Production of perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, cocksfoot and clovers over-sown with annual or perennial ryegrass

Grass and legume pastures are the basis of the dairy industry in the Southern Cape. Irrigated perennial ryegrass, Tall Fescue, Cocksfoot, red and white clovers were traditionally planted as pastures for dairy farming. The main problems experienced with these pastures were that the clover component decreased and the grass component, especially the Fescues, increased over time resulting in a grass pasture with low animal production. To overcome this problem the botanical composition of the pasture has been changed to a perennial ryegrass and clover pasture. The dry matter production rate of this pasture is however low during the colder months and the seasonal production decreases rapidly during the second year. Research at Outeniqua focusing on over-sowing practices has shown that the incorporation of perennial and annual ryegrass into existing Kikuyu changed the fodder flow and increased the seasonal dry matter production and grazing capacity. It also showed that the over-sowing of annual ryegrass during May has no effect on the dry matter production of Kikuyu during summer and autumn. The aim of this study was to adapt this information and use it to compare the seasonal dry matter production and persistency of four perennial grasses and two clovers (Table 1 and 2) over-sown annually with perennial and annual ryegrass.