Grass breeding programmes and the associated trial work are continuing to deliver for Irish dairy cattle and sheep farmers, according to Germinal technical director, Dr. Mary McEvoy.
Dr. McEvoy said: “Farmers want to optimise output while, at the same time, achieving this objective on a sustainable basis.”
Dr. McEvoy identified two fundamental traits associated with current grass clover breeding development work, which reflect this reality.
These are: nitrogen (N) utilisation efficiency and improved protein utilisation efficiency with animals grazing high sugar grasses.
She continued: “New grass varieties are delivering improved efficiencies at farm level. We see this with the performance of the varieties on the recommended list and pasture profit index (PPI). In turn, this is helping to improve the sustainability of farm businesses in every sense.
“Other traits of grass varieties that are delivering significant benefits at farm level include: enhanced dry matter (DM) yields and improved persistency.
“Improved seasonal yield in both spring and autumn are beneficial to farmers, as they try to extend the grazing season and reduce dependency on more expensive bought in feeds.”
“Relative to what would have been the case 30 to 40 years ago, we now have grasses with a much higher concentration of sugars, or water soluble carbohydrates in particular.
“This additional energy is allowing ruminant animals to make better use of the protein in these forages, thereby reducing the levels of N excreted in urine.”
McEvoy spoke at a recent technical seminar, hosted by Germinal Ireland.
She confirmed that April, as opposed to August, was the most appropriate month of the year when it comes to committing to a grass re-seeding programme.
“A spring re-seed gives the newly-sown sward a better opportunity to get established and to grow on, also allowing for multiple grazings before the field is closed for the winter.
“Farmers also have a better opportunity to control weeds with a spring reseed compared to the autumn.”
Grass breeding programmes
Another exciting development, is the ongoing work by Germinal Horizon in their Clover Breeding Programme.
The breeders at Germinal Horizon Aberystwyth, have successfully crossed a Caucasian clover with white clover, resulting in a hybrid clover which has both rhizomes and stolons.
These are known as DoubleRoot, with AberLasting being the first of these varieties available on the market.
Conventional red clovers grow from a single taproot. As a result, they struggle to survive longer than two to three years when grazed intensively.
RedRunner is a newly-developed red clover, which in addition to the tap root, also has stolons – giving it exceptional persistency under grazing.
“RedRunner is currently being trialled under sheep grazing to really test its persistency. We are more than confident that it will do well under Irish conditions.
“As a legume, it will have significant capacity to fix N from the air, although it’s still a few years away from being available commercially,” the technical director confirmed.
Grass disease are not a major issue at the moment, but are becoming more prevalent in Ireland.
“We are seeing more cases of diseases in recently years, although it’s still a relatively small number,” Dr. McEvoy added.
“Proper sward management is important in this regard. A case in point is making sure that very heavy covers are not taken through the autumn.
“There is also some evidence pointing to the greater prevalence of grassland disease in swards established after ground has been in tillage for a period of time,” she continued.
The Germinal Ireland representative is very aware of the spring cereal seed shortage that has been predicted for the Irish cereal sector over the coming weeks.
“This is not the case, where grass seed is concerned. There is plenty of grass and clover seed to meet the needs of Irish farmers wanting to push ahead with a grass-re-seed over the coming weeks,” she said.