Keep Cows Happy and Well-Fed This Winter

Fast establishment means less downtime between sowing and grazing.

For farmers wanting to follow up with a bumper summer crop in a few months, there’s another advantage too – strong weed competition.

Pasture specialist Graham Kerr, Barenbrug, says using an annual ryegrass like Racer is a common first step in preparing weedy, poor-producing paddocks for break crops like maize silage and ultimately full pasture renewal.

“Racer’s aggressive enough to help suppress weeds at the start of this process. It’s ready to eat sooner, and because it’s a high energy tetraploid, your cows will appreciate it as well.”

Racer takes over from Hogan annual ryegrass, which has been a market favourite in recent years.

It brings increased winter yield to compensate for slower daily growth from existing pastures during dry-off and in the lead up to calving.

It is unbeaten for winter yield of annual ryegrasses in the latest National Forage Variety Trial industry results for all New Zealand.

Cool season pasture is increasingly the most valuable feed farmers can generate at home, benefiting both farm profitability and emissions intensity.

“Overall, Racer produces 4% more dry matter yield than Hogan, or an extra 190 kg dry matter/ha,” Kerr says.

As well as setting the stage for successful pasture renewal next autumn, Racer is ideal for planting between maize crops, especially where the aim is to maximise the tonnage of high quality feed grown per hectare over 12 months.

In either scenario, sowing Racer gives a great opportunity to start remedying any underlying issues with soil fertility, pH and grass weeds that need time to fix, and can significantly influence the performance of subsequent crops and pasture.

Racer is late heading (+15 days); suits both grazing and high-quality silage and is available for sowing now.

Article supplied by Barenbrug.