New mixture 'will help UK livestock farmers improve profitability'

Leading seed producer Barenbrug has launched a new mixture designed to help UK livestock farmers improve their profitability.

BARForage Dairy Grazing is a mixture of 35% Dunluce and 65% Tyrella and has been designed specifically to extend the grazing period for cows.

This follows news of the market leading performance of both varieties on the Teagasc* Pasture Profit Index (PPI) which ranks grass varieties according to their value in the Moorepark Dairy Systems Model - a pasture based system of milk production.

Dunluce, which is an intermediate heading tetraploid ryegrass, is the most profitable variety having a pasture profit index of €226 per hectare - over 20% ahead of its nearest rival - and Tyrella is the most profitable late heading diploid ryegrass with a PPI of €48 per hectare.

The PPI comprises of: spring, mid-season and autumn grass Dry Matter (DM) production, grass quality (April to July inclusive), first & second silage DM production and persistency. It rewards those varieties that shorten winter feeding such as spring and autumn grasses so cows can be kept in the fields for longer periods.

Said James Ingles, Barenbrug's Head of Agriculture, "We were delighted with how the two varieties performed in the PPI and so it seemed logical to come up with a new mixture combining the two, giving farmers the best of both worlds.

"BARForage Dairy Grazing mixture will allow them to take advantage of the most cost effective feed for livestock available to them - grazed grass!

"Tyrella has the best spring growth of any late heading diploid, while Dunluce is not only the top yielding variety but maintains both yield and quality right through to late autumn.

"BARForage Dairy Grazing will not only give maximum production at times of the year when grass is the most valuable, but will also form a dense, easily managed sward."