Bromegrass in Alaska. III. Effects of Planting Dates, and Time of Seeding-Year Harvest, on Seeding-Year Forage Yields and Quality, Winter Survival, and Second-Year Spring Forage Yield

Abstract

Objectives of this study were to (a) determine yields and quality of forage that could be obtained in the seeding year from smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis) seeded in spring without a cereal companion crop, and (b) determine whether planting dates and date of the seeding-year harvest influenced subsequent winter survival and forage yield in the following year. Bromegrass plots were harvested for forage yield once during the seeding year on several dates approximately 10 days apart during August, September, and early October; effects of those harvest dates were measured by comparing yields of all plots harvested on the same date in the second year of growth. Five of the six experiments were conducted at the University of Alaska’s Matanuska Research Farm (61.6oN) near Palmer in southcentral Alaska, and the other was at the Research Center in Palmer.