Southern Green
high yielding, quick winter feed option.
- Exceptional speed of establishment
- Excellent yield when blended with annual ryegrass
- Can be sown with Italian ryegrass to extend spring growth
Southern Green ryecorn is an exceptionally fast establishing grazing option particularly when sown late into cold conditions. Southern Green can be up and ready to graze three weeks before oats and when managed correctly can offer multiple grazing opportunities.
Unlike common ryecorn, Southern Green produces high quality feed at a time when feed is in short supply. Southern Green can be used on its own or as part of a mixed pasture sward.
Highly palatable whilst in the vegetative stage, Southern Green is grazed preferentially before oats in early winter but can become unpalatable in spring because stems are more fibrous than those of other cereals.
Southern Green doesn’t require vernalisation to trigger the change from vegetative growth to reproductive growth. Vernalisation is the plants mechanism to survive cold periods thereby triggering the plant into the reproductive phase which in turn will produce seed heads.
Breeding
Southern Green forage ryecorn was selected from a range of cereal trial lines that were tested at the PGG Wrightson Seeds Research Farm in Ballarat, Victoria. The trialling of the first lines of forage ryecorn was first conducted in 2006 during the extended drought that parts of Australia were experiencing at the time.
Southern Green was selected due to its early vigorous growth habit which is superior to that of forage oats, commonly seen as the basis of quick feed.
Southern Green has excellent resistance to Cereal Cyst Nematode (CCN) which can be a significant problem in lighter soils around Australia. Southern Green if used in these soil types offers a great break crop due to this resistance.
Southern Green is also resistant to Take-all disease, Gaeumannomyces graminis spp. which is widespread across many of the broadacre cropping zones of Australia.
Southern Green has not shown any susceptibility to Rust, Puccinia spp. and if managed correctly, rust should not present an issue due to the canopy of the Southern Green being minimal or non-existent at the time when the rust would become present.
Sowing & Establishment
Southern Green will establish best when sown at a depth of 10-25mm. If sown any deeper than this it will affect the rate of emergence and therefore potential yield in winter. Southern Green is a good companion to sow with an annual or Italian ryegrass as they both have the same sowing depth requirements.
Southern Green offers flexibility as to where it can be grown as well as what it can be grown with. It is suitable for areas where annual rainfall is as low as 400mm up to the high rainfall areas; it can also be sown into a range of different soil types while still offering quick winter feed.
Trial work has demonstrated Southern Green can produce excellent yields when mixed with an annual or an Italian ryegrass, extending the growing period as well as offering a cut of hay or silage.
To ensure that you get the greatest value and return when using cereals we recommend you consider using Southern Green in a programme with oats. A paddock of Southern Green with at least one paddock of Cooee® Oats will deliver increased feed over a longer period.
Grazing Management
Early grazing is very important to ensure that you get the maximum value and return from Southern Green forage ryecorn.
Southern Green has extremely quick growth which is a result of it looking to produce seed as soon after germination as it can. It is important that Southern Green is lightly grazed as soon as it is able to withstand pulling. This will encourage the plants to grow more tillers, therefore adding extra growth, extending its growing period beyond one grazing. If the initial grazing is left too late, the potential for follow up grazing will be very minor due to the growing point being eaten leading to a reduction in secondary tillers.
Rainfall
Minimum 400mm rainfall per annum unless irrigated
