• Endophyte levels in ryegrass seed drop off over time. On-farm, store seed with novel endophytes in a cool, dry place. Sow seed within one month of purchase.

 

Endophyte in seed

Seed is a living organism and should always be stored in cool, dry conditions. This is very important for endophyte as its levels in ryegrass seed drop over time more quickly than seed germination levels. This speed of decline in endophyte is influenced by humidity, temperature and endophyte strain.

 

On-farm storage

More planning for seed purchase is now required when dealing with novel endophytes such as NEA, NEA2, NEA4, NEA12 and AR37. Ideally seed should arrive on farm within 2-3 of weeks of sowing, and we recommend it must be sown within one month.

 

Store seed on-farm in a cool, dry place until sowing. Seed containing novel endophyte should not be carried over between seasons on-farm as the endophyte is likely to be lost. Therefore ordering the correct amount of seed is important.

 

Just-in-time inventory

Barenbrug has set up cool store seed distribution at Rolleston and Hamilton to provide a just-in-time inventory system. Seed is kept in low temperature and low relative humidity storage as long as possible, and delivered within 3 days of ordering.

 

Storage between seasons

Not all seed can be sold in the year it is harvested, due to the limited time between harvest (particularly of late heading cultivars) and farmer pasture sowing requirements.

Endophyte levels are safely maintained between seasons in low humidity, low temperature storage. All seed with NEA, NEA2, NEA4, NEA12 or AR37 endophyte carried over is placed in cool storage after cleaning, and endophyte levels are re-tested prior to sale to ensure they meet the required standard.