Vast
tetraploid perennial ryegrass
- Strong annual production with exceptional summer and autumn productivity
- Extremely late heading date (+36 days) boosting late seasonal pasture quality
- Diploid-level tiller density to enhance persistence
- Tetraploid grazing preference to drive animal intakes
- Excellent rust tolerance to improve summer and autumn
palatability
Vast is the next generation in tetraploid perennial ryegrass breeding delivering the ultimate combination of density, quality, production and grazing preference for New Zealand farmers to maximise stock performance and productivity.
With an extremely late (+36 days) heading date, Vast offers the latest perennial ryegrass heading date on the market. Low seed head production after the initial seeding period, in combination with a very late flowering date, means Vast will provide high quality feed across the majority of the growing season.
Dry matter production
Vast provides strong annual production with exceptionally strong summer and autumn production advantages. In spring calving dairy systems, production of quality late season feed is ideal for slowing the post peak decline in milk production.
Sheep and beef systems will also benefit from exceptional summer and autumn production. Vast’s feed profile is ideal for beef, lamb finishing and providing feed during ewe flushing and mating.
Summer pasture quality
Across four trials, Vast scored the highest for summer pasture quality producing extremely low levels of seed head through the summer months. Lower seed head production means higher pasture quality and improved animal performance.
- Grazing Method Rotational Grazed – Long Term
Persistence
Vast has been selected for fine leaves and diploid level tiller density. These attributes, pared with the insect tolerance advantages of AR37 endophyte, deliver enhanced persistence for Vast to perform under challenging conditions.
When trialled in the Waikato under significant insect and climatic pressures Vast AR37 demonstrated strong persistence under cattle grazing.
- Pasture Life 5 years+
Rust tolerance
Rust is a common fungi infection in ryegrass. Affected plants will have visible orange spots on leaves reducing the green leaf area of plants, leading to slower growth rates, lower palatability and lower animal intakes.
At several trial sites across New Zealand Vast demonstrated strong rust tolerance maintaining animal acceptance of high quality feed during summer.
