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Breeding and Genetics of Forage Crops to Improve Productivity, Quality, and Industrial Uses
T.D. Phillips
Department of Plant and Soil Sciences
Non-Technical Summary
Forage crops constitute the foundation of livestock and dairy enterprises in the US and Canada while also serving vital environmental functions. This project addresses the genetic improvement of forage crops for traits involved in productivity, quality and industrial uses.
2009 Project Description
During 2009, 12 new polycrosses were made in four species (tall fescue, meadow fescue, orchardgrass, and timothy). These will be tested for forage yield and persistence in variety trials.
2009 Impact
Two grazing periods were conducted for a grazing preference trial with 40 entries of cool season grasses in 2009. Parental nurseries were established for switchgrass, sideoats gramagrass, big bluestem, and indiangrass. Polycross blocks of flaccidgrass and eastern gamagrass were installed during the summer for seed production in 2010. These native warm-season grasses have potential as forage and biomass crops in Kentucky.
2009 Publications
Phillips, T.D. and G. E. Aiken. 2009. Novel Endophyte-infected Tall Fescues. Online Forage and Grazinglands doi:10.1094/FG-2009-1102-01-RV.