Description

Summadorm Cocksfoot is a hardy deep rooted Mediterranean type cocksfoot, demonstrating excellent summer dormancy compared to other Mediterranean types, and is proven to show increased persistence in medium rainfall zones. It also continues to produce strong winter yields, assisting in filling the winter and early spring feed gap.

Key Features

• Suited to lower-medium rainfall (400mm – 550mm)
• Summer dormant
• Winter active
• Early maturing
• Deep rooted – offering good drought tolerance and persistence

Key Benefits

• Superior persistence in low-medium Mediterranean environments compared with other cocksfoot cultivars
• Remains dormant over summer, aiding survival in very-hot summer environments
• A perennial option for light acid soils in low-medium rainfall zones, that experience summer dry (Mediterranean) environments

Agronomy & Management

Grazing: Cocksfoot is generally slower to establish than ryegrass and therefore careful management needs to be undertaken to ensure successful establishment. Do not graze for the first 6 months after autumn sowing to ensure root system development has occurred and the plants cannot be pulled from the ground. At 6–8 months post sowing, a light grazing can occur, and light rotational grazing will encourage root development and allow it to compete with any legumes that may have been sown as a companion species. Pastures grazed with sheep should be rotated frequently to avoid overgrazing, especially during the spring/summer period. During this time the plant is dormant, and overgrazing will damage the crown, causing the stand to thin out prematurely.

Weed control: As cocksfoot is slow to establish, paddock preparation is extremely important. Any winter grasses should be controlled the year prior to sowing. Spray topping in the spring prior to sowing is often effective. Failure to ensure proper weed management can result is partial or complete failure of the stand, running the risk of being overrun by faster establishing winter grasses.

Performance

Summadorm has demonstrated through field evaluations to exhibit superior winter and total yield when compared with other Mediterranean and Hispanic cocksfoots, when trialled in medium rainfall zones. Summadorm was selected from Kasbah, a persistent Mediterranean cocksfoot and has shown similar yield attributes with improved persistence.