Reed Canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.)

Reed Canarygrass is a high yielding, sod-forming grass which spreads by rhizomes. It can be harvested as pasture, silage, or hay and has good forage quality when cut or grazed in a timely fashion. However, it produces low-quality forage if not harvested on time. It is slow to establish, a poor competitor as a seedling and little forage will be produced in the first year. Once established, it has excellent winter hardiness, drought-tolerance, and disease resistance.

It is the only perennial grass which will tolerate standing water for more than 48 hours and naturally takes over wetland areas.

Agronomic Basics: Reed Canarygrass

Description:

Reed Canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) is a tall-growing, high yielding, persistent, widely-distributed perennial grass.
It is one of the few grasses that will tolerate standing water for more than 48 hours.
It spreads by underground stems (rhizomes) and forms a solid sod.
Modern reed canarygrass forage yields and quality are equal to or greater than those of other cool season forage grasses when harvested at a similar stage of maturity.
Because it has a sod-forming habit, it will fill in gaps in hay and pasture stands.
Reed canarygrass has excellent winter hardiness, persistence, disease resistance, and can tolerate low pH.
Quality and palatability can be excellent when cut or grazed early.
Approximately 480,000 seeds per pound
Considered an invasive species in wetlands by the MN DNR
Can grow up to nine feet tall

Best Uses:

It can be harvested as pasture, silage, or hay, whether sown in pure stands or in mixture with legumes.
Begin grazing at 10-12 inches and remove animals when grass is 4-5 inches.
Will not tolerate close grazing.
For best hay quality, it should be cut at least three times per year.

Adaptation:

Particularly well adapted to wet soils, it shows good tolerance to both poor drainage and drought conditions.
Reed canarygrass tolerates a soil pH range of 4.9 to 8.2.
Mature plants have been known to tolerate five to eight weeks of spring flooding yet its yield and persistence under drought conditions is equal or superior to other commonly grown cool season grasses.
Of the perennial grasses adapted to Minnesota, reed canarygrass is among the most persistent.
It maintains yield under cutting strategies designed to produce both low and high quality forage.

Management considerations:

Slow to establish. Poor competitor as a seedling. Little forage will be produced in the first year.
Rest periods are required for grazing.
Low-alkaloid varieties of reed canarygrass offer potential for improved animal performance and expanded use.

Planting Dates:

Early to late spring, late summer.
(In southern MN: March 15 – May 15, August 1st - August 15th)

Seeding Rate:

8-10 lbs/acre alone. 2-4 lbs/acre in a mix.
Drill ¼ - ½ inch deep in a well-prepared seedbed. Can be drilled (best method), broadcast or bulk-spread and lightly dragged in.
About 21 days to emergence.

Fertility requirements:

Reed canarygrass will respond to nitrogen fertilization.
For optimum forage yield and to enhance crude protein concentration on non-organic soils, a total of 100 to 150 pounds of N/acre should be applied each year.
For best utilization and uniform growth, total nitrogen should be divided between at least two applications per year.

Pasture management

For best quality pasture and most effective utilization, grazing should begin when reed canarygrass is 6 to 12 inches tall. Short duration rotational grazing with a heavy grazing pressure will allow the best utilization and greatest animal gains per acre.
Maintain height below 12 inches in May and June to sustain palatability.
Reed canarygrass must be grazed to minimize stemminess. This is especially critical in the spring. Reed canarygrass does not make high quality late fall pasture.
Do not graze shorter than 3 inches and allow a rest period following intensive grazing.

Management for Hay

Producers desiring highest quality should harvest at boot stage, while those desiring highest yield should harvest at heading in the first growth in the spring, or at the end of stem elongation for the summer regrowth.
Forage quality is greatest when reed canarygrass is immature and vegetative. Nutrient concentration declines rapidly with increased maturity.
In contrast to forage quality, forage yield is lowest at vegetative stages and increases rapidly until heading.
Reed canarygrass can be cut 3-4 times/year

Reed Canarygrass
http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/livestocksystems/DI5533.html

Reed Canarygrass
http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/uc089.pdf

Reed Canarygrass
http://www.animalrangeextension.montana.edu

Farm Seed: Grasses