ASA Southern Branch 2008 Annual Meeting
February 3-5, 2008
Dallas, TX

Monday, February 4, 2008 - 3:05 PM

Seeded Bermudagrass Evaluations Across the Southeastern USA.

Gerald Evers, Texas A&M University - Rangeland Ecology & Management, TAMU Agric. Res. & Ext. Ctr., PO Box 200, Overton, TX 75684-0200, William Anderson, USDA-ARS, USDA/ARS CBGRU, PO Box 748, Tifton, GA 31793, David Lang, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State University, Box 9555, Mississippi State, MS 39762-9555, Charlie Rodgers, Seeds West, 37860 W. Smith-Enke Rd., Maricopa, AZ 85239, and Brandon Shankle, Plant and Soil Science, Mississippi State University, 117 Dorman Hall, Box 9555, Mississippi State, MS 39762.

Seeded bermudagrasses are very popular with livestock producers because they are less expensive and easier to plant than vegetatively propagated bermudagrasses. Variety trials were planted in Texas, Mississippi, and Georgia in the spring of 2006 to compare varieties and new breeding lines of seeded types with sprigged varieties. Yields for 2006 and 2007 are reported. Yields were low in Texas and Mississippi because of poor stands due to drought and weeks with maximum yields of 14,000 lb/acre in Texas and 10,000 lb/acre in Mississippi. In Georgia the soil was fumigated with methyl bromide to control weeds and the study was irrigated resulting in maximum yields of 20,000 lb/acre. Tifton 85 was always one of the highest yielding entries across all locations in 2006 and 2007. Sprigged entries other than Coastal were generally more productive than seeded types. The most productive seeded entries varied with location and year. Cheyenne, giant, and SWI 810 were frequently some of the more productive entries. This study will be continued through 2008.

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