Teffgrass shows potential as warm-season hay crop

Arkansas

TEFFGRASS—The University of Arkansas will be testing teff to examine its potential as a forage. (U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture photo by Dirk Philipp.)

An Ethiopian grass used as a grain crop in Africa, India, Australia and South America that shows promise as a hay An Ethiopian grass used as a grain crop in Africacrop will be included in a demonstration/research trial in Fayetteville this summer, said Dirk Philipp, assistant professor-forages for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

Teff is probably most well known as the grain used in making injera, a spongy flatbread common in Ethiopian meals. It was first grown as a forage crop in the United States in 2003.

"Recently county agents and producers asked about teff and wanted to learn more about it," he said. Researchers working with the warm-season grass "will be evaluating fertilizer rates and planting dates and their effect on yield and forage quality."

Teff is a very leafy plant with shallow roots and very tiny seeds--1.3 million seeds per pound. It is also very frost sensitive.

As forage, it has a total digestible nutrient content of 55 to 64 percent and with crude protein of 9 to 14 percent, comparable in range to other warm-season grasses such as bermudagrass width a TDN of 40 to 79 percent and crude protein of 4 to 18 percent.

"Consensus of information that is available points to use as hay as the most feasible, followed by silage," Philipp said. "It's less suitable for grazing. Because of its shallow root system, cattle may pull up plants."

However Philipp said teff would be feasible as part of a crop rotation, used after winter-killed alfalfa.

It's sometimes called "an emergency forage," meaning "that producers should expect relative quick growth if conditions are right," he said. "Since it's an warm season annual, teff can be established from seeds, serves as forage on a location where crop rotation is useful or scheduled, and the hay quality is quite good."

To grow it, teff needs soil temperatures of 60 degrees Fahrenheit, which usually means "seeding around mid-may in the northern part of Arkansas and earlier in the south," he said. "Planting is possible until July, but that will reduce the overall yield and number of cuttings."

Teff's phosphorous and potassium requirements are similar to perennial cool season grasses. Once up, producers need to be aware of the grass's tendency to lodge once the seedhead forms.

"For hay silage, producers should cut teff in late-vegetative, boot, or very early head stage," Philipp said. "Schedule a cutting about 45 to 50 days after planting for first cut and 40 to 45 days between cuttings.

Teff can yield between 3.5 to 6 tons an acre.

Date: 05/21/2012