiagrass [Paspalum notatum Flügge var. saurae Parodi] that has been selected using recurrent restricted phenotypic selection (RRPS) for increased warm‐season yield. Regrowth of ‘Pensacola’, ‘Tifton 9’, and RRPS Cycle 18 that accumulated for 15 or 30 d was harvested from mid‐September through mid‐April at Tifton, GA and Ona, FL for 2 yr. Herbage accumulation was essentially parallel for the three populations; minimums were coincident in midwinter, and maxima generally occurred at the first autumn harvest or last spring harvest. Fall and spring yields of Tifton 9 and RRPS Cycle 18 were generally higher than those of Pensacola and often more than double. This advantage was more pronounced at Ona than Tifton. Digestibility (600 g kg−1) and crude protein (CP) concentration (150 g kg−1) at Ona remained high throughout the cool season. However, forage quality of bahiagrass at Tifton tended to decrease with increased frosts. Cool‐season growth of three bahiagrass populations was slow, but RRPS selection has led to populations with greater growth potential, except when cold temperatures prohibit growth entirely.