Results to date give us confidence that Shogun and Forge ryegrasses with NEA endophyte are unlikely to cause staggers.

As a matter of caution, we do not recommend Shogun or Forge with NEA be used for horses or deer.

 

Lincoln University trial results

A staggers trial was conducted at Lincoln University in which NEA was compared to a Standard endophyte (SE) control cultivar. A SE cultivar is used to show when ryegrass staggers occur.

This trial was run under 'poor' management, designed to cause high levels of ryegrass staggers, to simulate a worst case scenario. Plots were pure ryegrass (no clover), and grown up to a high herbage mass, before being set-stocked for an eight week period over late summer.

During February and March 2011, the replicated NEA and SE plots were grazed with hoggets stocked at 12 and 10 hoggets/ha respectively, and a high level of ryegrass staggers was seen in the sheep grazing the SE ryegrass.

 

No staggers were seen in animals grazing NEA. At the same time, 75% of hoggets grazing SE showed staggers, with 55% severely affected (a score of 4).

The trial gives us the confidence that we are very unlikely to see any staggers on NEA pasture on farms. However, in extreme situations (i.e. summer dry where animals are forced to graze very close to the ground, or grazing rank pasture), a level of staggers may be seen in sheep or deer.

 

Results