Management of New Cultivars for Dryland

Abstract

<jats:p>Some characteristics of seed quality, establishment rates, performance in mixtures and response to grazing management of 5 new pasture plants with potential in dryland are described. On a dry hill country site in the Wairarapa, the contribution of the sown grasses established in separate plots with clovers under rotational grazing was 'Grasslands Wana' cocksfoot 65%; 'Grasslands Maru' phalaris 23%; 'Grasslands Matua' prairie grass 22%; and 'Grasslands Roa' tall fescue 13% after 2 years. The other main grass species was resident perennial ryegrass which established from buried seed (ca. 240 plants/m*) and had a major impact on the establishment and growth of the sown grasses. On a seasonally dry Manawatu flat land soil 3 grazing managementsviz. set stocked all year (S); rotational all year (R); and combination (Cl (set stocked from lambing to drafting and rotational for the remainder of the year) were applied to mixtures of the new cultivars (except that 'Grasslands Apanui' cocksfoot replaced Wana) with ryegrass and white clover stocked at 20 sheep/ha. After 3 years the contribution of the new cultivars was negligible under S and ryegrass was dominant. The R pastures became cocksfoot dominant and Matua (in winter) and chicory (in summer) contributed more than in the S system. The C system produced the most evenly balanced species contribution with only Roa remaining at (5%. A sub-trial with cocksfoot cultivars demonstrated that Wana maintained better production and tiller density ~ll,000/m2 ) than Apanui (1000/m' ) under set stocking IS). Although some of the new cultivars will require specialised management procedures to fulfil their potential in dryland, the increasing and widespread use of Matua prairie grass in farming suggests that these techniques can be adopted in commercial agriculture provided good technical information is available in a management package when the cultivar is released. Keywords: Dryland, grazing management, mixtures, Matua prairie grass, Wana cocksfoot, Roa tall fescue, Maru phalaris, Chicory</jats:p>

Seasonal variation in the morphology of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata) plants and populations in pastures under intensive sheep grazing

“…The cocksfoot cultivars were' Grasslands Apanui' (the standard New Zealand cultivar of erect habit), 'Grasslands Kara' (a new leaf rust-resistant cultivar similar to Apanui), and 'Grasslands Wana' (a new cultivar with greater prostrate habit than Apanui and Kara (Rumball 1982 a, b)). All cocksfoot cultivars had performed well under R and RS managements, but only Wana persisted under S management (Lancashire & Brock 1983). The following nine treatment combinations (management x pasture mixtures) were selected for sampling:…”

Influence of Rhizosphere Ionic Strength on Mineral Composition, Dry Matter Yield and Nutritive Value of Forage Chicory

“…Chicory ( Cichorium intybus L.) is a plant of Mediterranean origin (Vavilov 1992) and might contain water and/or salinity stress tolerance mechanisms as a result of evolutionary processes. When included in a cool‐season sward mixture, chicory can improve dry matter availability to grazing animals during the summer when cool‐season forage growth slows or stops (Lancashire and Brock 1983, Collins and McCoy 1997, Belesky et al. 1999).…”

Growth responses in red deer calves and hinds grazing red clover, chicory or perennial ryegrass/white clover swards during lactation

“…Both red clover and chicory have seasonal growth patterns which coincide more closely with the nutrient requirements of lactating hinds (i.e. high summer/autumn DM production; Lancashire & Brock 1983;R. J. M. Hay, unpublished), and have higher dry matter digestibilities than perennial ryegrass (Ulyatt 1981;Clark et al 1990).…”