Intermediate Or Late Grass Varieties In Mixtures?
The Grass and Clover Recommended List aka the Pasture Profit Index is out for 2026. This is a tool that farmers can use to select the most appropriate grass varieties and mixtures for their farm based on grass traits such as spring growth, quality and grazing utilisation. Varieties are given a modelled € value for each trait and ranked. Interestingly, the top 5 varieties on the list are classified as Intermediate heading – but what role do these kinds of varieties have on Irish farms?
What Does An Intermediate Heading Date Mean?
Perennial Ryegrass varieties are classified according to their heading date i.e. the date on which 50% of plants have produced a seed head. Varieties are classed as Early (rarely used in Ireland), Intermediate or Late heading. Intermediate varieties have a heading date between May 22nd and 31st while Late varieties head out from June 1st onwards.
For Irish grass farmers the challenge with Intermediate varieties is that they will produce more stem earlier in the growing season than Lates and they also tend to produce more stem through the summer months. This is not ideal for grazing systems where we want to maintain a leafy, vegetative sward for as long as possible.
Such excessive stem production can also shorten the persistence of a sward
If spring grass is needed in a grazing system we can use the Pasture Profit Index to select Late heading varieties with high spring growth scores combined with quality and utilisation to produce quality early pasture without excessive stem production.
Varieties like Nashota, Anurad and Vast from DLF are proven to produce additional tons of grass in spring while maintaining the highest utilisation figures on Irish farms. The qualities of these varieties are combined in mixtures 4N Grazer and Kiwi Grazer.
What Role Do Intermediate Grasses Have On Irish Farms?
Where Intermediate varieties offer the most value to Irish farmers is in silage or dual purpose mixtures. High spring growth will help to bulk up first-cut silage yields or provide an early grazing while taking a cut of silage at least once a year will help to keep seedhead production in check.
It is important that grass mixtures are formulated to perform based on the strengths of the varieties included. Using the wrong variety in the wrong setting could prove expensive.
If you need help choosing the best mixture for your system Get in Touch Today!
