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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lincoln, Nebraska » Wheat, Sorghum and Forage Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #308682
Title: Registration of 'Newell' Smooth Bromegrass

Author
item Vogel, Kenneth
item Mitchell, Robert - Rob
item Waldron, Blair
item Haferkamp, Marshall
item Berdahl, John
item ERICKSON, GALEN - University Of Nebraska
item KLOPFENSTEIN, TERRY - University Of Nebraska

Submitted to: Journal of Plant Registrations
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/31/2014
Publication Date: 12/19/2014
Citation: Vogel, K.P., Mitchell, R., Waldron, B.L., Haferkamp, M.R., Berdahl, J.D., Erickson, G., Klopfenstein, T. 2014. Registration of 'Newell' Smooth Bromegrass. Journal of Plant Registrations. 9:35-40.

Interpretive Summary: Smooth bromegrass is the most widely used pasture grass in the Midwest and Northeastern states of the USA. Because previous research on other grasses demonstrated that improving forage digestibility improved beef cattle gains per animal, total gains per acre, and net profits without any other additional inputs, ARS scientists stationed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have spent several decades developing and testing a widely adapted smooth bromegrass cultivar with improved forage digestibility. The result of this research is the new smooth bromegrass cultivar ‘Newell’ which was jointly released by USDA-ARS and the University of Nebraska in March 2014. In regional small plot trials, Newell produced forage with greater forage digestibility than the widely used smooth bromegrass cultivar, Lincoln, and equivalent or greater forage yields. In a replicated grazing trial in eastern Nebraska, beef yearlings grazing Newell pastures for a three-year period produced significantly greater average daily gains and beef production per acre than yearlings grazing Lincoln. At current cattle prices the increased net return from the Newell pastures as compared to the Lincoln pastures is over $40 per acre per year.

Technical Abstract: ‘Newell’ (Reg. No. CV-xxxx, PI 671851) smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.) is a steppe or southern type cultivar that is primarily adapted in the USA to areas north of 40o N lat. and east of 100o W long. that have 500 mm or more annual precipitation or in areas that have similar climate conditions because of elevation or latitude. It was developed to replace ‘Lincoln’ which is the most widely used smooth bromegrass cultivar in the region by improving its forage digestibility. Newell bromegrass was developed by four generations of population improvement breeding for in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) and forage yield using Lincoln as the base population. In regional small plot trials Newell produced forage with greater IVDMD than Lincoln and equivalent or greater forage yields. In a replicated grazing trial in eastern NE, beef yearlings grazing Newell for a three-year period produced significantly greater average daily gains and beef production per hectare than yearlings grazing Lincoln bromegrass.