Timothy has incorrectly fallen out of favor. It is still the grass of choice in the USA horse industry and is a very popular grazing pasture grass in Holland when combined with perennial ryegrass. Palatability and superior winter hardiness are its most important features. Sixty-five percent of forage grass mixtures in Holland include timothy. From Holland, Barenbrug now has improved varieties which are capable of being multiple grazed and can keep up with the fast ryegrass harvest cycle.
Timothy is a survivor. It does well on wet and heavy textured soils and is often used in cool, wet areas. This species establishes slowly and summer production is often low as it tends to go dormant in hot, dry periods. It is not a strong producer in the fall. Timothy does well in cutting systems but only a few of the new varieties, such as Barenbrug’s Barliza and Barfleo, tolerate intensive grazing management. Timothy has been very successfully bred for late maturity and Barenbrug breeders are now working on improving early varieties. In the U.S.A. timothy is often planted with alfalfa. High yielding, late varieties such as Barliza can be used with intensively cut alfalfa; intensive cutting often kills North American bred varieties.
Timothy is also being used on dairy farms where high soil potassium (K) levels are creating excessive K levels in dry cow rations. Potassium levels can be kept down by selecting a field and not spreading manure or K fertilizer and then growing timothy as it absorbs less K than many other grasses.
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