A couple of serious perennial ryegrasses

Words: Agricom
Legion and Reason are two of Agricom’s recent ryegrass releases, backed by years of farmer experience and proven performance in the paddock.

Both cultivars stand out for their ability to form dense, resilient perennial pastures that suit a wide range of management styles.

They thrive under intensive grazing and tolerate periods of over-grazing, consistently bouncing back and giving farmers confidence in their reliability – and good reason to keep sowing them year after year.

Legion diploid perennial ryegrass was the first of Agricom’s new-generation cultivars, and at its release it represented a significant step up from its well-regarded predecessor, Prospect.

Legion delivers improved crown rust tolerance and reduced aftermath heading, but its greatest value is seen in its strong autumn production.

Its ability to tolerate tough summer conditions and then deliver exceptional growth in autumn makes it an ideal fit for New Zealand farm systems.

For sheep and beef farmers, autumn is a crucial recovery period after summer and the time to build covers ahead of winter.

Mid-autumn also aligns with mating, where consistent feed supply and pasture quality have a major influence on ewe condition and overall flock performance.

In summer dry dairy regions and warmer irrigated systems, Legion has also stood out by helping farms achieve higher autumn pasture covers.

This supports extended days in milk without excessive supplementary feed to achieve this.

Over time, on-farm experience has also highlighted Legion’s strength in August, a critical month for many operations as they transition into peak feed demand.

Legion has proven itself to be a dependable, hard-working perennial ryegrass for farmers who need pastures that perform regardless of conditions and recover strongly for the key moments in the farming calendar.

Reason diploid perennial ryegrass has made a strong impression for one key reason: it is a highly productive cultivar that performs across a wide range of conditions.

Like many of Agricom’s modern genetics, it delivers excellent cool season growth, but its real advantage comes from its ability to grow aggressively when it matters most for total productivity – spring.

Late September and October are critical months in many farm systems.

Feed can tighten unexpectedly, and plans for summer crop establishment, pasture renewal, or shutting up paddocks for silage can be pushed back due to insufficient pasture cover.

Reason’s exceptional October growth helps break this bottleneck.

Its strong spring flush and mid-season heading date support the creation of an early surplus, giving farmers the flexibility to take cropping paddocks out on time while relying on Reason to carry the grazing load with a tighter rotation – something this resilient cultivar handles well.

Reason is also notably clean in December.

Although it heads relatively early, it returns to a leafy, high-quality state by mid-December when managed appropriately.

This is a significant advantage, as many later-heading cultivars begin to decline in quality at this stage.

Reason’s ability to maintain clean, leafy feed into early summer makes it a valuable option for farmers wanting both strong spring performance and reliable quality as summer approaches.

A common thread between Legion and Reason is their resilience under intensive grazing and their ability to deliver strong growth at the critical times in most farm systems.

Both cultivars make excellent staples for any ryegrass program.

They are widely sown across New Zealand, so it’s easy to find farmers nearby who can attest to just how reliable and consistent these grasses are.

To learn more about Legion and Reason perennial ryegrass, get in touch with your local Agricom territory sales manager or visit agricom.co.nz.