Ryegrasses are cool-season grasses that should not be confused with Rye, which is a cereal grain. Ryegrasses are beneficial in deer food plots because they are high in protein (14% to 19% protein), are highly digestible, grow quickly early in the year, and have a long growing season. Ryegrasses are often planted as a nurse crop for legumes such as clovers. Because the ryegrass grows faster than the legumes, deer graze it heavily in early-spring, a time when the legumes are developing and can be damaged by heavy grazing.
Ryegrass site requirements
Ryegrasses grow best on fertile, well-drained soils with pH between 6.0 and 7.0. They will, however, tolerate moist soils and pH as low as 5.0.
Annual ryegrass and perennial ryegrass
There are two species of ryegrasses, annual ryegrass and perennial ryegrass. Both species are used in deer food plots. Both annual ryegrass and perennial ryegrass have two basic groups of varieties, diploids and tetraploids. The difference between the two groups has to do with the number of chromosomes in each plant cell. What is important for the deer manager, is that the tetraploid varieties are preferred by deer and are more digestible than the diploid varieties.
Types of Ryegrasses
The following is a description of annual and perennial ryegrass.
Annual ryegrass comes in two types. One type is called the "westerwold-type" and this is a true annual. The other is the Italian-type, sometimes referred to as Italian ryegrass, and this is a biennial. Neither type is very winter hardy so both tend to act as annuals in northern regions. As a general rule, annual ryegrass is less winter hardy than perennial ryegrass.
Plant annual ryegrass with other forages
Annual ryegrass can be planted alone but it is most beneficial to deer when it is planted in a mixture with other forages. The following are suggestions for forage mixtures that include annual ryegrass.
annual ryegrass, red clover, ladino clover, and chicory (in this mixture, annual ryegrass would provide a fall and early spring food source and act as a nurse crop for the clovers). Birdsfoot trefoil could be added to this mixture if the soils had low fertility or were droughty. Alsike clover could be added to this mixture if the plot had wet areas.
annual ryegrass, winter wheat or winter rye, and Austrian winter peas (this mixture should be planted in early fall to attract deer to a hunting food plot). In areas other than northern regions oats could be added to this mixture or substituted for the winter wheat or winter rye component.
Perennial ryegrass is a short-lived, cool-season perennial that grows to a height of 2 feet. Like annual ryegrass, this forage is usually planted in a mixture with legumes such as clovers to provide an early-spring forage, and to act as a nurse crop for the legumes.
Perennial ryegrass can out-compete clovers
While ryegrasses are often planted with legumes in deer food plots, perennial ryegrass can easily out-compete legumes by shading and competing for nutrients. The five best ways to avoid this are:
Plant annual ryegrass instead of perennial ryegrassin deer food plots whenever possible. This is the best way to avoid problems associated with perennial ryegrass. Annual ryegrass provides nearly all of the benefits of perennial ryegrass and you don't have to worry about annual ryegrass dominating your food plots overtime. If annual ryegrass is beginning to shade the other forages in your plot, simply mowing the plot will remove the annual ryegrass. Annual ryegrass is not likely to reseed itself in no-till food plots.
Calculate the area of your food plots accurately to avoid overseeding the ryegrass components of the seed mixture. For example, if you estimate that the food plot is 1 acre in size, but it is actually only ½ acre, you will be doubling the amount of ryegrass seed planted in the plot. (Click to read an article about how to measure food plot acreage)
Plant no more than about 1 pound of perennial ryegrass per acre when planting it in a mixture with legumes. This will be enough ryegrass to provide all of the benefits and help avoid potential competition problems.
Use low- or no-nitrogen fertilizer on legume plots containing ryegrass. Nitrogen fertilizer stimulates rapid growth of grasses and can result in aggressive growth of ryegrass. Since the legumes get most of the nitrogen they need by "fixing" it in their roots, adding additional nitrogen to your plots will just encourage the grasses to grow.
Mow the ryegrass in mid spring (usually early June) to expose the clovers to full light. By this time your clovers should be well on their way to good growth and will be able to tolerate grazing by deer.
Varieties of perennial ryegrass
Some common varieties of perennial ryegrass include Grimalda, Bastion, Reveille, Citadel, Nestor and Taptoe.
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