TALL FESCUE FOR FINISHING LAMBS AND FLUSHING EWES IN HAWKES BAY

Abstract

Because of the many problems experienced in Hawkes Bay with traditional ryegrass pastures - drought, grass grub, stem weevil, ryegrass staggers - a research programme to evaluate tall fescue was initiated. Four short term trials have compared the nutritive value for sheep of two tall fescue cultivars (Roa and Demeter) with Nui ryegrass, all sown with white clover. All pasture types had similar quality for finishing lambs, although regrowth after a silage cut was better than previously grazed pastures, especia!!y for Nui. In the droughts of 1982 and 1983, tall fescue pastures were superior to those of Nui in both quantity and quality of feed for ewes prior to mating. This advantage resulted in an average of 18 more lambs being born per 100 ewes mated. Provided it persists, continues to produce well, and does not cause serious animal health problems under intensive sheep grazing, these results show that tall fescue should have an important role to play in Hawkes Bay and similar environments. Keywords: tall fescue, perennial ryegrass, lamb production, ewe production.