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Adapted warm season grasses have potential for both summer forage and biomass production in eastern Canada. A field study was conducted in 1995 and 1996 to determine the response of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) cv. Cave‐in‐Rock, Pathfinder, and Sunburst to nitrogen (N) fertilization at 0,75, or 150 kg ha⁻¹ and three harvest schedules in a short season area. The grass was harvested at 4‐ or 6‐wk intervals or left uncut until the end of the season. These treatments were combined in a split‐plot design in each of three blocks on a St. Bernard sandy clay loam (Typic Hapludalf). Herbage yield and herbage N concentration were determined at each harvest for the cutting schedules. Herbage yields revealed a cultivar × N × harvest schedule interaction in 1996, while in 1995 only the two‐way interactions between cultivar × harvest schedule and N × harvest schedule were evident (P < 0.05). Total yield …