<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><italic>Lolium perenne</italic> L. (Lp) is one of the most important and valuable forage plants in grasslands and an indispensable component of seed mixtures for meadows, pastures, ley farming, and re-seeding measures. A set of 39 different cultivars of Lp assigned to early, intermediate, and late maturing types were harvested and analyzed in weekly intervals during the first growth at AREC Raumberg-Gumpenstein, Austria. Significant differences between the heading groups were found with a time lag of 6 days for crude protein content and of up to 11 days for digestibility of organic matter and energy concentration. The early heading cultivars significantly differed from the other two groups, which performed comparably and were more resilient in terms of quality aspects for a longer time. Within all three heading groups, a strong variation could be noticed, leading to some unexpected overlapping. Our results indicate that the current assignment of Lp cultivars to the heading groups is imprecise and should be improved by advanced recordings and by analyses during the time of the official variety testing period. This may lead to a more sufficient selection of Lp cultivars for grassland mixtures, and therefore, increase the quality of home-grown forage.</p></abstract>

Lolium perenne L. (Lp) is one of the most important and valuable forage plants in grasslands and an indispensable component of seed mixtures for meadows, pastures, ley farming, and re-seeding measures. A set of 39 different cultivars of Lp assigned to early, intermediate, and late maturing types were harvested and analyzed in weekly intervals during the first growth at AREC Raumberg-Gumpenstein, Austria. Significant differences between the heading groups were found with a time lag of 6 days for crude protein content and of up to 11 days for digestibility of organic matter and energy concentration. The early heading cultivars significantly differed from the other two groups, which performed comparably and were more resilient in terms of quality aspects for a longer time. Within all three heading groups, a strong variation could be noticed, leading to some unexpected overlapping. Our results indicate that the current assignment of Lp cultivars to the heading groups is imprecise and should be improved by advanced recordings and by analyses during the time of the official variety testing period. This may lead to a more sufficient selection of Lp cultivars for grassland mixtures, and therefore, increase the quality of home-grown forage.

Variability of yield and forage quality between three heading groups of english ryegrass (<italic>Lolium perenne</italic> L.) during the first growth / Variabilität von Ertrag und Futterqualität zwischen drei Reifegruppen von Englischem Raygras (<italic>Lolium perenne</italic> L.) im Verlauf des ersten Aufwuchses

Die Bodenkultur: Journal of Land Management, Food and Environment

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Variability of yield and forage quality between three heading groups of english ryegrass ( L.) during the first growth / Variabilität von Ertrag und Futterqualität zwischen drei Reifegruppen von Englischem Raygras ( L.) im Verlauf des ersten Aufwuchses

Lolium perenne L. (Lp) is one of the most important and valuable forage plants in grasslands and an indispensable component of seed mixtures for meadows,...

Variability of yield and forage quality between three heading groups of english ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) during the first growth / Variabilität von Ertrag und Futterqualität zwischen drei Reifegruppen von Englischem Raygras (Lolium perenne L.) im Verlauf des ersten Aufwuchses

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Sep 08, 2016

Page range: 69 - 75

Received: Apr 13, 2016

Accepted: May 20, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/boku-2016-0007

Keywords
grassland species, English ryegrass, cultivars, heading groups, persistence

© 2016 De Gruyter, www.degruyter.com/view/j/boku

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Variability of yield and forage quality between three heading groups of english ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) during the first growth / Variabilität von Ertrag und Futterqualität zwischen drei Reifegruppen von Englischem Raygras (Lolium perenne L.) im Verlauf des ersten Aufwuchses

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Sep 08, 2016

Page range: 69 - 75

Received: Apr 13, 2016

Accepted: May 20, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/boku-2016-0007

Keywordsgrassland species, English ryegrass, cultivars, heading groups, persistence

© 2016 De Gruyter, www.degruyter.com/view/j/boku

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Keywords
grassland species, English ryegrass, cultivars, heading groups, persistence