Olympia Orchargrass

[Warren Allison]

Any members located in the southern 1/3 of Ga or Alabama ever sown any? I was reading that it was very heat tolerant, the most so for any Orchardgrass variety? @Mark Reynolds, what are your thoughts?

 

[Ebenezer]

I have planted some of the improved type of orchardgrass in the piedmont of SC. Be aware of acceptance/palpability on the various ones. The reason that some are persistent under grazing pressure is due to the fact that the cows do not care for the taste.

 

[Warren Allison]

I have planted some of the improved type of orchardgrass in the piedmont of SC. Be aware of acceptance/palpability on the various ones. The reason that some are persistent under grazing pressure is due to the fact that the cows do not care for the taste.

Do you remember what variety you used? I have fed orchard grass hay before, and the cows and horses both loved it. But I have no idea as to the variety. It came from extreme NW Ga, right up there by Chattanooga. I don't need it for hay, though. I was going to try some to see if it lasted a little later than the Bermuda grass does in the horse pastures.

 

[coachg]

We have a hayfield that is mostly orchard grass . Makes great hay ! It's been planted several years now so I don't remember the variety. My only complaint with orchard grass is it is clumpy. Doesn't grow in a solid mat but large clumps . So that hurts its yield . We have some mixed grasses that fill in the gaps but wish it was solid orchard grass . Does anyone else have this issue with it ?

 

[puzzled in oregon]

Orchard Grass and Fescue seem to clump in this area.

 

[Dave]

Orchard grass and tall fescue are both bunch grasses. It is the nature of the beast. When first planted the bunches are small and maybe unnoticeable. Over time some of the bunches thrive and become larger.
I never heard of Olympia orchard grass. Strange because my office was in Olympia for 20+ years and I was a certified crop advisor. I knew most every commercial farmer in the county. There was no grass seed growers or breeders in that county or the surrounding ones. Makes me wonder about the history of this cultivar.

 

[Ebenezer]

Do you remember what variety you used? I have fed orchard grass hay before, and the cows and horses both loved it. But I have no idea as to the variety. It came from extreme NW Ga, right up there by Chattanooga. I don't need it for hay, though. I was going to try some to see if it lasted a little later than the Bermuda grass does in the horse pastures.

KY test
You can read up on the data in the above report. I have used Persist a good bit. There is not a lot of overgrazing on it so I assume lower preference. Last I tried was Endurance. It was accepted better. We are marginal here for orchardgrass but it works in a fescue mix very well.

 

[Logan52]

The fescue here is not a clumping grass like orchardgrass. It forms a very tough sod that holds up to traffic better than bluegrass.
The sod is so thick you can not overseed without first breaking it apart with some sort of tillage.
Orachardgrass, however, never form a sod and grows well with alfalfa and clover inter seeded.

 

[Warren Allison]

We have a hayfield that is mostly orchard grass . Makes great hay ! It's been planted several years now so I don't remember the variety. My only complaint with orchard grass is it is clumpy. Doesn't grow in a solid mat but large clumps . So that hurts its yield . We have some mixed grasses that fill in the gaps but wish it was solid orchard grass . Does anyone else have this issue with it ?

The clumping would not be all that much of a problem for me, as I was thinking about it for pasture, specifically horse pasture. What @Logan52 said would be ideal, but I am too far south for even the Bulldog alfalfa. Aren't you around Fort Payne,. @coachg?

 

[Warren Allison]

Orchard grass and tall fescue are both bunch grasses. It is the nature of the beast. When first planted the bunches are small and maybe unnoticeable. Over time some of the bunches thrive and become larger.
I never heard of Olympia orchard grass. Strange because my office was in Olympia for 20+ years and I was a certified crop advisor. I knew most every commercial farmer in the county. There was no grass seed growers or breeders in that county or the surrounding ones. Makes me wonder about the history of this cultivar.

Here is some info on it. I don't think the name Olympia comes from that area, as it was developed at the University of Georgia. After digging a little deeper, it says it is more heat tolerant that perennial rye, blue grass, etc, but not as much as tall fescue. Fescue doesn't grow well down here at all. I think the owner of the feed store had just ordered a lot of seed for a lady's horse farm, and then she changed her mind, so he wants to unload it. His $75 asking price kind of confirms that. We have Bermuda, of course, and Bahia and Sericea Lespedeza, like everyone else down here does. I was hoping there might be something to start a little earlier, and maybe last a little later than Bermuda. https://southeastagriseeds.com/prod...als/grasses/orchardgrass/olympia-orchardgrass

 

[coachg]

Orchard grass and tall fescue are both bunch grasses. It is the nature of the beast. When first planted the bunches are small and maybe unnoticeable. Over time some of the bunches thrive and become larger.
I never heard of Olympia orchard grass. Strange because my office was in Olympia for 20+ years and I was a certified crop advisor. I knew most every commercial farmer in the county. There was no grass seed growers or breeders in that county or the surrounding ones. Makes me wonder about the history of this cultivar.

Seems to be a lot worse to clump than our fescue. We have let it go to seed , drilled more in and it's still not a solid stand . We have soil tested this field several times and fertilize and lime according to the analysis. Cows will eat a bale of it before anything we put out . I have seen it in better stands .

 

[Lucky_P]

Initial pasture seedings here had Potomac & Benchmark as the OG component. It would be pretty much the last thing the cows would eat in a paddock.
Later seedings included Persist OG with MaxQ novel endophyte fescue, and i did not see the refusal/reluctance that had been the rule with other OG varieties. Persist performed well in grazing trials in the southern tier of middle TN counties, but IDK how it would fare in south GA.
Growing up in east-central AL, i rarely saw more than just an occasional isolated clump of OG...and those were never in a pasture.

 

[Silver]

Orchard grass and tall fescue are both bunch grasses. It is the nature of the beast. When first planted the bunches are small and maybe unnoticeable. Over time some of the bunches thrive and become larger.
I never heard of Olympia orchard grass. Strange because my office was in Olympia for 20+ years and I was a certified crop advisor. I knew most every commercial farmer in the county. There was no grass seed growers or breeders in that county or the surrounding ones. Makes me wonder about the history of this cultivar.

Quick Google search says it was developed at the University of GA

 

[Mark Reynolds]

Here is some info on it. I don't think the name Olympia comes from that area, as it was developed at the University of Georgia. After digging a little deeper, it says it is more heat tolerant that perennial rye, blue grass, etc, but not as much as tall fescue. Fescue doesn't grow well down here at all. I think the owner of the feed store had just ordered a lot of seed for a lady's horse farm, and then she changed her mind, so he wants to unload it. His $75 asking price kind of confirms that. We have Bermuda, of course, and Bahia and Sericea Lespedeza, like everyone else down here does. I was hoping there might be something to start a little earlier, and maybe last a little later than Bermuda. https://southeastagriseeds.com/prod...als/grasses/orchardgrass/olympia-orchardgrass

Howdy. I'm back again. I've been in Indiana caring for my Aunt and father for the past 9 days. Just got home 2 hours ago and slept maybe 2 hours in the past 36.

As for trying to get something to "last" longer than Bermuda, you can't even begin to compare Bermuda and Orchardgrass. Bermuda is a warm season perennial and Orchardgrass is a cool season perennial. Pretty much by definition, you can't compare them as they really grow under different conditions.

For as far south as what you are, and I'll have to research it some to be sure, you aren't going to find a cool season perennial that will persist there. I can recommend interseeding a cool season ANNUAL each early fall/late summer such as an annual rye that will give you late season (and early season) forrage which you may graze. There are other species that work for this as well such as oats.

 

[anewcomer]

Sleep or no sleep, Mark is 100% correct on this.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

Sleep or no sleep, Mark is 100% correct on this.

I'll sleep when I'm dead.

 

[ClinchValley86]

allowing annuals to self seed might bridge the gap?

 

[Warren Allison]

Howdy. I'm back again. I've been in Indiana caring for my Aunt and father for the past 9 days. Just got home 2 hours ago and slept maybe 2 hours in the past 36.

As for trying to get something to "last" longer than Bermuda, you can't even begin to compare Bermuda and Orchardgrass. Bermuda is a warm season perennial and Orchardgrass is a cool season perennial. Pretty much by definition, you can't compare them as they really grow under different conditions.

For as far south as what you are, and I'll have to research it some to be sure, you aren't going to find a cool season perennial that will persist there. I can recommend interseeding a cool season ANNUAL each early fall/late summer such as an annual rye that will give you late season (and early season) forrage which you may graze. There are other species that work for this as well such as oats.

Thanks, Mark. We already do rye, wheat, oats .etc. Just looking for a perennial.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

I'll sleep when I'm dead.

OK. I now feel like I'm dead. Well, my dad is recovering. My Aunt is settling into her assisted living facility. I just got back to West Virginia at 6:30 this morning (again) after a 4 day trip to Indiana (again). I got my Aunt's old apartment cleared and cleaned. She had lived in it for 30 years. The apartment manager couldn't believe the appliances and bathtub. He had never seen an accordion type shower curtain and he didn't know electric ranges and dishwashers were that old He said he felt like he was in a museum! (Stuff is older than me and I'm 55, he is about 28-30). He also commented on how clean I had gotten it. I had only about 4 hours sleep in the previous 60 hours when I was talking to him. I've slept for about the past 10 hours/