Well-managed, Trojan delivers like few other ryegrasses can. What’s the secret? 

 

If we had to remind farmers of one thing to get the best out of one of New Zealand’s top growing perennial ryegrasses at this time of the year we’d say: graze it three to four days earlier than other paddocks.

 

Trojan NEA2 has superb yield potential through spring, meaning higher daily DM growth rates and subsequently faster return times compared with other paddocks.

 

If you don’t tame it, by grazing it when it’s ready to graze, it will get the better of you!

 

Or as one long-time user on the Central Plateau puts it: “It can go absolutely ballistic in spring. It’s not a grass that you can afford to stop monitoring, because it can get away on you in 5 days.

 

“You’ll look at a paddock today and say that will be ready for grazing in 10 days, then 7 days later you take another look, and realise the stock should have been in there already!”

 

Managing Trojan is no different from managing other perennial ryegrasses. It can just happen faster, because Trojan grows faster. So monitoring it, and following three golden rules will make a world of difference.

 

Rule one: Graze at the 2.5 to 3 leaf stage.

 

Rule two: Graze to a consistent, even residual, for dairy cows ideally 1500-1600 kg DM/ha.

 

Rule three: Repeat the first two rules.

 

Grazing at the right time makes achieving consistent residuals easier, and this in turn makes a huge difference to future pasture quality. Grass left behind after one grazing will be past its use-by date at the next grazing, and the results will show in the vat because cows won’t want to eat it.