Growth, Yield, and Quality of Teff Forage In Response to Seeding Rate, N Fertilization, and Harvest Timing.

Teff (Eragrostis tef) is a warm season annual grass from Ethiopia that has recently begun to draw interest from growers in Utah and many other states as a forage crop.  Little is known about the relationship of teff forage yield and quality in response to varying N fertilization, seeding rates and cutting timings.  The objective of this study is to find which combination of N, seeding rate, and cutting timing will optimize teff forage production.  Studies were conducted at Kaysville, UT and Yerrington, NV in 2010 and 2011.  Treatments were arranged in a randomized complete block split-split plot with harvest timing (boot and full-head) as the whole plot, N application rate (0, 28, 56, and 112 kg/ ha^-1) as the sub-plot, and seeding rate (2.2, 5.6, 9.0, and 12.3 kg/ ha^-1) as the sub-sub-plot.  Plots were harvested twice over the course of the growing season and each plot was replicated four times.  Teff yield, moisture content, tiller number, and lodging were measured in the field.  NDF, dNDF, IVTD, and protein of teff forage were determined through NIRS.  Seeding rate had little to no effect on teff quality or yield.  Teff yield and protein content increased with increasing rates of N but had little effect on other quality measures.  The full-head harvest timing was higher yielding than harvest in the boot stage, but quality was significantly lower.