Publication Date

1997

Description

Plots of high endophyte pipeline ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) lines, coded A1 and A3, were established on the Dairying Research Corporation No 2 Dairy in May, 1994. Three plots of each line were drilled on a silt loam and three on a peaty silt loam soil. Half the area of each plot received nitrogen (N) fertiliser (30 kg N/ha) following grazings from September, 1995 to February, 1996. Line A1 consistently pulled more than did A3 and pulling was worse on the peat. N fertiliser increased post-flowering tillering especially for A1. Line A1 had a higher leaf shear strength (6.21 vs 5.91 kg, SED = 0.087*) and a wider leaf (3.40 vs 3.22 mm, SED = 0.054*) than A3. These morphological differences were considered important determinants of the observed pulling differences, and since A1 outyielded A3, plant losses due to pulling did not cause a serious loss of herbage dry matter.

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Effects of Nitrogen Fertilizer on the Growth of Ryegrass with Different Tolerances to Pulling

Plots of high endophyte pipeline ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) lines, coded A1 and A3, were established on the Dairying Research Corporation No 2 Dairy in May, 1994. Three plots of each line were drilled on a silt loam and three on a peaty silt loam soil. Half the area of each plot received nitrogen (N) fertiliser (30 kg N/ha) following grazings from September, 1995 to February, 1996. Line A1 consistently pulled more than did A3 and pulling was worse on the peat. N fertiliser increased post-flowering tillering especially for A1. Line A1 had a higher leaf shear strength (6.21 vs 5.91 kg, SED = 0.087*) and a wider leaf (3.40 vs 3.22 mm, SED = 0.054*) than A3. These morphological differences were considered important determinants of the observed pulling differences, and since A1 outyielded A3, plant losses due to pulling did not cause a serious loss of herbage dry matter.