Fed exactly the same, some animals produce more milk or meat than those grazing right next to them. What if you could achieve the same with ryegrass? More easily, and for the same amount of nitrogen?

Sounds unlikely, right? But it is possible. Think of it as a new way to look after both your environment, and your productivity, something that can be implemented straight away, with no disruption.

As Barenbrug pasture specialist Graham Kerr points out, you can use it to make day to day pasture management more predictable, too.

He’s talking about a new perennial ryegrass with the unusual ability to yield higher than others from the same amount of soil nitrogen, especially when nitrogen is low.  

“Array NEA2 is the highest yielding perennial ryegrass we’ve bred, and it achieves this under the same inputs, in the same soils, as its peers. But the exciting thing for farmers is that it really stands out when there’s a nitrogen deficiency.”

Trials grown under deliberate nitrogen deficiency showed Array NEA2 yielded significantly more, because it is able to extract more nitrogen than other cultivars from the same soil.

This has a big potential to improve nitrogen efficiency on farm, and is one way Array helps even out pasture supply, Graham says.  

“All farms go through periods of low available soil nitrogen, largely weather-related. Array’s ability to ‘find’ more nitrogen helps it keep growing and evening out pasture supply in these periods.” 

Add to this Array has the highest cool season growth of any perennial the company has  bred, again improving and smoothing feed supply through this deficit period. 

And while it will eventually brown off like any perennial ryegrass under significant moisture stress, it stays noticeably greener heading into the dry than most other cultivars.

“Array is really exciting as it brings a win-win for farmers. Better nitrogen uptake helps the environment, plus it makes pasture farming easier too,” Graham says.

“Pasture growth is continually variable, and that creates challenges in terms of both monitoring growth, and matching animal requirements to that endlessly variable supply.

“So having a smoother growth curve, where pasture grows more consistently into and through feed deficit periods, is a huge advantage.”

Array is a diploid perennial ryegrass, with good density that shows excellent persistence. 

“It’s a unique, multi-feature ryegrass which we’re excited to be delivering to farmers,” says Graham.

Seed for Array NEA2 is available now for autumn sowing.