Rohan

Spreading perennial ryegrass

Rohan is a spreading perennial ryegrass specifically bred as a persistent, easy care pasture for hill country sheep and beef farms. Its unique spreading habit helps it fill bare areas in the pasture and recover faster after adverse climatic events. Rohan is very fine and dense, with excellent palatability. It is late flowering (+16 days) and available with NEA2 or Low endophyte.

Spreading habit

Rohan's spreading habit helps it fill bare areas in a pasture that may otherwise be occupied by weeds (see photo below). This means Rohan SPR competes against weed ingression.


This habit also helps pasture recover from adverse climatic events, particularly extended dry periods, because Rohan spreads to fill space where ryegrass tillers may have died.


Rohan SPR is not indestructible. Like all ryegrasses it will perform best under reasonable management and soil fertility. But its spreading habit improves persistence.

Rohan Stolon spreading across the ground.

Sheep and beef system fit

The key with any pasture is matching a cultivar to a particular situation. So where does Rohan SPR fit? Looking at different pasture types across properties, based on persistence:

 

Easy to manage

Under semi-intensive to semi-extensive farm systems it's not easy to maintain pasture quality in late spring. A continual comment from farmers with Rohan SPR is that it 'always looks good', it stays greener and leafier and is usually preferentially grazed. In on-farm trials, it has shown a 0.7 higher ME than some other cultivars in November and December.

 

Three year old Rohan SPR (green) sown beside Nui ryegrass (brown) in the same paddock in Central Otago. Rohan is much preferred by stock.

Very low stagger risk

Rohan SPR with NEA2 endophyte provides very low staggers risk pasture for sheep and staggers free pasture for cattle. In the 18 years we have sold NEA2, no ryegrass staggers have been seen in sheep or cattle on commercial farms.

 

High yield in dry conditions
Under ideal conditions Rohan SPR does not have the same yield potential as cultivars like Maxsyn, growing about 10% less. But under tough, dry conditions Rohan will probably persist better and yield more over the life of a pasture.

 

Sowing Rohan SPR

Sub clover(s) are often added to this mix.

Perennial ryegrass

Description & heading dates

 

Throughout NZ, perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) is the grass of choice for permanent pastures. It establishes rapidly, yields well, tolerates a range of management practices and has a high nutritive value.

Description & heading dates

 

Throughout NZ, perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) is the grass of choice for permanent pastures. It establishes rapidly, yields well, tolerates a range of management practices and has a high nutritive value.

Description & heading dates

 

Throughout NZ, perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) is the grass of choice for permanent pastures. It establishes rapidly, yields well, tolerates a range of management practices and has a high nutritive value.

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