Introduction

Winter annual forages are widely adapted for grazing, green chop, hay and silage production in Louisiana. Each year, scientists with the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center conduct performance trials to evaluate the forage productivity and agronomic performance of annual ryegrass, small grain forages and forage legumes. During the 2025–2026 trial year, the number of legume forage entries was insufficient to establish formal field trials. These evaluations are conducted at multiple Louisiana State University Agricultural Center research stations across the state to provide information on varietal performance under diverse soil and climatic conditions.

Information generated from these trials is used by the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center to develop a list of forage varieties that have performed satisfactorily under Louisiana conditions. Louisiana forage producers may use these results to assist in selecting varieties best suited for their production systems.

For crops with multiple commercially available varieties, a commercial variety must be evaluated for three consecutive years and produce an average yield of at least 90% of the three-year statewide mean of the top three yielding commercial varieties to be considered satisfactory. A variety may be designated as “Promising” after two consecutive years of testing if it demonstrates acceptable agronomic performance and achieves at least 90% of the statewide average yield of the top three commercial varieties. A variety previously recommended for planting consideration may be removed from the list if it fails to maintain satisfactory performance based on two- and three-year yield data, is no longer commercially available or is not submitted for continued evaluation.

Testing Procedure and Data Presentation

The cool-season annual forage variety testing program is open to all commercially available varieties and advanced experimental lines of annual ryegrass, small grain forages and forage legumes developed by both public and private breeding programs. Trials are managed according to production practices recommended by the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service (LCES) for each forage species. Soil amendments are applied based on soil test recommendations, and herbicides are used as needed for weed control.

Data on seasonal forage distribution and cumulative forage yield are collected at each location to evaluate varietal adaptation across the diverse geographic regions of Louisiana. Trials are established in randomized complete block designs with a minimum of three replications. Plots are cut to a 2- to 4-inch stubble height when forage growth reaches approximately 8 to 12 inches. Forage yield data are statistically analyzed to evaluate varietal performance based on the current trial year as well as two- and three-year yield averages.

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