Description
BENEFITS Erosion fighter. Ryegrass has an extensive, soil-holding root system. The cover crop establishes quickly even in poor, rocky or wet soils and tolerates some flooding once established. It’s well-suited for field strips, grass waterways or exposed areas.
Soil builder. Ryegrass’s dense yet shallow root system improves water infiltration and enhances soil tilth. Rapid aboveground growth helps supply organic matter. Expect about 4,000 to 8,000 lb. dry matter/A on average with a multicut regimen, climbing as high as 9,000 lb. DM/A over a full field season with high moisture and fertility.
Weed suppressor. Mixed with legumes or grasses, annual ryegrass usually establishes first and improves early-season weed control. With adequate moisture, it serves well in Hardiness Zone 6 and warmer as a living mulch in high-value systems where you can mow it regularly. It may winterkill elsewhere, especially without protective snow cover during prolonged cold snaps. Even so, its quick establishment in fall still would provide an excellent, winterkilled mulch for early-spring weed suppression.
Nutrient catch crop. A high N user, ryegrass can capture leftover N and reduce nitrate leaching over winter. Provided it survives the winter, its extensive, fibrous root system can take up as much as 43 lb. N/A, a University of California study showed. It took up about 60 lb. N/A by mid-May following corn in a Maryland study. Cereal rye scavenged the same amount of N by mid-April on this silt loam soil. Ryegrass works well ahead of no-till corn or soybeans in the Corn Belt, sometimes winterkilling, or spray it for a weed-controlling mulch.
Nurse/companion crop. Ryegrass helps slowgrowing, fall-seeded legumes establish and overwinter in the northern U.S. , even if the ryegrass winterkills. It tends to outcompete legumes in the South, although low N fertility favors the legume.
Emergency forage. Ryegrass is a very palatable forage. You can extend the grazing period in
late fall and early spring by letting livestock graze cover crops of ryegrass or a ryegrass-based
mix. Annual ryegrass can be used as emergency forage if alfalfa winterkills. It establishes quickly
and produces a lot of forage in a short amount of time.
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