Description

Kidman NEA2 is an early maturing densely tillered diploid perennial, suited to  sheep & beef grazing enterprises in 550mm/yr. + temperate regions. Kidman with  its early maturity and excellent autumn, winter and early spring growth will help to fill critical feed gaps in many farming systems. Combined with a robust ‘safe’  novel endophyte in NEA2, Kidman is an all round performer for yield, quality  and persistence.

Key features

• Early maturing (-9 days relative  to Nui)
• Low aftermath heading compared with comparator varieties in segment
• NEA2 endophyte offers broad insect protection and animal safe ‘stagger free’ grazing
• Excellent autumn, winter & early spring production
• Leafy summer production, unlike Victorian & Kangaroo Valley  ecotypes
• Improved utilisation in spring when compared with Victorian SE perennial ryegrass

Key benefits

• The superior growth curve at critical times in late autumn, winter and early spring means reduced need for costly supplementary feed
• The ability to respond to summer rainfall events, results in greater leafy summer production
• Due to low ‘aftermath’ heading, the quality and utilisation of feed grown in spring is maximised with Kidman. This results in better liveweight performance and returns per hectare
• The combination of NEA2 endophyte provides robust insect protection, aiding persistence, while offering a ‘safe’ grazing option free of issues like ryegrass staggers & heat stress
• The superior seasonal forage production means greater cheap ‘home grown feed’, improving carrying capacity and profitability

Application

Kidman performs well where other early maturing perennial ryegrasses, like Victorian and Kangaroo Valley varieties perform, but offers superior growth curves and production. It is ideally suited to temperate regions that exceed 550mm/yr. and where rainfall is more concentrated to autumn, winter and spring, however due to the background breeding of Kidman, it can also provide application in higher rainfall areas where summer production is required. This means it is a highly adaptable cultivar. Kidman is ideally suited to many sheep and beef grazing systems, both autumn and spring calving/lambing however does also have application into dryland dairy systems. Kidman has been upgraded from AR1 to NEA2 to provide greater insect protection, and persistence, while still providing safe ‘stagger free’ grazing option.