Response of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) to renovation in Australian dairy pastures
M. N. Callow A G , W. J. Fulkerson B , D. J. Donaghy C , R. J. Morris D , G. Sweeney E and B. Upjohn FA Qld Department of Primary Industries, Mutdapilly Research Station, Peak Crossing, Qld 4306, Australia.
B University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia.
C Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research, Burnie, Tas. 7320, Australia.
D Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Bunbury, WA 6230, Australia.
E South Australian Research and Development Institute, Flaxley Agriculture Centre, Flaxley, SA 5153, Australia.
F New South Wales Agriculture, Tumut, NSW 2720, Australia.
G Corresponding author. Email: mark.callow@dpi.qld.gov.au
Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45(12) 1559-1565 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA04043
Submitted: 10 March 2004 Accepted: 4 August 2004 Published: 19 January 2006
Abstract
This study reports on the effect of oversowing perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) into a degraded perennial ryegrass and white clover (Trifolium repens L.) pasture to extend its productive life using various intensities of seedbed preparation. Sites in New South Wales (NSW), Western Australia (WA), South Australia (SA) and Tasmania (Tas.) were chosen by a local group of farmers as being degraded and in need of renovation. Control (nil renovation) and medium (mulch and graze, spray with glyphosphate and sow) renovation treatments were common to all sites whereas minimum (mulch and graze, and sow) and full seedbed (graze and spray with glyphosphate and then full seedbed preparation) renovation were imposed only at some sites. Plots varied in area from 0.14 to 0.50 ha, and were renovated then sown in March or April 2000 and subsequently grazed by dairy cows. Pasture utilisation was estimated from pre- and post-grazing pasture mass assessed by a rising plate pasture meter.
Utilised herbage mass of the renovated treatments was significantly higher than control plots in period 1 (planting to August) and 2 (first spring) at the NSW site only. There was no difference among treatments in period 3 (first summer) at any site, and only at the WA and NSW sites in period 4 (March to July 2001) was there a response to renovation. As a result, renovation at the NSW site only significantly increased ryegrass utilisation over the whole experimental period.
Ryegrass plant density was higher at the NSW, WA (excluding minimum renovation) and Tas. (excluding full renovation) sites 6 months after renovation but this was only sustained for 12 months for the minimum and medium treatments at the NSW and Tas. sites, respectively, presumably due to reduced competition from naturalised C4 summer grasses [kikuyu (Pennisetum clandestinum) and paspalum (Paspalum dilatatum)] in NSW. At the NSW, WA and SA sites, the original ryegrass plant density was low (<35 plants/m2) compared with the Tas. site where density was around 185/m2.
The response to renovating a degraded perennial ryegrass pasture varied between sites in Australia. Positive responses were generally small and were most consistent where renovation removed competing C4 summer grasses.
Acknowledgments
Statistical support was provided by Ms Pat Pepper, Department of Primary Industries, Queensland, and this is gratefully acknowledged. We also appreciate Phillip Borchard in New South Wales, John Baker and Leonarda Paszkudzka-Baizert in Western Australia, and David Franks in Tasmania for their invaluable technical assistance.
Earle DF, McGowan AA
(1979) Evaluation and calibration of an automated rising plate meter for estimating dry-matter yield of pasture. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 19, 337–343.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Fulkerson WJ, Donaghy DJ
(2001) Plant-soluble carbohydrate reserves and senescence — key criteria for developing an effective grazing management system for ryegrass-based pastures: a review. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 41, 261–275.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Fulkerson WJ, Slack K
(1993) Estimating mass of temperate and tropical pastures in the sub tropics. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 33, 865–869.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Fulkerson WJ, Slack K
(1994) Leaf number as a criterion for determining defoliation time for Lolium perenne. 1. Effect of water soluble carbohydrates and senescence. Grass and Forage Science 49, 373–377.
Hamilton-Manns M,
Ritchie WR,
Baker CJ, Kemp PD
(1995) Effects of sowing date on ryegrass and tall fescue establishment by direct-drilling. Proceedings of the Agronomy Society of New Zealand 25, 43–46.
Lowe KF,
Bowdler TM,
Casey ND, Moss RJ
(1999) Performance of temperate perennial pastures in the Australian subtropics. 1. Yield, persistence and pasture quality. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 39, 663–676.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Michell P
(1982) Value of a rising plate-meter for estimating herbage mass of grazed perennial ryegrass — white clover swards. Grass and Forage Science 37, 81–87.
Reeves M,
Fulkerson WJ, Kelloway RC
(1996) Forage quality of kikuyu (Pennisetum clandestinum): the effect of time of defoliation and nitrogen fertiliser application and in comparison with perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne). Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 47, 1349–1359.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Thom ER,
Wildermoth DD, Taylor MJ
(1993) Growth and persistence of perennial ryegrass and white clover direct-drilled into paspalum dominant dairy pasture treated with glyphosphate. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 36, 197–207.
