• High Yield
• Fast Establishment/Vigor
• High Feed Value
• Good Cold Tolerance
• Mid-Late Maturity
• Great Disease Resistance
• Excellent for capturing excessive Nitrates

Big Daddy Tetraploid Annual Ryegrass is an advanced generation synthetic variety derived from intermasting the most robust crown rust resistant selections in Florida nurseries with the most robust stem rust tolerant selection in Oregon. Big Daddy was cycled for four years in both locations. Strong selection pressure was maintained to ensure vigor, forage yield, regrowth, and early forage yield.

Big Daddy is a very leafy and high yielding variety. The excellent seedling vigor of Big Daddy helps ensure a good start for high milk producing dairy pasture and great animal gains in beef herds on pasture. Big Daddy will often be ready to graze in 1.5 to 2 months after it has been planted because it establishes so quickly.

General Characteristic
Described by the University of Florida

Maturity	Mid-Late
Crown Rust Index:	2.7 (Highly Resistant)
Cold Tolerance	Medium

From the University of Florida's Fall 2004 Forage Update (complete report):
"Recommended varieties are Jumbo, Florlina, Surrey, Jackson, Magnolia, Rio, Gulf, Southern Star, Big Daddy, TAM 90, Passeral Plus, Ed, Brigadier, Surrey II, Stampede, Fantastic, Graze-N-Gro, King, Prine, and Beefbuilder III. (Other new varieties may be suitable but have not been adequately tested in Florida.)"

Using Big Daddy to capture excessive nitrates

A two-year study conducted in Lodi, CA evaluated a number of annual ryegrass varieties in a dairy lagoon water project to determine a feasible cropping system that would help dairies use more of their lagoon water. The results found "ryegrass to be very tolerant under saturated soil conditions more so than most other winter forages. It is able to withstand excessvie water and nitrogen amounts...Annual ryegrass can accumulate high levels of nitrates under continuous supply of manure water that is dangerous to livestock." They go on to describe that feed quality, palatability, and digestibility are all superb for dairies, as well as for other likestock (even horses.)

The study was conducted in 2000-01 and then again in 2001-02. First year data was collect only on one cutting, while the second year data included two cuttings.

Dairy Lagoon Study - Lodi, CA

Lodi, CA 2001-02 2-yrs, 3 harvests
	1st Harvest 4/26/01	1st Harvest 4/3/2002	2nd Harvest 5/8/2002
Big Daddy Tetraploid ARG	3618 a	3832 ab	3336 bdc
Bartali Italian Ryegrass	3490 a	3470 abcd	3501 abcd
Bison Intermediate Ryegrass	3469 a	3563 abc	3277 cd
Westerwold Annual Ryegrass	3460 a	3701 abc	3511 abcd
FLX1995X4NLS Annual Ryegrass	3410 a	3224 bcde	4163 ab
Ribeye Annual Ryegrass	3322 ab	3470 abcd	3675 abcd
Surrey Annual Ryegrass	3232 ab	3444 abcd	4061 abc
Jumbo Tetraploid Annual Ryegrass	3176 ab	4142 a	3753 abcd
Bartissimo Italian Ryegrass	3070 ab	-	-
Hercules Annual Ryegrass	2996 abc	3283 abcde	3908 abcd
Major Annual Ryegrass	2774 abc	3384 abcde	3678 abcd
Barmultra Italian Ryegrass	2650 abc	3133 bdce	3192 d
I700 Triticale	2351 bc	-	-
Barista Tetraploid Perennial Ryegrass	1976 c	-	-
I700 Triticale		-	-
Ns-1 Diploid	-	3692 abc	4340 a
Paserel Plus Diploid		3220 bde	3397 bcd
Graze-N-Gro	-	3136 bcde	3933 abcd
Tetrone Tetraploid Annual	-	3037 bcde	3516 abcd
Axcella Diploid Annual	-	3025 bcde	3502 abcd
Tetralite Teltraploid Intermediate	-	2909	3193 d
Aurelia Italian Diploid Annual	-	2696	3565 abcd
Monarque Italian Tetraploid Annual	-	2541	3241 cd

More information about nitrogen uptake is available from the UC Davis' UC SAREP Online Cover Crop Database.