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‘MaxClover’ grazing experiment: I. Annual yields, botanical composition and growth rates of six dryland pastures over nine years
Author(s) -
Mills A.,
Lucas R. J.,
Moot D. J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
grass and forage science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1365-2494
pISSN - 0142-5242
DOI - 10.1111/gfs.12132
Subject(s) - pasture , grazing , perennial plant , agronomy , monoculture , lolium perenne , biology , dry matter , legume
Six dryland pastures were established at Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand, in February 2002. Production and persistence of cocksfoot pastures established with subterranean, balansa, white or Caucasian clovers, and a perennial ryegrass‐white clover control and a lucerne monoculture were monitored for nine years. Total annual dry‐matter (10.0–18·5 t DM ha −1 ) and sown legume yields from the lucerne monoculture exceeded those from the grass‐based pastures in all but one year. The lowest lucerne yield (10 t ha −1 yr −1 ) occurred in Year 4, when spring snow caused ungrazed lucerne to lodge and senesce. Cocksfoot with subterranean clover was the most productive grass‐based pasture. Yields were 8·7–13·0 t DM ha −1 annually. Subterranean clover yields were 2·4–3·7 t ha −1 in six of the nine years which represented 26–32% of total annual production. In all cocksfoot‐based pastures, the contribution of sown pasture components decreased at a rate equivalent to 3·3 ± 0·05% per year ( R 2 = 0·83) and sown components accounted for 65% of total yield in Year 9. In contrast, sown components represented only 13% of total yield in the ryegrass‐white clover pastures in Year 9, and their contribution declined at 10·1 ± 0·9% per year ( R 2 = 0·94). By Year 9, 79% of the 6.6 t ha −1 produced from the ryegrass‐white clover pasture was from unsown species and 7% was dead material. For maximum production and persistence, dryland farmers on 450–780 mm yr −1 rainfall should grow lucerne or cocksfoot‐subterranean clover pastures in preference to ryegrass and white clover. Inclusion of white clover as a secondary legume component to sub clover would offer opportunities to respond to unpredictable summer rainfall after sub clover has set seed.