Florence Pomerleau-Lacasse

What are the best alternatives to timothy in association with alfalfa?

The increase in temperature and hydric stress due to climate change could negatively affect the productivity and persistence of drought sensitive forages, like timothy,  the principal grass  in Quebec. A project with the aim of evaluating six binary mixtures of alfalfa and grass at three contrasted sites in Quebec (Normandin, St-Augustin-de-Desmaures and Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue) has been established in order to find an alternative to timothy. The evaluated grasses are: tall fescue (cv. Carnival), meadow fescue (common seeds), perennial ryegrass (cv. Remington), festulolium (cv. Spring Green), and meadow bromegrass (cv. Fleet). The six alfalfa-grass mixtures are evaluated for their yield, nutritive value, and persistence.