Production of pastures in the second year after drilling of red clover and ryegrass

Abstract Measurements were made of herbage dry matter production and composition of pastures in the second year after drilling of ‘Grasslands Pawera’ red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) with or without ‘Grasslands Nui’ perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) into grass-white clover dominant swards in autumn and spring. Tillage treatments included cultivated seedbed, overdrilling into paraquat-sprayed bands, and blanket spraying with paraquat or glyphosate. Unmodified resident pasture produced more total yield than the autumn-sown cultivated treatments, but yields from spring-sown treatments were not significantly lower than the resident pasture yield. Contribution of red clover to yield was 13–26% with full cultivation and 4–7% with band spraying of paraquat, but did not significantly modify the distribution of herbage production. Red clover density varied from 6 to 8 plants/m2 in band-sprayed treatments, about a third of the density obtained with full cultivation. This study indicates that interruption of ...