21st October 2024
Plant breeders want farmers to make better ryegrass cultivar choices and say the just-released 2024 National Forage Variety Trial (NFVT) results are a great place to start.
Now in their 23rd year of operation, the NFVT summaries are updated annually with the addition of new data gathered from the 25 trials operated across the country each year. The trials are run on industry agreed standards and independently audited so farmers can have complete trust in the performance data for each cultivar across several regional locations.
A series of graphs summarising how each cultivar has performed for dry matter production is freely available for farmers and consultants to view on the NZ Plant Breeding and Research Association (PBRA) website.
Cropmark Seeds technical manager and current chair of the PBRA Forage Technical Committee, Dr Matthew Deighton, would like to see more farmers using the summaries alongside their other sources of agronomy advice when making their next ryegrass cultivar selections.
Deighton says the ongoing NFVT process is a huge undertaking by the PBRA members, but a worthy investment to give farmers a trusted source of data on the average yield performance of most of the annual, Italian, hybrid and perennial ryegrass cultivars currently available or near-release.
“Seed is one of the most important inputs to our farm systems, and these replicated trials provide farmers with the opportunity to compare the dry matter yield performance of a range of cultivars in different locations of the country.”
Deighton says each year’s update helps to highlight the gains achieved by plant breeders and this year is no exception. For instance, the average annual dry matter production of the top performing new perennial ryegrass genetics is 18% greater than the now out-dated Nui ryegrass.
“When you model that increase in dry matter available to a farm system, it delivers a substantial amount of value to a farm business,” he says.
Deighton says as the range of ryegrass cultivars grows, it is important for farmers to seek advice and explore their options so they choose one of the better performing cultivars and endophytes for their particular farm system.
“There’s an impressive range of different diploid and tetraploid ryegrasses available now and significant progress has been made in endophyte technology development, so it’s important that famers investigate the best match to optimise yield, persistence and nutritive value with their livestock enterprise and farm environment.”
“Balancing factors such as yield against persistence and forage digestibility to maximise milk or meat production will depend on a range of factors, including farm location, soil type, pasture rotation and grazing system.”
Deighton says there are high performance tetraploid perennial and short-rotation ryegrasses which are extremely valuable in intensive farm systems with high pasture utilisation and more frequent pasture renewal. But if a farm is operating an extensive, lower-input approach where persistence is more important, a farmer might trade away some yield potential to put greater emphasis on persistence.
PBRA member company RAGT is a regular participant in the NVFT trials and its marketing lead Jessica Chapman says power often comes with the trial data.
“For instance, one of our cultivars has participated in 21 trials across regions from Southland to Northland within the NFVT system, in addition to numerous trials run by RAGT,” she says.
“This extensive participation provides confidence in its potential performance across various environments.”
Chapman says farmers should use the NFVT tables as part of their information-gathering process, alongside a trusted advisor.
“To maximise your pasture investment, it’s crucial to make informed decisions that align with your expectations. Performance data of different ryegrasses under controlled conditions serves as a key decision-making tool,” she says.
“It’s very important to note that all farms are different and while the trial location may not exactly match your farm, the replication of trials in different environments means the results closely replicate your conditions, even if they aren’t a perfect match.”
To view the 2024 NFVT results, visit https://www.pbra.co.nz/trial-data/forage-grasses/