It has a lower pH limit of 4.5. Seeding of Italian ryegrass is often followed by seeding with perennial species the following year. Although Italian ryegrass is one of the most commonly used grasses for revegetating burned sites, its use is controversial.
Italian ryegrass is grown for winter pasture, hay, and silage.
In the United States it is cultivated primarily on the Atlantic Coast, in southern humid areas, and on the Pacific Coast west of the Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada. There are over 150 recognized cultivars of Italian and perennial ryegrasses. In western Oregon, where most of the Italian ryegrass seed is produced, seed remains dormant in the cold, wet soil during winter and then volunteers in crops when fields are plowed.