New grass variety brings 1.5t boost to spring growth

Agriland

01-05-2025

Over the last ten years, DLF Ireland have invested heavily in a lab-to-farm grass research and development (R&D) programme with the goal of finding the best grazing varieties for Irish farmers.
Vast is the latest grass variety to be selected on Irish farms for Irish conditions and delivers on spring growth and grazing quality.
Farm profitability is directly linked with the amount of grazed grass in the diet. For this reason, grazing quality and grass utilisation are prioritised during our variety evaluation and selection process.
The DLF Grass Partner Grazing Trial has allowed us to assess and select new grass varieties on real farms under real grazing conditions.
Source: DLF Ireland
The first selection from these trials is a late tetraploid called Vast and it looks extremely promising.
DLF's technical and product manager, Dr. Thomas Moloney, explained: 'Vast has excelled in our on-farm grazing trials over the last five years showing exceptional spring growth figures and the lowest graze-out'
'Vast is proving very easy to manage because of its quality and grazability but, when compared to the top grazing varieties currently available, Vast is blowing them away in terms of spring growth and grass utilisation.
'Vast is producing an extra 1.5t DM/ha in spring compared to some of the most popular grazing varieties out there.'
Results from Teagasc trials have shown that each extra ton of grass utilised on farm is worth up to €181/ha per year.
Results from the DLF Grass Partner Grazing Trial showed how well different varieties grazed out but also how much grass each variety utilised. Source: DLF
Vast is available in a brand new mixture called Kiwi Grazer. This grazing mixture contains 75% tetraploid ryegrass varieties and is formulated to boost grass quality and utilisation on farms across the country.
Such high tetraploid content in a grazing mixture is quite novel, but if we want to maximise grass quality and utilisation, then grazing mixtures need a lot of Tetraploid.
DLF have already proved themselves as ambitious innovators on the Irish grass seed scene with their NxGen Tetraploids and 4N Grazer mixture proving a huge success since their introduction to Irish farms in 2020.
4N Grazer: a ground-breaking, all-tetraploid grass mixture
Traditionally, grass mixtures contained at least 50% diploid varieties with the balance made up of Tetraploid varieties and maybe some clover.
But time and time again, research and farmer experience has shown that tetraploid varieties have better quality, better graze-out and grass utilisation, and better animal performance than diploid varieties.
'If farmers want to get the best from grazing, they need to be sowing mixtures with a high tetraploid content. When it comes to grazing quality, most diploids offer very little,' Dr. Moloney said.
'Cows prefer to eat tetraploid grass varieties and farmers are now conscious of this when choosing grass mixtures.'
Diploids are used in grass mixtures for their density and persistence, but unfortunately their density makes them difficult for cows to graze down to the target grazing residuals.
'Farmers also like the look of a dense sward, which is fair, but density has no nutritional value,' Dr. Moloney added.
Source: DLF Ireland
A breeding breakthrough may have solved this quality:density conundrum, however, as DLF's world class breeders have developed a NxGen batch of tetraploids.
Some of our new tetraploid varieties like Nashota and Xenon carry the density of diploids but keep the quality and grazability of tetraploids.
'Having denser tetraploid varieties allow us to push up the inclusion rate of tetraploids to really maximise the quality of DLF grass mixtures,' said Dr. Moloney.
In grazing mixtures especially, we can leave out unpalatable diploids without losing density. This kind of innovation will be key to increasing profitability on Irish farms.'
With this in mind, DLF have blended their top grazing varieties to formulate the only NxGen Tetraploid mixture available in Ireland designed to dramatically improve grass quality and utilisation, and make grazing management easier for farmers.
DLF 4N Grazer is the only grazing mix available with all 5-star grazing utilisation tetraploids.