Wednesday, November 7, 2007
271-14
Alfa-Alfa Variety Trail.
Jerry Baker1, Shawn Norton2, and Jagadeesh Mosali2. (1) 2510 Samuel Noble Pkwy., Council of Scientific Society Presidents, Noble Foundation Inc., POB 2180, Ardmore, OK 73402, (2) The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, 2510 sam noble parkway, Ardmore, OK 73402-2180
Livestock and forage production are the largest contributors to agricultural income in the primary service region of the NF. The variety testing program is designed to provide up-to-date performance information to cooperators and producers on forage crop varieties that are commercially and commonly available. In addition, the program provides a tool to evaluate and compare experimental breeding lines emerging from the NF small-grain breeding program as well as other public and private breeding programs. The information coming from the variety testing program should be valuable when used with similar information from other sources. The alfalfa variety trial at the RRDRF includes 24 entries and was established on September 18, 2003 on a Minco fine sandy loam soil. The experimental design is a randomized complete block design with five. The experimental unit is a 5 by 10 ft. plot of a single entry. All entries were planted at a 20 pound per acre seeding rate on seven-inch row spacing at a ½-inch depth. . All forage trials were harvested mechanically at a height of 2 ½ to 3 inches to simulate rotational grazing. A Hege Forage Plot Harvester with a sickle bar was used to harvest all trials. Sub samples were taken with each harvest and oven-dried for dry matter determination. The overall average forage yield is 8,470 kg/ha with yields ranging from 5,375 to 9,314 kg/ha.