Perennial cereal rye performance and comparisons with winter annual cereal forages in the semiarid, subtropical southwestern United States

• Published in: Crop science 2020-01, Vol.60 (1), p.507-514
• Main Authors: Marsalis, Mark A., Lauriault, Leonard M., Darapuneni, Murali K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0011-183X; 1435-0653
• DOI: 10.1002/csc2.20069

The demand for forage for livestock production is increasing in semiarid regions. Winter annual cereal forages are commonly used to fill autumn through spring forage gaps where dry winters occur. Perennial cereal rye (Secale cereale L. × S. montanum Guss., P‐CR) shows promise for forage in other areas. Randomized complete block studies were conducted during the 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 autumn through spring growing seasons at two locations in the semiarid, subtropical US Southwest for a total of six site‐years (Los Lunas [two irrigation regimes] and Tucumcari, NM) to evaluate local adaptation and possible perennation of P‐CR as an alternative to winter annual cereal forages. Poor establishment of P‐CR occurred in the 2013–2014 season and prevented data collection; however, the P‐CR variety tested did not perennate in any of these site‐years in the southwestern United States. Generally, across site‐years, as annual cereal forages harvested at boot stage, P‐CR and triticale [× Triticosecale Wittm. ex A. Camus (Secale × Triticum)] had equal and greater dry matter yields than annual cereal rye (S. cereale, A‐CR) and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L., WW) (11.89, 7.43, 11.32, and 9.66 Mg ha−1 for P‐CR, A‐CR, triticale, and WW, respectively; P