Timothy in Alaska: Characteristics, History, Adaptation, and Management

Abstract

This report (a) summarizes the characteristics of timothy (Phleum pratense L.) as a forage species, (b) reviews briefly the history of its use in the U.S., and the history of timothy evaluations and culture in Alaska, (c) compares winterhardiness of alpine timothy (P. alpinum L.) with common timothy, (d) compares physiological and morphological characteristics of timothy cultivars from widely divergent latitudinal origins and relates those characteristics to winter survival, (e) compares planting dates and different seeding–year harvest dates for seeding– year forage production and effects on subsequent winter survival and productivity, and (f) evaluates forage production of established timothy under a broad array of harvest schedules and frequencies, and compares the effects of those harvest treatments on subsequent winter survival and first–cut forage yield the following year. All experiments were conducted at the University of Alaska Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station’s Matanuska Research Farm (61.6oN) near Palmer in southcentral Alaska.