RD1 Black Pasture Pack

Commando AR37 Persistent and Popular

Dave van den Beuken has a dairy farm situated "halfway between Morrinsville, Cambridge and Hamilton" that covers around 200ha. Here he grazes 530 cows, all of whom happily tuck into a diet of Commando AR37, which he first sowed on his property just over four years ago.

On the recommendation of Cambridge RD1 Technical Sales Representative Brent Bishop, Dave sowed Commando AR37. A proven performer, Commando is a medium-tillered, diploid perennial ryegrass, with a medium flowering date. Commando has a good spread of growth, particularly strong in early-spring and has excellent disease tolerance making it the perfect grass for Dave's particular situation. It was also one of the first cultivars to be commercially available with AR37 novel endophyte.

"The two most important things for us are persistence and palatability," Dave explains, "and Commando gives us both of those every time."

"The first time we put Commando AR37 in I was impressed with it," says Dave, "and the cows took to it straight away. We now do about eight hectares a year, and it's lasted through two droughts."

He adds that despite the fact that the grass went totally brown in both instances the Commando AR37 bounced right back, "and our soil is really wet and heavy in the winter and rock hard with dryness in the summer, so it's definitely persistent. It really seems to withstand pretty much everything that we have thrown at it."

SPECIES: Perennial Ryegrass

ENDOPHYTE TYPE: AR37

STOCK SUITABILITY: All. It is not recommended to sow AR37 endophyte for deer or horse pastures.

DIPLOID/TETRAPLOID: Diploid

SEASONAL GROWTH/FLOWERING DATE: High yielding, with excellent early spring growth.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Commando was bred by AgResearch Grasslands specifically for dairy pastures and other intensive pasture systems. It was developed from persistent plants and intensively selected for production and persistence in a tough environment for ryegrass. This has given Commando an excellent combination of pasture production and persistence. Commando has rapid regrowth in early spring, and strong summer production, making it ideally suited to the seasonal demands of dairy farms.

Pack contents:

Grasslands Commando Perennial Ryegrass  21kg
Grasslands Tribute White Clover  2kg
Grasslands Emerald White Clover  2kg
Total pack weight 25kg

For more information on RD1's Black Pasture Pack with Commando AR37, talk to your local RD1 Technical Sales Representative or visit your local RD1 store today.