Meroa Tetraploid Italian Ryegrass

Meroa is a late-maturing, high-yielding true tetraploid Italian ryegrass. It has excellent forage quality, high yields and good winter hardiness.

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Features

Tetraploid Italian Ryegrass

Meroa has all the great benefits of being a tetraploid Italian ryegrass. It’s got twice the chromosomes of a diploid ryegrass and unique maturing of an Italian ryegrass.

Forage Quality

In multiple trials, Meroa shows the forage quality that you would expect from late-maturing tetraploid ryegrasses

High Yields

Meroa has demonstrated high yields when planted as a short-lived spring forage or a fall-planted forage.

Winter Hardy

Meroa has outscored other varieties in winter hardiness trials.

A True Tetraploid Italian Ryegrass

Meroa is a tetraploid ryegrass. This means it has twice the chromosomes as a diploid, higher sugar content, and big juicy leaves.

Meroa is also a true Italian ryegrass, meaning that it normally does not go to seedhead until the next summer. True Italians need to go through a cold spell before wanting to reproduce. This means you get plenty of valuable forage regardless of when you plant it.^*

^*This does not apply to warm-season climates where all ryegrasses burn out in the summer due to high temperatures but is specific to regions where ryegrass can grow through the summer months.

Two photos side by side comparing different types of grass

Winter Hardiness

Meroa has displayed good winter hardiness. Here are results/comments from 2014-15 winter:

Tennessee

Forage evaluator David McIntosh commented that Meroa had 10% damage in all the replication and that it "did good considering the winter we have had" at their Greeneville, TN location.

Ohio

At South Charleston, Meroa had nearly no winter injury and outscored 15 other entries.

A field with various patches of vegetation.

Maturity and Forage Yields

In addition to being utilized as a spring-planted short-lived forage, Meroa can be used as a fall-planted forage or cover crop grass. When planted in the fall, Meroa has exhibited excellent yields, including very strong late-season yields.

Georgia

Yield Trial

Griffin, GA

Meroa had the highest score, outscoring 41 other entries. It even out-yielded the next best variety by 1,774 lbs. DM/A (15%). Most of the extra yield was in the last cutting, which was 4,754 lbs DM/A, as compared to the next best entry's 2,447 lbs. DM/A (nearly 50% less!)

Louisiana

Yield Data

Winnsboro, LA

Meroa produced 11,207 lbs DM/A over 4 harvests. This was the highest scoring entry out of 35 ryegrass entries. Of importance to note, Meroa's yields were also highest for both of the last two cuttings (April 8th and May 12th).

Mississippi

Yield Data

Starkville & Poplarville, MS

Meroa had the highest last cutting yield in Poplarville and the highest combined last two cutting yields in Starkville, MS.

Ohio

Annual Ryegrass Study* (Tons DM/A)

South Charleston, OH

2015 – 2016

Variety	9/20/2015	4/27	5/24	6/20	Total 2015-2016
Meroa	0.09	2.18	2.25	1.54	6.07
PS 15	0.23	2.19	1.77	1.52	5.71
Winterhawk	0.06	2.38	1.82	1.44	5.69
FIPE	0.08	2.22	1.76	1.39	5.45
Fria	0.19	2.24	1.71	1.28	5.42
Nu Spirit	0.07	2.29	1.68	1.38	5.42
Passerel Pluss	0.26	2.16	1.69	1.2	5.31
Frosty	0.14	2.17	1.55	1.08	4.94
Fiser	0.45	0.24	0.77	0.52	1.97
LSD 0.05	0.09	0.27	0.18	0.24	0.43

Annual Ryegrass Study* (Tons DM/A)

South Charleston, OH

2014 – 2015

Variety	5/8	6/3	7/2	Total 2015	Winter Injury (3/27/15)
Highest yield	1.78	1.80	1.02	3.46	0.60
Meroa	1.14	0.93	0.88	2.96	1.30
KB Supreme	1.26	1.20	0.48	2.94	1.00
Mach 1	0.49	1.02	0.84	2.34	3.40
Dyna-Gain	1.00	0.94	0.36	2.30	2.50
Knight	0.18	0.98	1.02*	2.18	4.20
Green Farm	1.20	0.62	0.33	2.16	1.70
KB Royal	0.69	0.78	0.39	1.86	3.10
LSD 0.05	0.22	0.22	0.19	0.38	0.60

Pennsylvania

Penn State University

Forage Yield (Tons DM/A)

Rock Springs, PA

Variety	5/4	5/26	6/16	Total
Highest yield	2.31*	2.56*	1.34	5.71*
Meroa	2.06*	1.78	1.30*	5.13*
Ribeye	2.02*	1.97	1.10*	5.09
Fria	1.95	2.15	0.95	5.06
Bar Extra	1.81	2.04	1.15*	5.00
McKinley	2.08*	1.88	1.02	4.98
Rootmax	1.93	2.08	0.96	4.97
TetraPrime	1.72	2.32*	0.91	4.95
Nelson	1.82	2.20	0.86	4.88
Jackson	2.08*	1.91	0.88	4.87
Green Farm	2.16*	1.77	0.87	4.81
Barprisma	1.85	1.76	1.14*	4.74
Lonestar	1.89	1.79	0.95	4.64
Tam 90	1.82	1.72	0.92	4.47
Bill	1.55	1.79	0.92	4.26
LSD (.05)	0.32	0.34	0.26	0.54

Penn State University

Short-Lived Cover Crops Trial - Annual Ryegrass (Multi-Cut) (Tons DM/A)

2015

Variety	5/2	5/23	6/13	Total
ME4	3.66	1.12	1.55	6.34
Marshall	3.40	1.01	1.41	5.83
Meroa	2.68	1.38	1.75	5.81
Centurion	3.05	1.04	1.57	5.65
Mckinley	3.03	1.00	1.58	5.61
Jackson	3.20	1.04	1.36	5.60
Allegro	2.42	1.33	1.75	5.50
Attain	2.66	1.04	1.56	5.26
Grasshancer	2.85	0.88	1.48	5.22
Nelson	2.46	1.04	1.67	5.16
Fria	2.87	0.89	1.37	5.13
Maryna	1.62	1.59	1.89	5.10
Kodiak	2.65	0.93	1.46	5.05
Tetraprime	1.56	1.75	1.61	4.93
Barmultra II	1.94	1.32	1.66	4.93
MO-1	2.86	0.83	1.17	4.86
Andes	2.07	0.97	1.55	4.59
LSD (.05)	0.40	0.19	0.27	0.63

Tennessee

Yield Trial

Greeneville, TN

Meroa had the highest final cut (May 26th) forage yield for 18 entries. Total season forage yield was statistically equal to the top variety.

Michigan

Michigan State University

Italian Ryegrass Forage Yields (Tons DM/A)

East Lansing, MI

2017-2018

Variety	Winter Survival	Heading Date	2018 Total	2017 Total	2017-18 Total
Meroa	9.0	5/25/2018	2.90*	1.48*	4.38
Fox	8.8	5/26/2018	2.93*	1.42*	4.35
Barextra	7.3	5/25/2018	2.60	1.30*	3.90
Firkin	8.8	5/26/2018	2.63*	1.25	3.88
LSD	1.0		0.32	0.20

New York

Cornell University

Forage Yields (Tons DM/A)

Ithaca, NY

May 2017 - October 2018

Variety	2017	2018	Total
Meroa	4.61*	5.96*	10.57
Feast II	5.10*	5.07	10.17
Maryna	4.17	5.69*	9.86
Gulf	5.17*	3.82	8.99
LSD	0.62	0.29

Kentucky

University of Kentucky

Forage Yields (Tons DM/A)

Lexington, KY

2021-2022

Variety	December 3	April 30	May 6	June 6	Total
Marshall	0.91	1.84	1.01	1.00	4.75*
Winterhawk	0.87	1.78	1.06	0.96	4.67*
Grazekeeper	0.74	1.66	1.10	1.13	4.63*
Meroa	0.81	1.71	1.08	0.98	4.58*
Koga	0.81	1.66	1.03	1.02	4.52*
Dexter	0.65	1.46	1.06	1.06	4.24*
FrostProof	0.80	1.32	0.89	0.80	3.80
Feast II	0.62	0.71	0.98	0.87	3.17
Gulf	0.80	0.63	0.91	0.79	3.13
LSD	0.21	0.33	0.16	0.23	0.70

University of Kentucky

Forage Yields (Tons DM/A)

Lexington, KY

2019-2020

Variety	November 6	April 1	April 28	May 21	June 8	June 25	Total
Meroa	1.16	0.64	1.04	0.84	0.62	0.27	4.56*
Dexter	0.93	0.69	0.98	0.83	0.58	0.33	4.33*
Koga	1.15	0.64	0.99	0.40	0.54	0.23	4.25*
Marshall	1.07	0.72	0.92	0.76	0.45	0.30	4.22*
FrostProof	0.98	0.70	0.81	0.77	0.38	0.29	3.93*
Grazekeeper	0.61	0.73	0.84	0.80	0.53	0.25	3.76
Feast II	0.90	0.36	0.83	0.82	0.45	0.29	3.64
Gulf	1.09	0.27	0.77	0.63	0.39	0.21	3.36
LSD	0.37	0.14	0.24	0.18	0.15	0.11	0.57

Forage Quality

Meroa has the type of forage quality you would expect from a late-maturing tetraploid ryegrass. Forage quality samples have been taken in both 2015 and 2016 in multiple states.

Indiana

Byron Seed

Forage Quality

Rockville, IN

Sampled 04/25/2016

Variety	DM	% of Ave Yield	CP	NDF	ADF	NDFD 30H	NEL	M/Ton
Highest Score	4795	116	23.4	57.6	35.3	42.4	0.71	3599
Meroa	4795	116	22.0	45.7	28.2	37.6	0.71	3599
Lowest Score	3772	91	18.1	45.7	28.2	37.6	0.63	2953

New York

Cornell University

Forage Quality*

Ithaca, NY

Sampled 05/19/2016

CP	ADF	aNDF	Lignin	NEL, Mcal/lb	RFV	IFTD 30H	NDFD 30H
16.9%	27.8%	45.6%	2.9%	0.73	137	87%	71%

Pennsylvania

Penn State University

Forage Quality

Rock Springs, PA

Planted 09/19/14

First Cutting – May 4th
Variety	CP%	ADF%	NDF%	NDFD30	RFV
Meroa It.	22.0	24.4	41.7	72.5	157.0
Centurion It.	22.0	25.4	42.6	71.5	152.5
Bar Extra It.	23.6	23.6	41.2	77.5	159.5
TetraPrime It.	22.9	24.3	40.5	78.0	161.0
Barprisma It.	22.8	26.3	41.2	71.0	154.5

Second Cutting – May 26th
Variety	CP%	ADF%	NDF%	NDFD30	RFV
Meroa It.	16.4	32.6	52.9	58.5	112.0
Centurion It.	17.3	32.0	53.8	58.0	110.5
Bar Extra It.	19.1	31.7	52.7	59.5	114.0
TetraPrime It.	17.6	32.8	53.8	58.0	109.5
Barprisma It.	18.4	31.7	52.0	56.0	115.0

Third Cutting – June 16th
Variety	CP%	ADF%	NDF%	NDFD30	RFV
Meroa It.	20.4	34.3	54.6	60.5	106.5
Centurion It.	19.3	35.2	55.1	56.5	104.0
Bar Extra It.	21.7	33.2	53.0	60.0	110.5
TetraPrime It.	24.9	32.0	48.6	59.0	122.5
Barprisma It.	21.6	31.7	53.8	59.5	111.5

King's AgriSeeds

Forage Quality*

Ronks, PA

Sampled 04/25/2016

CP	ADF	ANDFom	Lignin	NEL 3x, Mcal/lb	RFV	NDFD 30H	TTNDFD, %NDF
16.55%	23.39%	34.27%	1.83%	0.73	177	72%	71.36%

Tennessee

Forage Quality

University of Tennessee

Greeneville, TN

Planted 9/17/14

First Cutting - April 8th*
RFQ	CP	ADF	NDF	TDN	DE	NEL	NEM	NEG	IVTDMD48	NFC	Lignin	ASH	CA	P	MG	K	FAT
144.42	23.94	37.52	59.32	59.77	2.06	0.61	0.59	0.33	79.15	17.12	1.50	3.11	1.12	0.24	0.26	1.98	3.43

Second Cutting - May 6th**
RFQ	CP	ADF	NDF	TDN	DE	NEL	NEM	NEG	IVTDMD48	NFC	Lignin	ASH	CA	P	MG	K	FAT
136.34	21.33	39.83	58.86	57.14	2.04	0.58	0.55	0.30	115.92	14.28	39.46	59.28	57.56	2.05	0.59	0.56	0.30

Third Cutting - May 26th***
RFQ	CP	ADF	NDF	TDN	DE	NEL	NEM	NEG	IVTDMD48	NFC	Lignin	ASH	CA	P	MG	K	FAT
115.92	14.28	39.46	59.28	57.56	2.05	0.59	0.56	0.30	75.62	18.3	1.47	4.64	1.02	0.23	0.23	2.01	3.84

Meroa Gallery

Enhance Your Seed

We provide an array of seed enhancements, including bio stimulants, macro and micronutrients, water absorbents, fungicides, and colorants. These are available for all seed types and uses.

A Valuable Variety For Seed Dealers

Our tetraploid Italian ryegrass varieties not only perform well for farmers, they also are very valuable to seed dealers. Contact us today to see if dealer options are available in your area.

Planting Instructions

Seeding Rate

Grazing or Hay

35-45 lbs/ac

Cover Crop

15-20 lbs/ac

Planting Dates

Aug–Dec, Mar–May

Planting Map

Planting Depth

0-1/2"

Optimal pH

5.5–7.0