An Agronomic and Economic Analysis of Annual Ryegrass Management Practices in North-Texas Soybean Production

An analysis of the effect of pre-season ryegrass management practices including herbicides, forage utilization, and cover cropping on no-till soybean yield, grain density, and height. The profitability of forage utilization based on production and price is explored. Annual ryegrass is a cool-season annual bunchgrass, which due to its high palatability and digestibility is valuable for forage. Grazing cover crops is economically viable when the returns offset establishment costs without reducing crop yields. Six ryegrass management practices prior to planting soybean were evaluated: volunteer ryegrass as a cover crop, ryegrass forage harvested for hay, ryegrass forage grazing simulation, and three different herbicides applications that vary in timing (December, February, and March application). All forage and cover crop plots were terminated with glyphosate or paraquat two weeks prior to planting soybeans. There were no statistical differences in soybean yields, soybean height, and soybean grain density between annual ryegrass cover cropping and herbicide treatments averaged over the two years evaluated. The results also indicated that ryegrass forage can produce up to 2,741 kg ha-1 of dry matter that if sold as hay can generate a profit between $230 and $244 ha-1. Similarly, if land is leased for grazing, ryegrass could generate a profit of $63 ha-1 if its dry matter production is 1,006.70 kg.