Pasture Persistence & Genetic Gain Cáthal Wims on behalf of colleagues in the Feed and Farms Systems Team
Dec 31, 2015
Pasture Persistence & Genetic Gain
Cáthal Wims on behalf of colleagues in the Feed and Farms Systems Team
Pasture Persistence Project
• Improve our understanding of pasture persistence
• Collect information on:
– Perennial Ryegrass cultivar
– Sowing rate
– Characteristics of surviving plants
vs.
How are we doing this…• 4 cultivars
– Nui SE– Commando AR37– Alto AR37– Halo AR37
• 5 sowing rates– 6, 12, 18, 24 and 30 kg/ha
• 3 sites– Northland; Waikato; Canterbury (irrigated)
What we found so far…
• Modern cultivars are not less persistent than Nui – In fact, could be reverse
• Nui based pastures higher % weed species
• Sowing rate – 12 – 24 kg seed/ha = similar performance– Opportunity to lower seeding rates under ideal sowing
conditions
Genetic Gain in Ryegrass • Gain delivered by plant breeding?
– Old vs. modern cultivars?
• Trials established in Waikato and Canterbury
• Cultivars included– Mid and late heading Diploids– Late and very late heading Tetraploids
Measuring gains in…• Dry Matter Yield• Pasture Quality • Persistency
• Evaluated under grazing
gains in profitability being delivered by plant breeding to NZ dairy farmers
• Late and very late heading cultivars
– Delayed reproductive development
– Fewer reproductive tillers
Less of this in late spring and early summer
Heading dates
In summary• Work underway to…
– better understand perennial ryegrass persistence– Comparing old vs. modern cultivars
• No evidence that modern cultivars are less persistent than Nui
• Plant breeding has successfully altered heading date– Delayed reproductive development in spring