(Lolium multiflorum L.)

Italian ryegrass is a short-lived grass with a high yield potential already in the year of sowing. The first harvest of Italian ryegrass, which has a very early spring growth, is especially big. Italian ryegrass rarely survives more than one hard winter. The quality of the feed is very high because the leaves comprise a relatively large proportion of the plant, and both sugar content and digestibility are high. As in the other ryegrasses, there are diploid and tetraploid varieties, both particularly suitable for the production of silage, for example in mixtures with red clover, which has the same short and intensive production period, or in pure stands as a catch crop between two maize crops.  

The development of new varieties is focused especially on properties such as:

• high sugar content and digestibility
• resistance to diseases such as xanthomonas, rust and snow mould
• a growth rhythm which is optimally suited to climatic conditions
• increased persistence and frost tolerance 
• less stem regrowth

Westerwold Ryegrass (Lolium Multiflorium var. Westerwoldicum)  

This is the annual version of Italian ryegrass which sets stems in the year of sowing, and is used especially for silage. 

Breeding is focused on increasing yields, and two types are under development, one type with most growth in spring, and one type with a more evenly distributed yield over the full growth season.

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