September 2012
23
Cultivation
“In the field”
Pasture tips with Pasture First by Nigel Johnston
Choose carefully when selecting varieties to sow winter activity between the varieties. While certainly not the number one priority for perennial ryegrasses, the speed of establishment and growth through the first winter can have an influence on the performance of that variety through the following spring period and especially on the critical first and second grazing rotations following calving and lambing.
Last month I outlined the pasture evaluation trial that Pasture First is running near Springston to assess the performance of a number of different perennial and Italian ryegrass varieties available on the market
For Italian ryegrasses, this first period after sowing is very important as these Italian ryegrasses are designed
to provide significant periods of feed in a shorter period of time.Looking at the Perennial ryegrasses, there was a 26% difference between the top variety and the bottom variety. The top yielding variety grew 2241kg DM/ha with the lowest variety yielding only 1712kg DM/ha. It was also interesting to note that the top five varieties were recently released varieties bred by leading New Zealand seed companies, while the common variety ‘Nui’ (although not the lowest yielder) was 14% below the highest.
In the Italian ryegrass trial, there was a 13% difference between the highest and lowest yielding varieties. Again, the highest performing varieties were relatively recent NZ bred varieties, while the two lowest yielding varieties were Moata and a European bred cultivar. As mentioned above, it is too early to make any conclusions at this stage on the merits of each individual variety. However, what the results so
far do indicate is that there are significant differences between the performance of different varieties, and therefore careful consideration should be given to a variety yield potential when deciding which variety to sow. While grazing management, fertility, and environmental conditions will ultimately decide how much a cultivar will grow, it is important to remember that if you get these factors right, then the choice of cultivar does have
an effect on the yield potential of your pasture. ‘Contact Us’ form at the right hand side of any webpage. Include in the subject line — ‘Trial results’. For more information contact Nigel Johnston on 03 347 6440 or 027 777 2877 or visit www.pasturefirst.co.nz Nigel Johnston is an independent pasture agronomist and Managing Director of Pasture First.
CULTIVATION & DRILLING by
The trial contains most commercial varieties of perennial and Italian ryegrasses available and includes perennial ryegrass varieties containing five different types of endophytes.
E N T E R P R I S E S LT D
Although the trial was only sown in autumn, and it is too early to make any real conclusions on each variety’s performance, it was very interesting to see that there were major differences in establishment speed and
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