Valley Diploid Perennial Ryegrass

• Kangaroo Valley germplasm – excellent persistence
• Extremely vigorous winter and early spring production
• Suited to marginal perennial ryegrass areas of 550+mm rainfall
• Widely adapted, semi-erect growth habit and is very deep rooted
• Frost tolerant and hardy cultivar, able to withstand periods of drought
• Summer dormant to enhance long-term persistence
• Establishes well to produce good early feed
• Excellent companion option with early seeded sub-clover or medics
• Ideal for sheep enterprises with fine wool or fat lambs
• Long term pasture option

Seed agronomy table

Heading date	-17 days
Maturity	Early
Lifespan	7 - 10 years
Min Rainfall (mm)	550
Seeding Rate	Kg/Ha
Dryland	8-14
High Rainfall / Irrigation	20-25

Heading date: 0 days = Nui perennial ryegrass.

Blends using this Seed

Grazier Blend

Enterprises for this Seed

Sheep
Beef Cattle
Diary Cattle
Horse
Hay & Silage

Strengths

• Easily established, highly productive and nutritious under grazing, moderate winter and summer growth, rapid regrowth.

Limitations

• Requires moderate to high soil fertility. Does not withstand heavy grazing pressure through drought. Susceptible to cockchafer and cricket damage.

Plant Description

Plant: Densely tufted, multi-tillered perennial with fibrous root system.
Stems: 30-90 cm.
Leaves: fine (~7 mm), dark green, hairless, under surface shiny, blade folded about mid-rib in young shoot, leaf-base usually dark red.
Seedhead: spike ~20 cm, spikelet usually <10 florets/spikelet; awnless lemma.
Seeds: fawn, flat, awnless, ~6mm long. Approx. ~520,000/kg (diploid cvv).

Pasture type and use

Grazing and fodder conservation. Most widely sown pasture grass in temperate regions.

Where it grows

Rainfall: > 550mm+.
Soils: Medium-heavy, moderate-high fertility (eg Olsen P >12, 0-10 cm). Tolerates slight salinity.
Temperature: Cold and frost tolerant, growth constrained by high temperature.

Establishment

Companion species:
Grasses: Perennial ryegrass.
Legumes: white clover, medics and sub clover.
Sowing/planting rates as single species: 10-25 kg/ha.
Sowing/planting rates in mixtures: 5-10 kg/ha.
Sowing time: Autumn and spring.
Fertiliser: P & possibly N at sowing.

Management

Maintenance fertiliser: requires fertile soil to persist. ~10 kg P/ha. Monitor S, K, Cu especially. Supply N by clover/fertiliser. Maintain Colwell P ~30 (WA), Olsen P >12.
Grazing/cutting: Tolerates close, continuous grazing except if drought-stressed. Graze at 2.5-3 leaf stage to optimise yield under rotational grazing. Well suited to hay/silage.
Ability to spread: Will spread if allowed to seed.
Weed potential: Widely naturalised on fertile soils in temperate Australia.
Major pests: Red and black-headed cockchafer, black field cricket, white-fringed weevil, African black beetle, corbies, underground grass caterpillar.
Major diseases: Crown rust, stem rust, barley yellow dwarf virus, ryegrass mosaic virus.
Herbicide susceptibility: In considering selective herbicides consider the stage of growth of the ryegrass and what non-target companion species are present.

Animal production

Feeding value: High nutritive value.
Palatability: Palatable.
Production potential: High yields; highly responsive to fertiliser and irrigation.
Livestock disorders/toxicity: Cultivars with wild endophyte can cause perennial ryegrass toxicosis and ill-thrift. Bacterial infection of seedhead can occasionally occur and result in ergot poisoning.