Australian dairy farmers will be able to make more informed decisions when choosing ryegrass cultivars for their pastures following the release of Dairy Australia's 2024 Forage Value Index (FVI).
The index now includes the new Forage Quality Rating just in time for the ryegrass sowing season.
First introduced in 2017 and updated each year, the FVI is a resource for farmers and producers which independently ranks varieties of ryegrass according to their potential contribution to overall farm profit.
Given seasonal yield difference between varieties can be significant, this can contribute to substantial variation in profit per hectare each year.
The 2024 FVI includes for the first time new data on perennial ryegrass varieties with the introduction of the Forage Quality Rating.
Dairy Australia's FVI lead, Ruairi McDonnell, said having access to the new Forage Quality Rating would help farmers choose perennial ryegrass cultivars leading to higher milk production.
"The new Forage Quality Rating shows that there is substantial variability between cultivars in metabolisable energy (ME) concentration, which ultimately will lead to varying milk production potential for different varieties," Mr McDonnell said.
"Farmers can look at the Forage Quality Rating for each cultivar on a seasonal basis at different stages of the year, as well as on an average yearly basis.
"The Forage Quality Rating shows that perennial ryegrass pastures are at their highest energy levels in winter and early spring, before declining in energy through late spring and summer.
"Farmers can now use this information to assist with ration formulation decisions by using the seasonal ME concentration for the varieties used on their farm."
Mr McDonnell said an improved statistical method was utilised in formulating the FVI this year, which would make them even more valuable for farmers.
"The seasonal yield data has been created this year using an improved statistical analysis model," he said.
"This approach is slightly less conservative than the original model when a variety has had only a limited number of trials.
"In practice, it means newly released varieties with only three or four trials of data that perform quite well are likely to enter the FVI rankings slightly higher.
"It is however still the case that having a larger number of trials per variety will lead to a greater level of confidence in the position of that variety in the FVI rankings."
The data used to create the FVI is sourced from the Pasture Trial Network - a collaboration of seed companies, Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and Dairy Australia, which conducts independent trials across the country.
The lists for each species are then generated by Datagene using robust statistical methodology.
The FVI ratings system is based on global best practice and was developed in close consultation with farmers, the seed industry and fully-qualified internationally recognised experts.
Farmers can download the 2024 FVI tables now to plan their autumn pasture sowing at dairyaustralia.com.au/fvi.
The detailed Pasture Trial Network individual trial results from across a broad range of Australian dairy regions are also available on the MLA website for farmers to consider those results in any seed purchasing decisions.
