Italian ryegrass provides excellent quality forage for up to two years, depending on climate and available moisture. Due to its quick regrowth, very early development in spring and prolonged growing period in the fall this species usually has greater overall productivity than other cool seson grasses. When planted in the spring, most plants will stay vegetative until it has vernalized the following winter. This results in high quality forage production without the low quality stems and seed heads during the first year. Recently, Italian ryegrass has been recognized as the perfect rotation crop for plow down or emergency feed. Crops that follow a stand of Italian ryegrass also show higher yields, compared to other green manure crops.