Discussion
Early Small Grains Forage Variety Trials
Small grain forage variety tests were planted at Ardmore Headquarters Farm and the Red River Demonstration and Research Farm near Burneyville (Tables 1 and 2). Fall planting was delayed at both locations by dry soil conditions during September. At Ardmore, the late September planting was on marginal moisture and erratic stand emergence was evident especially among the rye varieties. At Burneyville, the trial was dry-seeded on October 6 and stands developed following a series of showers the week after planting. Overall, stands were adequate with the exception of several wheat varieties. At both locations, the growing season was characterized by mild temperatures and abundant soil moisture from December through March followed by an extreme dry period during April and May. Temperatures were warmer than normal for most of December through February. Plant development for all the small grains was well ahead of normal by March. In fact, many varieties had reached the first hollow stem stage of development by early February. A freeze on March 10-12 was severe enough to cause damage to the primary tillers of many early-maturing varieties in the trials. Fortunately the freeze came early enough that late tillers developed and the damage to late forage and grain production was minimal.

At Ardmore, the trial was harvested five times for forage yield during the growing season (Table 1). Despite the dry weather in early fall and late spring, total forage yields averaged 5,475 pounds for the test, which is 32% higher than the previous year. Overall production was extremely early as 50% of all forage was produced by February 9. Generally the ryes produced earlier forage and oats the latest. The oats responded very well to the mild temperatures and ample winter moisture, thus producing more total forage for the season than the other small grains. The overall performance of wheats and triticales was also very good as several varieties were near the top in total forage yields. The soft wheat varieties, as a group were generally more productive than the hard wheats. Forage yield of the ryes was limited somewhat by thinner stands of most varieties.

At Burneyville, the dry soil conditions and late planting date limited fall forage production. However, the mild temperatures and above-normal rainfall accelerated plant growth and development during the winter and early spring months resulting in excellent overall forage production at this site. The average total forage yield of 5,037 pounds was about 21% more than the previous year. Overall, 32% of the total forage had been clipped by January 28. Once again the ryes were the most productive forage yielders throughout most of the growing season. All of the oat varieties and the late-maturing triticales provided excellent spring forage. Forage production of the wheats was the latest and lowest in the trial. Lower yields may have resulted from slower plant emergence and erratic stands of many of the wheats. Rye varieties averaged 2,858 pounds of dry forage by January 28 as compared to 679 pounds for the wheats.

Table 3 compares the total forage yields of commercially available small grain varieties that have been tested at both Ardmore and Burneyville for the last three growing seasons. The main focus of our testing program is to provide producers with forage performance data on crops and varieties that are presently being grown and available for use in South-central Oklahoma and North Texas. When selecting crops and/or varieties, producers should emphasize the consistency and dependability of multi-year performance rather than an individual year. At Ardmore, notice that oats have the highest average and ryes the lowest over the past three years. However, you should keep in mind that the last two seasons have produced mild winters, which favors oat production. At Burneyville on a deep sandy loam site, a reverse trend is very apparent. Note the stable, consistent yield advantage the ryes have over the other crops. Oat forage yields have fluctuated the most. Although oat yields have been good the last two seasons, winterkill severely reduced yields in 1995-96. Within each crop there is some variation among varieties for yield performance over the two and three year periods at each location. However, there are a number of varieties of each crop that demonstrate consistency across years and locations.

Oklon rye has consistently ranked high at both locations. Ozark oat appears to have more winter hardiness than the other oat varieties and thus yields have been more stable over this period. As a group, the soft wheat varieties have consistently out-yielded the hard wheat varieties. Coker 9134, Coker 9543 and Coker 9803 are good soft wheat choices. Jagger, an early forage variety has been the most dependable producer of the hard wheat varieties. Presto and Trical Stan I triticale varieties do not produce much early fall forage, but have consistently produced good spring forage.

Discussion
Small Grain Varieties – Comparison of Planting Dates
Planting dates during the 1997-98 season were September 30 and October 29 at Ardmore (Table 4) and October 6 and October 29 at Burneyville (Table 5). The early plantings were delayed by dry conditions whereas, the late plantings were hampered by wet weather in October, particularly at Ardmore. Forage yields from the two locations are shown in Tables 4 and 5.

At Ardmore, the September planting was clipped five times; the October planting was clipped only three times. The September planting produced an average of 34% (1,966 pounds/acre) more total forage than the late October planting. The advantage was gained during the late fall and winter months. The early planting had produced 19% of its total forage by December 16 and 63% by February 26. Note that all 12 varieties in the early-planted test out-yielded the highest producing variety in the late planting. The three oat varieties were more consistent and dependable than the other small grains, regardless of planting date. Longhorn wheat was lowest at both planting dates.

At Burneyville, the early October planting was clipped five times; the late October planting was clipped only four times. At this location, the late planting was more productive as it averaged about 22% (1,398 pounds/acre) more total forage than the early planting. The ryes again produced the most early forage in both plantings, but were slightly (4%) more productive in total forage in the early planting. The reverse was true for the other small grain crops. Oat, triticale, and wheat varieties were respectively 24, 32, and 38 percent more productive in total forage in the late planting. The overall yield advantage of the late planted test developed during the late winter and spring as 83% (5,291 pounds/acre) of the total forage was produced after February 24.

A multi-year comparison of total forage production from early and late fall plantings at the two locations is shown in Table 6. At Ardmore, notice that forage production was higher for the early fall planting in four out of seven years for ryes and triticales; whereas, the oats and wheats have favored the late plantings in four out of seven years. The 1997-98 growing season was just the third year where we have compared dates of planting at the Burneyville location. The current trend favors the late plantings for total forage production of all the small grains on this sandy loam site.

TABLE 4. Small Grains Forage Summary Comparing Planting Dates at Ardmore (silt loam)
		Pounds/Acre of Oven-Dry Forage
SEPT. 30 PLANTING		Clipping Dates
	Variety	12/16	2/9	2/26	Total Thru 2/26	4/1		4/30		1997-98 Total		% Forage Produced by 2/26
1.	Coker 9134 wheat (soft)	2186	1456	920	4562	689		1628		6879		66
2.	Harrison oat	2080	1198	821	4100	1104		1621		6824		60
3.	La. 604 oat	1550	958	789	3297	1413		1679		6389		52
4.	833 oat	1469	1176	893	3538	1257		1551		6346		56
5.	NF 87 triticale	2306	1455	706	4467	578		976		6021		74
6.	Presto triticale	1412	1110	1096	3618	1065		991		5674		64
7.	Trical Stan I triticale	1291	797	859	2947	1281		1361		5589		53
8.	Jagger wheat	1336	1645	859	3470	474		1261		5575		62
9.	Bates rye	2051	1148	748	3947	1022		466		5435		67
10.	Maton rye	1738	416	779	2933	1670		462		5065		58
11.	Oklon rye	1770	1152	742	3664	805		447		4916		75
12.	Longhorn wheat	1221	836	794	2851	831		1198		4880		58
	Average	1701	1112	834	3647	1016		1137		5800		63
	L.S.D. (.05)	750	416	137	1110	270		286		1209
	C.V. (%)	26.1	22.1	9.7	17.9	15.7		14.9		12.3
OCTOBER 29 PLANTING				Clipping Dates
	Variety			2/26	4/1	4/30		1997-98 Total		% Forage Produced by 2/26
1.	Presto triticale			550	2726	1118		4394		13
2.	La. 604 oat			501	2301	1558		4360		12
3.	Bates rye			1538	1926	827		4291		36
4.	833 oat			620	2408	1160		4188		15
5.	Harrison oat			755	2407	832		3994		19
6.	NF 87 triticale			885	2027	1073		3985		22
7.	Trical Stan I triticale			112	1255	2406		3853		3
8.	Oklon rye			1021	1779	911		3711		28
9.	Coker 9134 wheat (soft)			653	1998	861		3512		19
10.	Jagger wheat			777	1770	775		3322		23
11.	Maton rye			325	1981	918		3224		10
12.	Longhorn wheat			719	1786	665		3170		23
	Average			705	2030	1099		3834		18
Fertilization of the October 29 planting consisted of 50 lb. N/acre applied on November 20, 1997 and 50 lb. N/acre on February 9, 1998. Other influencing factors were the same for both plantings as shown in Table 1.

TABLE 5. Small Grains Forage Summary Comparing Planting Dates at Burneyville (sandy loam)
		Pounds/Acre of Oven-Dry Forage
OCT. 6 PLANTING
		Clipping Dates
	Variety	1/28	2/24	Total Thru 2/24	3/24	4/16	5/19	1997-98 Total	% Forage Produced by 2/24
1.	Maton rye	2028	817	2845	1215	2554	279	6893	41
2.	Oklon rye	3057	746	3803	716	1822	522	6865	55
3.	Bates rye	2836	830	3666	647	1816	377	6506	56
4.	La. 604 oat	1243	619	1862	682	1825	695	5064	37
5.	833 oat	1166	788	1954	563	1853	628	4998	39
6.	Harrison oat	1342	568	1910	461	1605	578	4554	42
7.	NF 87 triticale	1726	619	2345	396	1293	380	4414	53
8.	Presto triticale	935	712	1647	785	1495	464	4391	38
9.	Trical Stan I triticale	703	496	1199	728	1763	410	4100	29
10.	Longhorn wheat	773	652	1425	641	1390	531	3987	36
11.	Coker 9134 wheat (soft)	798	627	1425	475	1632	438	3970	36
12.	Jagger wheat	855	599	1454	442	1360	298	3554	41
	Average	1455	673	2128	646	1701	467	4942	43
	L.S.D. (.05)	926	201	1037	205	353	112	1220
	C.V. (%)	37.6	17.6	28.8	18.7	12.3	14.2	14.6
OCT. 29 PLANTING
				Clipping Dates
	Variety			2/24	3/23	4/15	5/19	1997-98 Total	% Forage Produced By 2/24
1.	Bates rye			2110	910	2559	1131	6710	31
2.	Presto triticale			930	1311	3011	1442	6694	14
3.	Maton rye			1356	1412	2791	1079	6638	20
4.	La. 604 oat			502	900	3227	1953	6582	26
5.	Longhorn wheat			747	1027	3168	1602	6544	11
6.	833 oat			633	859	3288	1602	6382	10
7.	Coker 9134 wheat (soft)			1014	1162	2415	1702	6293	16
8.	NF 87 triticale			1310	959	2624	1267	6160	21
9.	Harrison oat			916	791	2948	1481	6136	15
10.	Trical Stan I triticale			489	986	3140	1466	6081	8
11.	Oklon rye			1688	997	2534	843	6062	28
12.	Jagger wheat			894	1019	2223	1659	5795	15
	Average			1049	1028	2827	1436	6340	17
	L.S.D. (.05)			437	225	448	380	NS
	C.V. (%)			24.6	13.0	9.4	15.6	7.9
Fertilization of the October 29 planting consisted of 50 lb. N/acre applied on Nov. 20, 1997 and 50 lb. N/acre on Jan.29, 1998. Other influencing factors were the same for both plantings as shown in Table 2.

TABLE 6. Multi-year Comparison of Forage Yields Comparing Planting Dates at Ardmore and Burneyville
Total Forage Production – Dry Pounds/Acre
Ardmore (silt loam)
Fall Planting	Year*	Planting Date	Rye	Oat	Triticale	Wheat
Early	1990-91	10/4	4331	3358	3755	3644
	1991-92	10/2	2992	3493	2744	2953
	1992-93	9/24	3362	3433	2762	2353
	1993-94	9/30	3559	3745	3255	3449
	1994-95	9/27	2998	3634	2612	2422
	1995-96	9/28	3451	2042	3061	3286
	1997-98	9/30	5139	6520	5761	5778
	Average	9/29	3690	3746	3421	3412
Late	1990-91	10/30	3993	2590	3384	3375
	1991-92	10/23	3670	4051	3026	3439
	1992-93	10/21	5363	4771	4620	4089
	1993-94	10/27	2600	2868	2646	2274
	1994-95	11/2	4986	3908	4080	3084
	1995-96	10/18	3279	2636	2930	2954
	1997-98	10/29	3742	4181	4077	3335
	Average	10/26	3948	3572	3538	3221
Burneyville (sandy loam)
Early	1995-96	9/27	5988	2357	3959	4616
	1996-97	9/13	5088	3362	3776	3636
	1997-98	10/6	6755	4872	4302	3837
	Average	9/25	5944	3530	4012	4030
Late	1995-96	10/17	6897	0	4247	4574
	1996-97	10/3	5871	5654	4717	5170
	1997-98	10/29	6470	6367	6312	6211
	Average	10/16	6413	4007	5092	5318
* No comparison can be made at Ardmore for the 1996-97 season. The late test was not planted because of wet conditions in October and early November of 1996.

1997-98 Weather Factors
	RAINFALL (Inches)
	Ardmore			Burneyville*
Month	1997-98 Season	95-Year Average		1997-98 Season	4-Year Average
September	1.71	3.65		0.78	4.44
October	3.44	3.61		4.11	3.70
November	2.32	2.45		1.40	3.05
December	3.98	2.22		4.71	2.84
January	5.83	1.73		4.55	2.13
February	1.16	2.09		1.10	1.99
March	4.91	2.86		4.72	3.53
April	1.12	4.00		1.30	3.50
May	0.16	5.37		0.54	3.10
Total	24.63	27.98		23.21	28.28
* Fourth year rainfall data taken from Oklahoma Mesonet Weather Station located on the Red River Demonstration and Research Farm.

Minimum Temperatures (20°F or lower)
Ardmore			Burneyville
Date	Temperature		Date	Temperature
Dec. 13	20		Nov. 16	20
Mar. 10	18		Dec. 12	20
Mar. 12	18		Dec. 13	16
			Mar. 10	20
			Mar. 12	19

I would like to acknowledge the following Research Assistants for their valuable assistance in the collection and analysis of data used in this report: Julie Barrick, Bret Flatt, Roger Hartwell, Sean Maher and Frank Motal.

Information in this report is not conclusive, but should be of valuable assistance when used with similar information from other sources.

All available information pertaining to the subject should be used in making conclusions and decisions. This publication is intended to furnish supplemental information to aid in making a more sound decision and to stimulate thinking for new ideas.