Many pasture and forage varieties available from Notman Pasture Seeds are thoroughly trialled and tested on farms throughout Australia & New Zealand to assess their performance capability under varying farming conditions. Notman Pasture Seeds continue to work with our main suppliers to trials and demonstrate new & existing forage products. Forage varieties are evaluated in these trials for a number of performance- related criteria, including dry matter yield and seasonal performance, pasture quality (including metabolisable energy, digestibility, protein, NDF, etc), persistence, and susceptibility to plant diseases and insect pests.Where necessary, the company undertakes animal performance trials to assess the impact of its varieties on livestock performance and health. All trials are conducted to strict industry-designed protocols, and managed by the […]
Category: Pasture Advice
Italian ryegrass delivers Surge in production
WHEN MATT Loader started doing second cuts for silage he knew he was onto something good. Four years ago he started using Surge – a high yielding diploid Italian ryegrass – on out blocks and parts of his main milking area at Krowera in south Gippsland to improve the quality of the silage. “Since then I’ve done a second cut every year for the last four years on the out blocks,” Mr Loader said. “The quality is always good. It just grows, even on one of my blocks that’s quite steep. I’ve put it on all the ridge paddocks and even in a hot summer it still keeps on growing.” The success rate continues to get better. “Last year I cut it three times, that was the first time I’ve done that. It […]