We carry orchardgrass varieties to fit each farming situation and budget:

• Early-Heading: Will normally give more tonnage and contain the traditional clumpy nature of orchardgrass.
  
• Later-Heading: Matures closer to optimum harvest of alfalfa and is often less clumpy than early-heading varieties.

Description:

• Orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L) is a perennial, cool-season, tall-growing, bunch-type grass with an open sod.
  
• It starts growth early in spring and develops rapidly.
  
• Orchardgrass is more tolerant of shade, drought, and heat than Timothy, perennial ryegrass or Kentucky bluegrass but also grows well in full sunlight.
  
• A high-quality grass that provides excellent feed for most classes of livestock.
  
• Approximately 416,000 seeds per pound

Best Uses:

• Orchardgrass is a versatile grass. Use for pasture, hay, green chop, or silage.

Adaptation:

• Adapted to well-drained soils. Tolerant of pH levels between 6.0 to 7.0.
  
• Especially well-adapted for mixtures with legumes such as alfalfa or red clover.
  
• Will generally persist longer than the other cool-season grasses in frequently cut, properly managed alfalfa mixtures.

Management considerations:

• Unimproved, clumpy varieties will head out before alfalfa is ready to harvest, leaving lower quality grass in your hay.
  
• Look for later maturing, improved varieties that match with legume mixtures.
  
• Higher quality than tall fescue but not as drought tolerant.

Planting Dates:

• Early to late spring, late summer.
  
• In southern MN: April 1 – May 15, August 1st - August 15th

Seeding Rate:

• 10-20 lbs./acre alone. 3-6 lbs. in mixtures.
  
• Drill ¼ - ½ inch deep in a well-prepared seedbed. Can be drilled (best method), broadcast or bulk-spread and lightly dragged in.
  
• About 18 days to emergence.

Fertility requirements:

• Orchardgrass is responsive to fertilizer, especially nitrogen (N), and becomes very competitive when adequate nutrients are available.
  
• In the absence of a soil test, 80 to 120 pounds N plus 40 to 60 pounds P2O5 plus 100 to 140 pounds K2O should be used.
  
• Top dressings with lime, phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) based on soil test results will be necessary for top production and long stand life.
  
• Annual nitrogen applications of 150 lbs/acre are economical. The nitrogen should be applied in split applications of 50 lbs/acre in early spring when the orchardgrass begins to green up and 50 lbs/acre after each cutting.

Pasture management

• When managed properly, orchardgrass will produce excellent results in pasture programs for dairy and beef. Properly managed orchardgrass plants will have a higher leaf-to-stem ratio than tall fescue.
  
• Mixtures of orchardgrass and clover (red or ladino) are very popular for pasture. Rotational grazing with heavy stocking rates of cattle will give better animal performance and reduce spot grazing. If plants are continually grazed short, they will be weakened and stands may be depleted.
  
• Rotationally graze for 10 -12 days in the spring and allow to recover for 28 days
  
• Close grazing can be especially detrimental during hot weather.
  
• Heavy grazing of orchardgrass during October can decrease carbohydrate storage and lead to some winter kill of plants.
  
• Stands of orchardgrass will often be more persistent when grown with a companion legume.

Management for hay

• Plant a later-heading variety with a similar maturity as your legume.
  Orchardgrass will produce excellent yields when grown in pure stands or with legumes. When using pure stands for hay, it is imperative that nitrogen be applied in combination with adequate phosphorous and potassium.
  
• Harvesting the spring growth of orchardgrass at late-boot to early-head stage will produce higher quality forage than allowing the plant to mature further. This will increase yield of high quality re-growth. Forage researchers and several farmers have observed less damage to plants from summer heat and drought when the first harvest is made early and plants have time to re-grow.
  
• As with close grazing, close cutting can lead to stand reduction.
• Harvesting at a height of four inches will help maintain strong root reserves, leading to fast recovery of re-growth and better stand persistence.
  
• Mixtures of orchardgrass with alfalfa or red clover should be managed to favor the legume. This is especially important with fertilizer application and stage of maturity to harvest.

Orchardgrass
http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=G4511