RD1 Green Pasture Pack

Green Pack impresses

Proven genetics combined with careful establishment have got 15ha of RD1 Green Pasture Pack off to an excellent start on one Matamata farm this season.

Neil and Donna Gaskell milk 400 Jerseys on 103ha of free-draining Waihau sandy loam, and are currently on track for their 2011/12 budget of 162,000kgMS.

It's good early country, fertile and well maintained, with average rainfall of 1,375mm. Mean calving date is August 1 and the Gaskells typically milk through to May 1.

Theirs is a grade 4 system, utilising 250tDM of palm kernel, 150tDM maize silage grown on the property, and a further 100tDM maize silage imported. Heifers are sent away to grazing; the cows winter at home.

Neil's renewed 95% of the farm over the past 10 years and is now on his second round, using both crop to grass and grass to grass. He latched onto novel endophyte early, and while repeated drought and black beetle dealt harshly to his AR1 pastures, their initial performance brought a welcome improvement in both MS production and animal health.

Sowing Tolosa ryegrass in 2002 brought NEA2 endophyte to their farm, and as soon as he heard there was a new version of this cultivar on the market last autumn (Trojan), he became very interested in trying it.

Hence 15ha of Green Pasture Pack was sown last March with the encouragement of the Gaskells' RD1 Technical Sales Representative Greg Zeuren.

No corners were cut. Neil says taking care with new grass in the first year of establishment always pays off, and Trojan is no exception.

Fertiliser is kept 'up to the optimum'; Agricote seed treatment is a must and a broadleaf weed spray for the likes of hedge mustard, buttercup and chickweed is a proven investment prior to the first grazing.

"I have tried not spraying, but cutting corners doesn't pay. It's a big investment, re-grassing, so getting it right is vital."

He waits until new paddocks pass the pluck test before the first grazing, and keeps a close eye on soil conditions.

"You've got to watch that you don't damage it with hooves in that first winter. We on-off graze, or don't graze new paddocks at all when it's wet."

Trojan grew 'like a Bealey' but with much denser tillers, was ready for its second full grazing by the end of May and kept growing (and feeding cows) right through winter, he says. "So far it's had an excellent start. The cows love it too."

SPECIES: Perennial Ryegrass

ENDOPHYTE TYPE: NEA2

STOCK SUITABILITY: All

DIPLOID/TETRAPLOID: Diploid

SEASONAL GROWTH/FLOWERING DATE: Late flowering (+16 days). Trojan grows more evenly throughout the year - no need for separate 'winter' or 'summer' producers.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Trojan has a combination of features never seen before in a single perennial ryegrass. It has proved itself an exceptional cultivar, out-performing every benchmark. Trojan comes with NEA2 endophyte for staggers free grazing with resistance to adult Black Beetle. It is available in the new RD1 Green Pasture Pack.

Pack contents:

Agriseeds Trojan Perennial Ryegrass  22kg
Agriseeds Kotare White Clover  1.5kg
Agriseeds Weka White Clover  1.5kg
Total pack weight 25kg

To find out more about the RD1 Green Pasture Pack, have a word with your RD1 Technical Sales Representative this autumn.