Volume17.06

June 2017

June 2017

Harvest Countdown Has Begun

Good news! Pollen has begun to fly in the Willamette Valley. Reports of active pollen on Fawn tall fescue indicate that we should only be 30-40 days before we start to see new crop fields ready for harvest. And it will not be a day too early! Being out of basics like annual ryegrass, Kentucky bluegrass and KY-31 is no fun. The forecast for the next 10 days is cool, moderate weather, unlike last year’s June that saw multiple days over 100 degrees!

Growers are reporting general optimism combined with comments that some of their acres look really good, and some spots look really bad. There is plenty of moisture in the ground for sure! The moisture benefits the crops on the good ground. There will be poorer yields on more saturated ground, and likely some more undesirable crop and weed that flourish in cooler, wetter years, but for the most part, aside from a forecasted late harvest, both the Willamette Valley and the Pacific Northwest seed production areas should produce good yields this year.

Oh Boy! Here Comes LowBoy!

What if you could offer your cover crop customers a cold tolerant, weed suppressing annual ryegrass that had tremendous roots and was easy to terminate? What if the same product could be used for both single species and multi species cover crop systems and was safe for grazing too? Well, get ready for a new way to look at annual ryegrass with our new LowBoy low-growing annual ryegrass!

LowBoy’s growth focuses on canopy density rather than height. Above ground, this means more ground coverage but less height, increasing erosion and weed control, while permitting multi-species growth. Below ground, LowBoy not only shows deep roots, but also produces tremendous root density, penetrating soil with countless channels.

One of the most exciting benefits of LowBoy is that it terminates easily. Compared to traditional ryegrasses, LowBoy has significantly less top-growth. Excessive top-growth can be difficult to burn down chemically as well as hinder no-till seeding and sufficient light penetration to dry out and warm up soil. LowBoy is there when you need it, and leaves when you don’t.

A limited supply of LowBoy will be available this year, so get your order in soon. More information is available at LowBoyRyegrass.com.

Stonehenge II Hard Fescue

New for this year, we will be offering Stonehenge II hard fescue, a new and improved variety. Limited supply is available now with more to come this fall.