Pasture responses to environment

Professor Derrick Moot

Water and nitrogen = ryegrass

Phot

o: W

R S

cott

Linc

oln

Uni

vers

ity

Heading date• Heading = flowering time in spring.• Early heading - higher early spring growth.• Late heading - late spring quality.

Source: www.agriseeds.co.nz

Perennial ryegrass cultivars

Source: National Forage Variety Trials (www.nzpbra.org)

Nitrogen deficient pasture

1000 kg N/ha

Nitrogen fertiliser useN

app

lied

(100

0's

of t)

0

100

200

300

400

1960/611965/66

1970/711975/66

1980/811985/86

1990/911995/96

2000/012005/06

New Zealand Fertiliser Manufacturers Association 2009

Clover content & milksolids production

0

80

90

100

110

120

130

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Clover (%)

Rela

tive

yiel

d (g

rass

= 1

00) DM (kg/ha)

MS (kg/cow)

MS (kg/ha)

Cosgrove, 2005

Sheep prefer 70% legume, 30% grass

Phot

o: Jo

Grig

g‘T

empe

llo’,

Mar

lbor

ough

)

Objective

Quantify the effect of temperature, moisture and nitrogen on cocksfoot yields.

Experiment site

Growth rates (2 year means)

MonthJ A S O N D J F M A M J J

Gro

wth

rate

(kg/

ha/d

)

0

30

60

90

120 I +N 21.9 t/ha

I -N

9.8 t/ha

15.7 t/ha

D+N

6.3 t/ha

D-N

Mills et al. 2006

Pasture Growth Rates – 2 yr mean

MonthJul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul

Mea

n da

ily g

row

th ra

te (k

g D

M/h

a/d)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140I+N

21.9 t/ha

I-N

9.8 t/ha

Mills et al. 2006

Winter ⇒ temperature responsePh

oto:

KM

Pol

lock

Linc

oln

Uni

vers

ity

Thermal time (°Cd)0 1000 2000 3000

DM y

ield

(t/h

a)

0

10

20

30I +N

y = 7.0 kg DM/ha/oCd21.9 t/ha

I –N

y = 3.3 kg DM/ha/oCd

9.8 t/ha

The Nitrogen gap

Mills et al. 2009

Summer ⇒ moisture response

Phot

o: A

Mill

sLi

ncol

n U

nive

rsity

Soil moisture deficit 2003/04R

ainf

all (

mm

)

0

50

100

Thermal time (°Cd)0 1000 2000 3000

Def

icit

(mm

)

0

50

100

150

D+ND-N

Total rain = 520 mm

Mills 2007

Accumulated Tt (°Cd)0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500

Accu

mul

ated

DM

(t D

M/h

a)

0

5

10

15

20

252004/05 y = 7.0 kg DM/ha/oCd

21.9 t/ha

15.7 t/ha

21 Nov 30 Jan

I+ND+N

D-N

5.0 t/ha

The Nitrogen gap

Mills et al. 2006

Experiment 4 - ‘MaxClover’

Rg/WcLucerneCF/SubCF/BalansaCF/CcCF/Wc

RG/Wc pasturesUnsown species

<5% in Year 1 >45% in Year 6

Annual grassesTaprooted dicot weeds

Spring Year 2

Summer Year 4

Year 12002/03

Year 32004/05

Year 42005/06

Year 52006/07

Year 62007/08

Year 72008/09

Year 22003/04

Year 82009/10

Year 92010/11

DateJan03 Jan04 Jan05 Jan06 Jan07 Jan08 Jan09 Jan10 Jan11

Tota

l ann

ual a

ccum

ulat

ed D

M y

ield

(t D

M/h

a/y)

0

5

10

15

20Luc

10.0

13.1

17.818.5

17.4

14.0 14.012.8 12.1

13.0

10.4 11.1 11.510.0

11.29.8 9.5

6.7

CF/Sub RG/Wc

10.5

8.410.1

9.1 9.4 8.8

7.0 6.65.7

‘MaxClover’ Total DM Yields (to 30 March 2011)

461 mm 493 mm 635 mm 601 mm 643 mm 651 mm 767 mm 612 mm +435 mm

Moot 2012

Growth in the field20 month old plants –grazed by sheep

Widdup et al. 2003

20 kg DM/ha/mm

30 kg DM/ha/mm

grass only

13 kg DM/ha/mm

grass/cloverLucerne

Spring WUE: legume = (nitrogen)

Water use (mm)0 100 200 300

Accu

mul

ated

DM

(t D

M/h

a)

0

2

4

6

Moot et al. 2008

Nitrogen fixation25 kg N/t DM Lucas et al. 2010

Phot

o: D

P M

onks

Linc

oln

Uni

vers

ity

Clover yield (kg DM/ha)0 500 1000 1500 2000

Fixe

d N

(kg

N/h

a)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

White cloverSub clover

Biological N fixationy = 28.0±0.66x (R2=0.96)

Lucas et al. 2010

Transformational change&

Adaptation to climate change

Kearney et al. 2010

Hills Creek Station - 60 000 ha by one company -

Kearney et al. 2010

Pasture growth

M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J2008 2009 2010

0

2

4

6

8

Yiel

d (t

DM

/ha)

LucerneRyegrass/white cloverUnimproved

Year and monthKearney et al. 2010

Doug and Fraser Avery “Bonavaree”

Phot

o: D

oug

Aver

y‘B

onav

aree

’, M

arlb

orou

gh

When to grazePh

oto:

‘Bon

avar

ee’,

Mar

lbor

ough

How to graze

Phot

o: ‘B

onav

aree

’, M

arlb

orou

gh

Rotation 1 Pre-grazePlot 1 (21/9/07) 2.3 t DM/ha20-25 cm tall

32

41

DateJul07 Sep07 Nov07 Jan08 Mar08 May08 Jul08

Mon

thly

rain

fall

(mm

)

DM Y

ield

(t/h

a)

454

0

1

2

3

4

5

0

100

200

300

400

4

32

1

45

6

321

4

5 6

3

21

45

6

325

16

56

2 56

1

Lucerne grazing - Maxclover

Moot & Smith 2011

Six paddock rotation on farm

‘Tama’ annual ryegrass overdrilled into runout lucerne (12 yrs)- Close up -

Clay Downs South Canterbury

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 7.5Soil pH

Exch

ange

able

Soi

l Alu

min

ium

(me/

100g

)

Change Point

y = 0.014+2.37/(1+(x/5.5)23.5))R2 = 0.73

Soil pH & exchangeable Aluminium

Moir & Moot, 2010

Phot

o: L

ees

Val

ley,

Can

terb

ury

Which rhizobia are in here?

Costello & Costello 2003

Total DM yieldTo

tal y

ield

(t D

M/h

a)

0

5

10

15 RG+AC CF+ACRG-ACCF-AC

2006 2007 2008S N J M M J S N J M M J S

Ates et al. 2010

PastureRG+AC RG-AC CF+AC CF-AC

Bot

anic

al c

ompo

sitio

n (%

)

0

20

40

60

80

100 Grass Annual clover Cluster clover Weed Dead

Botanical composition – 26 June 08

Ates et al. 2010

Ashley Dene Dryland Research FarmPastoral 21 – Phase II (5 Years)

Springston, Canterbury

Farmlet Experiment

Lucerne + cocksfoot

Lucerne + Prairie grass

Flexible grazing management

Lucerne 4 Lambs

Deer = no risk of bloat

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2009

Forestry

Fishery

Livestock

Crop

Shares of output values within agricultural sector 1980-2009, (%)

Meat sector has grown fastest at the expense of crops

18%

34%

NSBC, 2011

Conclusions• Aim to transform dryland farms to be economically,

environmentally and socially resilient

• Require regionally specific technical solutions and ongoing extension

• Nitrogen from legumes is the key to improve pastoral water use efficiency

• Global demand for meat will exceed supply for at least the next decade

Acknowledgements

• Beef & Lamb NZ Ltd/ Pastoral21• Lincoln University• MAF Sustainable Farming Fund

ReferencesAtes, S., Tongel, M. O. and Moot, D. J. 2010. Annual herbage production increased 40% when subterranean clover was over-drilled into grass-

dominant dryland pastures. Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association, 72, 3-9.Cosgrove, G. P. 2005. Novel grazing management: making better use of white clover. In: Proceedings of the 2005 South Island Dairy Event

(SIDE) Conference. "SIDE by SIDE" : Monday 20 - Wednesday 22 June 2005, Lincoln University, Canterbury. (ISBN 0864761643)Costello, T. and Costello, A. 2003. Subterranean clover in North Canterbury sheep pastures. In. Legumes for dryland pastures. Proceedings of a

New Zealand Grassland Association. Palmerston North New Zealand: New Zealand Grassland Association, 189-192.Kearney, J. K., Moot, D. J. and Pollock, K. M. 2010. On-farm comparison of pasture production in relation to rainfall in Central Otago.

Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association, 72, 121-126.Lucas, R. J., Smith, M. C., Jarvis, P., Mills, A. and Moot, D. J. 2010. Nitrogen fixation by subterranean and white clovers in dryland cocksfoot

pastures. Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association, 72, 141-146.Mills, A. 2007. Understanding constraints to cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) based pasture production, PhD thesis, Lincoln University,

Canterbury. Online access: http://researcharchive.lincoln.ac.nz/dspace/bitstream/10182/32/1/mills_phd.pdf. 202 pp.Mills, A., Moot, D. J. and Jamieson, P. D. 2009. Quantifying the effect of nitrogen of productivity of cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) pastures.

European Journal of Agronomy, 30, 63-69.Mills, A., Moot, D. J. and McKenzie, B. A. 2006. Cocksfoot pasture production in relation to environmental variables. Proceedings of the New

Zealand Grassland Association, 68, 89-94.Moir, J. L. and Moot, D. J. 2010. Soil pH, exchangeable aluminium and lucerne yield responses to lime in a South Island high country soil.

Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association, 72, 191-196.Moot, D. J. 2012. An overview of dryland legume research in New Zealand. Crop and Pasture Science, 63, 726–733.Moot, D. J., Brown, H. E., Pollock, K. and Mills, A. 2008. Yield and water use of temperate pastures in summer dry environments. Proceedings of

the New Zealand Grassland Association, 70, 51-57.Moot, D. J. and Smith, M. 2011. Practical Lucerne Management Guide. 9 pp. http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/Documents/Dryland-Pasture-

Research/presentations/Lucerne-management-guide-Col.pdf.New Zealand Fertiliser Manufacturers' Research Association. 2011. Annual update (New Zealand Fertiliser Manufacturers' Research

Association). 15 pp. Date Accessed: 5/5/2011. http://www.fertresearch.org.nz/resource-centre/annual-updates . Last Updated: Dec 2009.Widdup, K. H., Hussain, S. W., Williams, W. M., Lowther, W. L., Pryor, H. N. and Sutherland, B. L. 2003. The development and plant

characteristics of interspecific hybrids between white and caucasian clover. In. Legumes for dryland pastures. Proceedings of a New Zealand Grassland Association. Palmerston North New Zealand: New Zealand Grassland Association, 143-148.