Numéro #148

Comparison of ryegrass cultivars in grazing conditions

To sow the right cultivar of perennial ryegrass when establishing a long-duration pasture for grazing is of particular importance, since its persistency will largely depend on this choice. The cultivar should not only be adapted to the local pedo-climatic conditions, but also and above all to the actual grazing conditions that will be met in practice. For a number of years the “Centre de Recherches sur l’Elevage et les Productions fourragères en Haute Belgique” (Animal and Forage Research Centre of Upper Belgium) has been carrying out comparative trials to find the perennial ryegrass cultivars best adapted to grazing. In these trials, which are not official, the characters taken into consideration include vigour, competitiveness, persistency, palatability, resistance to winter and to diseases. The results of the latest trials (1998-1993), made under actual grazing conditions, are summarized here as an example. They shed light on important differences in behaviour between cultivars and tell in favour of taking into account theses characters in the official tests for registration on the national lists. Late-heading cultivars seem to be more appropriate for grazing, and the tetraploids, with a better voluntary intake, are at least as persistent as the diploids.