Our new Italian ryegrass Tabu+ is only just available but this month has already achieved a unique position in the DairyNZ Forage Value Index (FVI).

 

Latest FVI rankings, released 1 February, show Tabu+ has effectively created a new level of its own as the only 5 star ryegrass for the ‘winter feed’ category throughout the country. 

 

No other new pasture cultivar has achieved this level of performance upon entering the FVI lists since Shogun, which for 2018 continues to maintain a similar 5 star dominance for the ‘12 month pasture’ category.

 

Barenbrug pasture systems manager Will Henson says Tabu+’s debut FVI result is exciting news for anyone who wants to maximise the profitability of their short term pasture.

Finding out exactly how much more Tabu+ is worth on farm is easy using Barenbrug’ new calculator with your seed merchant or on-line.  

 

This allows farmers to compare different short-term dairy or sheep pasture options. It’s a tool that shows what you really get when you sow Tabu+ versus other cultivars.

 

For example, for upper North Island dairy farming, the FVI values Tabu+ DM yield at $300-$386/ha farm operating profit, compared with Moata at $-45 to $41/ha. That’s a huge difference in operating profit of about $320/ha for seed which only costs about $25/ha more.

 

For sheep and beef farmers the extra value of Tabu+ can be as much as $600/ha for the extra growth and wintering capacity in a breeding operation, or $700/ha in lamb finishing, over the likes of Moata.

Tabu+ features even faster establishment speed than its legendary predecessor Tabu and significantly more winter growth.

 

Courtney Inch, who heads the Barenbrug plant breeding team, says the new cultivar continues an unusually strong family legacy built on well adapted New Zealand pasture genetics. The same pool of ryegrass genetics gave rise first to Flanker, then Tabu and now Tabu+. 

“Nature has provided something special with that original plant material,” he says.

 

Ckick here to download the Tabu+ calculator.