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Summer production of alternative species in comparison to perennial ryegrass and white clover for high input pasture systems
Citation
Smith, R and Hall, E and Corkrey, R and Parsons, D and Pembleton, K and Rawnsley, R, Summer production of alternative species in comparison to perennial ryegrass and white clover for high input pasture systems, Proceedings of the 17th Australian Society of Agronomy Conference, 20-24 September 2015, Hobart, Australia, pp. 1-4. (2015) [Refereed Conference Paper]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2015 the author
Official URL: http://www.agronomyaustralia.org/
Abstract
The increase in irrigable land in the Midlands region of Tasmania presents an opportunity to increase
animal production, whether it is lamb, dairy or beef. However, challenges including low rainfall (<650 mm
annual average rainfall, high amounts of irrigation are required to maintain soil moisture), high summer
temperatures (days >27°C) and duplex winter wet soils in this region put into question the suitability of the
traditional intensive pasture base of perennial ryegrass Lolium perenne and white clover Trifolium repens.
This study evaluated the performance of alternative grass and legume species under high input management
for diversifying the feedbase in this region. The experiment was sown with 29 pasture treatments consisting
of mixed swards and monocultures of 5 grass species (perennial ryegrass, tall fescue Festuca arundinacea,
coloured brome Bromus coloratus, cocksfoot Dactylis glomerata and phalaris Phalaris hybrid) and 4 legume
species (white clover, red clover Trifolium pratense, strawberry clover Trifolium fragiferum and Caucasian
clover Trifolium ambiguum). The experiment was fully irrigated and nitrogen was applied at 40 kg N/
ha following each harvest event. Dry matter (DM) yield was assessed at six defoliation events between
November 2014 and April 2015. Perennial ryegrass and coloured brome were the best performed grasses,
with coloured brome only significantly (P<0.05) lower than perennial ryegrass on one of the six harvest
dates. The addition of the 4 clover cultivars to each of the 5 grass swards made no significant difference
to yield except where white clover was in combination with phalaris. This study highlights the potential
of coloured brome as an alternative to perennial ryegrass in high input systems although its tolerance of
waterlogging, typical in the Midlands region requires further evaluation.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Conference Paper |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | coloured brome, tall fescue, cocksfoot, phalaris, red clover, DM yield |
| Research Division: | Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences |
| Research Group: | Animal production |
| Research Field: | Animal growth and development |
| Objective Division: | Animal Production and Animal Primary Products |
| Objective Group: | Pasture, browse and fodder crops |
| Objective Field: | Sown pastures (excl. lucerne) |
| UTAS Author: | Smith, R (Dr Rowan Smith) |
| UTAS Author: | Hall, E (Mr Eric Hall) |
| UTAS Author: | Corkrey, R (Dr Ross Corkrey) |
| UTAS Author: | Parsons, D (Dr David Parsons) |
| UTAS Author: | Pembleton, K (Dr Keith Pembleton) |
| UTAS Author: | Rawnsley, R (Dr Richard Rawnsley) |
| ID Code: | 103505 |
| Year Published: | 2015 |
| Deposited By: | Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture |
| Deposited On: | 2015-10-14 |
| Last Modified: | 2018-04-05 |
| Downloads: | 256 View Download Statistics |
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