Turning data into dollars with the right ryegrass

If growing more feed at home adds up to $428 profit per tonne of dry matter to your dairy farmers’ bottom line, wouldn’t it be good to recommend a ryegrass that gets them there quicker?

That dollar figure comes from years of landmark industry research on emissions and profitability in New Zealand dairy farming.

And now’s the perfect time for resellers to help farmers start making it a reality, says pasture specialist Graham Kerr, Barenbrug.

“Autumn pasture renewal is a great way for them to strengthen their business. And thanks to this study, for the first time we now have data available which reveal exactly how much this can be worth to them in improving both profitability and emissions intensity.

“If that’s not the opportunity to set customers up for the future with what grass you recommend this autumn, I don’t know what is!”

The industry study proves cutting greenhouse gas emissions doesn’t reduce dairy farm profitability, Kerr says.

“This research shows there is no relationship between the two. There are farms across the country combining industry-leading profitability and industry-leading emissions efficiency.”

Better yet, the effect holds true no matter the farm system, location or herd size.

“The next step for many farmers is working out how best to incorporate these findings on their own properties, if they haven’t already,” he says.

Analysis found the best-performing farms in terms of both emissions intensity and profitability had three things in common: they all grew more feed, of higher feed quality, with more efficient use of nitrogen than the others.

Kerr says Array NEA2 perennial ryegrass aligns perfectly with this objective.

“What your farmers want is an exceptional ryegrass, and Array is in a class of its own.”

Array NEA2 combines very high yield with other factors that align directly with the emissions and profitability research findings. These include persistence, high intake, feed quality and nitrogen use efficiency.

“Recommend the right seed genetics, or your farmers will miss out on pasture that not only reduces their emissions intensity, but makes them more money.”

A very exciting feature for farmers is that Array NEA2 really stands out when there’s a nitrogen deficiency, Kerr says.

“We don’t know the mechanism, but Array’s root system allows it to extract more nitrogen from the soil than other cultivars we’ve tested.”

This is a real benefit as it helps even pasture growth out during periods of low soil nitrogen — for example after heavy rain, or leading into a hot or dry spell when the organic matter cycle slows and nitrogen levels drop.

Combined with great cool season growth, very late flowering, high feed quality, strong persistence and an upright, easy-to-eat structure, Array’s yield and nitrogen uptake set it apart from other diploid perennial ryegrasses currently available.

Emissions and Profitability is a joint project between DairyNZ, Fonterra and LIC that used data from 8,000 NZ farms to analyse the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and farm profitability over the past four years.

Researchers released their first results earlier this year and say more analysis is planned.