Redefining pasture performance for NZ farming

Words: Agricom

Agricom’s new generation of perennial ryegrasses is set to revolutionise pastoral farming in New Zealand and provide farmers with a suite of options to maximise pasture performance, persistence and profitability.

Allister Moorhead.

The past five years have seen significant activity for Agricom’s product development manager, Allister Moorhead, as the entire perennial ryegrass portfolio has been refreshed with several exciting releases.

The first of the new generation, Legion, was released in 2019.

Legion replaced Prospect as a late heading diploid all-round ryegrass offering improved autumn production, low aftermath seedhead, and versatility across all farming systems.

Reason followed in 2021, setting a new benchmark for mid heading ryegrasses.

It is one of NZ’s highest performing cultivars for early spring production, yet maintains excellent quality through the summer.

This is thanks to its low aftermath seedhead production and improved disease resistance compared to traditional mid heading cultivars.

While mid heading cultivars are typically well suited for summer dry beef and sheep systems, Reason has seen significant uptake into dairy and finishing systems.

Its high quality forage and dry matter production is competitive with the highest producing late heading genetics available.

The past two years have seen another two releases from Agricom.

Three60 succeeds the iconic ONE50, while Align, described by Moorhead as Agricom’s ‘smartest grass yet’, is set

to revolutionise the use of tetraploid ryegrasses in NZ farming systems.

Replacing ONE50 was always going to be a huge challenge.

Its consistent, robust performance over many years in a wide range of environments and farm systems resulted in it being one of the most widely sown cultivars in NZ over the past 15 years.

After many years of evaluation, the team at Agricom is thrilled to introduce the next generation of late heading diploid perennial ryegrasses: Three60.

Three60 offers marked improvements in dry matter production, low aftermath seedhead and rust tolerance.

Bred from plants sourced across Northland, Waikato, Manawatu, and Canterbury, Three60 boasts a robust lineage of elite genetics.

Its development is grounded in extensive internal and industry trials, solidifying its status as the successor to ONE50.

Agricom’s latest release, Align tetraploid perennial ryegrass, is perhaps one of

the most innovative and revolutionary ryegrasses to enter the NZ market in many years.

Tetraploid ryegrasses can offer increases in animal intake and metabolisable energy compared to diploids.

However, this has traditionally come with trade-offs, including the requirement for more careful management and compromise in tiller density and persistence under grazing. However, Agricom’s ‘smartest grass yet’, Align, redefines expectations for tetraploid ryegrasses.

It possesses high tiller density, particularly when tetraploids are typically prone to pugging damage in winter and spring.

As a very late heading cultivar, Align remains in a vegetative state throughout the summer and autumn period, delivering large amounts of leafy, high quality dry matter production during this time.

It has been an exciting period for Agricom, with the release of Three60 and Align perennial ryegrasses capping off a strong portfolio.

These new additions provide NZ pastoral farmers with a diverse range of improved genetics, offering traits and production capabilities that suit a wide range of farming systems.