| Bermudagrass Variety Evaluation |
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 Pasture & Range: October 1999 Other Pasture & Range Articles |
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by Jerry Baker |
Bermudagrass is widely adapted and serves as the primary forage base for many livestock producers in southern Oklahoma and north Texas. Evaluation of its varieties has been an integral part of the Noble Foundation's forage testing program since 1967.
The current trial includes eleven varieties or experimental strains and was established in May 1996. The test has been clipped three times during the 1999 growing season: May 20, June 14, and July 7. Forage yields have been excellent through the first half of the season, with an average total of 6,957 pounds per acre for the eleven entries, of which 66% was harvested by June 14.
Despite the heat and drought of last summer, the bermudagrass survived and responded very well to the milder temperatures and abundant rain in the fall, when about 32% of last year's total average production was harvested. Continued mild temperatures through the winter and ample rainfall in the spring have favored excellent forage growth through midsummer this year. None of the entries had any visible winter injury. All initiated spring growth and exhibited a similar growth pattern.
| Pounds Dry Forage per acre | ||||
| Clipping dates | ||||
| Variety | 5/20 | 6/14 | 7/7 | Total |
| Tifton 85 | 2270 | 3005 | 2554 | 7829 |
| STW 15-11 | 2957 | 2436 | 2421 | 7814 |
| 74 x 12-6 | 2233 | 2979 | 2457 | 7669 |
| Hardie | 2954 | 2312 | 2347 | 7613 |
| Coastal | 2023 | 2789 | 2570 | 7382 |
| Russell | 2763 | 2312 | 2230 | 7305 |
| Midland 99 | 1734 | 2468 | 2738 | 6940 |
| Jiggs | 2008 | 2253 | 2347 | 6608 |
| Midland | 1886 | 2049 | 2191 | 6126 |
| Tifton 44 | 1689 | 2086 | 2202 | 5977 |
| Quickstand | 561 | 2372 | 2335 | 5268 |
| Average | 2098 | 2460 | 2399 | 6957 |
Since the initiation of the test in 1996, the winters have been relatively mild in southern Oklahoma. In this test, 'Tifton 85' has produced well with minimal cold injury and loss of stand, but we still do not have sufficient data to determine how successfully it can be grown in southern Oklahoma and north Texas. Other research data suggest that it is less cold tolerant than 'Coastal', which is grown only in the southern states and extreme southern and southeastern Oklahoma.
A new bermudagrass variety, Midland 99, tested as 74 x 21-6), was released officially in 1999 by the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station in cooperation with the Noble Foundation, the United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, and the Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri Agricultural Experiment Stations. The variety has been tested by the Noble Foundation since 1990 and at many other locations in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri.
'Midland 99' is a dependable, highly productive variety that has outyielded 'Midland' and consistently rivaled or exceeded performance of 'Tifton 44', which is currently the most commercially important variety grown in Oklahoma. This spring Foundation class sprigs from the Noble Foundation's Red River Demonstration and Research Farmnear Burneyville were made available to growers. According to Oklahoma Foundation Seed Stock's officials, there was excellent response and interest in purchasing the variety; approximately 7,900 bushels of sprigs were sold to more than 80 vendors from Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and New Mexico.