The yield and nutritive value of annual forages vary greatly with maturity stage at harvest.
| Forage crop | Pure stand seed rate (lb/acre) | Planting dates1 | Planting depth (inches) | Nitrogen
rate (lbs/acre) |
Dry matter yield (ton/acre) | CP
(%) |
NDF
(%) |
| Corn silage | 28-34k2 | 4/20 – 6/15 | 1.5 – 2.0 | Variable3 | 5 – 9 | 6 – 9 | 38-50 |
| Spring oat | 75-100 | 3/15-4/15 or 8/1-9/7 | 1.5 | 50-70 | 2.5-3.5 or 0.8-3.0 | 10-16 | 52-65 |
| Spring triticale | 90-110 | 3/15-4/15 or 8/1-9/7 | 1.5 | 50-70 | 2.5-3.5 or 0.8-3.0 | 10-18 | 50-65 |
| Winter rye | 110 | 9/1-10/15 | 1.5 | 50-70 | 2-4 in spring | 10-18 | 51-65 |
| Winter wheat | 110-120 | 9/22-10/134 | 1.5 | 50-70 | 2-4 in spring | 10-18 | 50-65 |
| Winter triticale | 110-120 | 9/20-10/10 | 1.5 | 50-70 | 2-4 in spring | 10-18 | 50-65 |
| Annual/Italian ryegrass | 20-25 | 4/1-5/1 or 8/1-9/7 | ¼ – ½ | 40-50 each cut | 2.5-6.0 | 11-19 | 50-65 |
| Forage sorghum | 8-12 | 5/1-7/15 | ½ – 1 | Variable3 | 7-8 | 7-12 | 50-66 |
| Sudangrass, sorghum-sudan | 20-25 | 5/1-7/15 | ½ – 1 | Variable3 | 3.5-5.0 | 9-15 | 55-68 |
| Pearl millet | 15-20 | 5/1-7/15 | ½ – 1 | Variable3 | 3.0-4.5 | 8-17 | 56-67 |
| Teff | 4-5 | 5/15-7/15 | ⅛ – ¼ | 50-60 | 2-4 | 13-16 | 55-65 |
| Kale | 3.5-4.0 | 4/15-6/7 | ¼ – ½ | 50-75 | 3-4 | 15-20 | 18-20 |
| Rape | 3.5-4.0 | 4/15-6/7 or 7/10-8/7 | ¼ – ½ | 50-75 | 3.0-3.5 | 15-20 | 18-20 |
| Swede | 1.5-2.0 | 4/15-6/7 | ¼ – ½ | 50-75 | 3-4 | 15-20 | 18-20 |
| Turnip, turnip hybrids | 1.5-2.0 | 4/15-6/7 or 7/10-8/7 | ¼ – ½ | 50-75 | 3.0-3.5 | 15-20 | 18-20 |
1 Planting dates for Ohio. In southern Ohio, the spring dates should be in the early range, and in the fall, they can be in the later range.
2 28,000 to 34,000 seeds per acre; seed companies provide hybrid specific planting rates. Corn cover crop seeding may require different rates.
3 For corn nitrogen recommendations see http://cnrc.agron.iastate.edu/, for sorghum grasses see Ohio Agronomy Guide, Chapter 7.
4 Best to plant after Hessian Fly safe date, consult Ohio Agronomy Guide for dates by region.
Updated: 7/11/2019