Seed Distributors - Science Based Pasture®

LUCERNE FEEDBACK
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• FESTULOLIUM FEEDBACK
• FORAGE CEREALS FEEDBACK
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• GOLD STRIKE

Ken Iken - Perun Festulolium
PERUNA new pasture species demonstrated its good potential on the property of Ken Iken at Crookwell in the southern tablelands of New South Wales. Mr Iken, who runs a poll Hereford stud on the property, planted two hectares of Perun festulolium as a trial this season and was impressed with its performance. Perun festulolium is a cross between Italian ryegrass and meadow fescue and was sowed at a rate of 25 kilograms per hectare in March. It was planted alongside a perennial ryegrass in a direct comparison to see its performance. “The Perun certainly outshone the ryegrass initially,” Mr Iken said. He said the establishment and early growth of the Perun was very good and it covered the ground very quickly. “When it was established in late winter it was the paddock that stood out more than anything else,” Mr Iken said. “When we did graze it we couldn’t get enough mouths to keep up with it,” Mr Iken said. He said the crop had perfect growing conditions through September and October and reached a good height. “We are looking at it returning for next year,” Mr Iken said. “It will have every opportunity to be there as long as it can.” The meadow fescue component of the species has meant it produces a very good root system that will generally go much deeper into the soil structure. “I’m sure it’s going to have an extensive root system,” Mr Iken said. He said Perun had a huge place in the area, which is 1000 metres above sea level and characterised by very cold winters. “High performance ryegrasses love this climate. We are looking for good quality feed.” This season the Perun stayed green right through until Christmas and demonstrated an ability to produce a bulk of feed for many months through the year.
Ken Iken, Crookwell NSW

Hardigreen Stud - Perun Festulolium
A range of ryegrass species was used successfully to fatten cattle on the Hardigreen Park Santa Gertrudis Stud properties located at Wallabadah, east of Quirindi, New South Wales. Stud manager, Colin Patterson said they planted ryegrass species that included Abundant tetraploid annual Italian, Tetrone tetraploid annual Italian, Magnum hybrid tetraploid and Perun Festulolium. He said the different types were grown as an alternative to oats with all performing well under the good conditions of the season. The majority of the ryegrass paddocks were planted in early April, although the Perun Festulolium, which is a cross between Italian ryegrass and meadow fescue, was not sown until late May. Mr Patterson said the ryegrass was used on one property to grow weaner bulls out and on another property to fatten steers and heifers. He said some milk tooth cattle were sold in late spring at a weight of 600 kilograms. This amazed the agents who commented on how heavy the cattle were considering their age. Most of the paddocks that contained the ryegrass were between 10 and 16 hectares in size with the cattle first introduced in early June. From this point the cattle were rotated around the different strips through winter and spring and into summer. Mr Patterson said a mob of 65 head rotated between an 11 hectare and 16 hectare paddock continuously for between four and five months. In another area 62 weaner bulls grazed a 10 hectare paddock for five weeks before they were able to get on top of the feed. The ryegrass species were planted primarily as a high protein feed to fatten the cattle although it also provided a good weed control option. Mr Patterson said the ryegrass was doing a very good job of suppressing the weeds with its strong vigour. He said it compared very favourably to other options such as oats which would normally be used on the property. The ryegrass species were planted at a rate of between 18 and 20 kilograms per hectare with DAP applied at sowing. This followed a pre-plant application of lime and sulphate of ammonia. A trial was conducted in one paddock, which pitted the different ryegrass varieties against each other. Mr Patterson said there was good vigour from all ryegrasses in the trial early in the season and they had performed similarly through until spring. The different maturities and characteristics of the ryegrasses will be better demonstrated later in the season or during the second year of production. “I am particularly interested in the Perun (Festulolium) and might try it in one of the bigger paddocks next year,” Mr Patterson said. He said the Perun was sown later than was ideal, but seem to hang on and keep producing until quite late in the season. The ryegrass paddocks were still being grazed in November and were particularly impressive on another property located at a higher altitude which traditionally had cooler conditions going into summer. Hardigreen Park Santa Gertrudis Stud has their annual bull sale in September each year.
Hardigreen Stud, Quirindi NSW

Joe Connelly - Perun Festulolium
A blend of ryegrass species has performed particularly well on the property of Joe Connelly at Benambra in the Alpine region of Victoria. Mr Connelly said he first used the mix of Perun Festulolium, Jeanne Tetraploid Italian Ryegrass and another ryegrass as an experiment in 2009 to lift production and stocking rates. That year the ryegrass blend was planted to less than 2 hectares (4.5 acres) and, in an ordinary season, Mr Connelly cut 62 big square bales off it. The success of the initial blend led to it being planted to 6.5 hectares in 2010 with 8 kilograms of each variety being sown per hectare. Mr Connelly said the blend was planted in late April and was then stocked through August and September with 44 head of young cattle and 45 lambs. “The feed was getting away from them and so we shut the paddock up and left it for hay,” he said. The lambs were the tail-end animals not sold the previous year and did exceptionally well on the feed, bringing very good prices when sold in spring. “They did really well on it,” Mr Connelly said. “It is a very sweet feed.” He said the late maturity of both the Perun Festulolium and Jeanne Tetraploid Italian Ryegrass meant the cattle and sheep could continue to graze the feed well into spring. The blend hadn’t gone to head and produced a lot of bulk in anticipation of a hay or silage cut in early summer. As well as providing good bulk and quality feed, the blend has also been used as a handy break crop in a paddock that had originally been infested with barley grass before being rotated to oats and finally the ryegrass mix. Mr Connelly said he expected two to three years of production from the paddock and the success of it would lead to a further planting into a 30 acre area next season. He said the paddock planted last year had received 600 kilograms per hectare of lime the previous season and one tonne of single super at planting. “The germination and vigour was very good.” By introducing the ryegrass blend to the property in the high country Mr Connelly has lifted production of the paddock over the traditional pastures and native clover of the area. It has allowed a good break crop option to control weed species and provided a good grazing option well into spring and hay or silage in early summer.
Joe Connelly, Benambra VIC

January planted Pasture Mix an excellent option in Walcha - Perun Festulolium
An innovative pasture mix planted in the last week of January, 2010 provided early feed and grazing throughout the year on the property of Jo and Wayne Bacon at Walcha, east of Tamworth in New South Wales. Jo Bacon said they planted a blend of seed which contained white clover, plantain, chicory and the new Perun festulolium variety. Perun festulolium is a cross between Italian ryegrass and meadow fescue and combines the positive qualities of both parent species. It has a similar quality profile to an Italian ryegrass and the adaptation and root depth of the meadow fescue. Mrs Bacon said they looked at the festulolium as an option because of its ability to come back for a number of
seasons rather than being used up in the one year. “We normally put ryegrass in but thought we’d give it a go to get some years out of it.” She said, after sowing 55 acres of the blend at the end of January, they were able to graze the pasture with 250 lambs within six weeks. The lambs had originally been weaned onto a brassica crop and picked up condition well when they were placed on the festulolium pasture in March. “Within a month they fattened up quickly. We gave it a spell and put other lambs in.” The original lambs were sold and replaced with 300 head which also performed well. During the winter months the paddock was grazed by 35 steers which were later replaced by mobs of cows in the spring and then steers in early summer to take advantage of the clover in the mix. Mrs Bacon said the paddock had a particularly good run with excellent seasonal conditions throughout the year. By mixing Perun with the white clover and herbs they were able to extend the season through until December and provide quality feed. The pasture mix was able to supply good grazing options over a period of ten months. She said the production from the Perun was equal to, or may have even been a bit better than a traditional ryegrass used in the area.
Jo Bacon, Walcha NSW

Persistence of Perun impressive at Glencoe - Perun Festulolium
The persistence of Perun Festulolium was impressive on the Young property at Glencoe in south-east of South Australia. Adrian Young said they normally relied on annual ryegrasses on their dryland areas but were encouraged to put in a trial piece of Perun back in the autumn of 2010. A four hectare paddock was planted to a tetrapolid annual ryegrass in one section and Perun festulolium in the other. Both were sown at 25 kilograms per hectare into a paddock of testing deep sandy soil where persistence of pasture species had generally been an issue. Mr Young said the Perun showed excellent vigour and it took advantage of the wet spring and summer conditions. In 2011 it showed excellent pasture density and remained vegetative throughout the season. The dryland area complements irrigation as a bit of extra feed and the Perun has shown good adaptability over the two years of production. Persistence of Perun can be attributed to its meadow fescue parentage which provides extra root depth and the ability to hang on during adverse conditions.
Adrian Young, Glencoe SA