Only then could farmers be expected to benefit from this 'revitalised grassland resource'. Interaction Developing systems Questions still remain as to how to harness these reported advantages and incorporate the hybrids into grass seed mixtures and ultimately into silage and grazing systems which would be feasible on commercial farms. Such a sward would ideally behave like Italian ryegrass in the early spring, providing an early bite followed by 1 or 2 bumper crops of silage, and then provide a good supply of leafy, vegetative growth acceptable to stock during the late summer and autumn. Although research has already found significant yield advantages to be gained by including hybrids in seeds mixture, in order to develop practical farm systems Greenmount College Horticulture and Crops Division in conjunction with Development Advisers set up a number of demonstration sites on famrs throughout Northern Ireland where hybrid swards are now well established. The farmers involved in the project provide invaluable feedback on the performance of the demonstration fields whether they are cut for silage, grazed of both.
DANI staff measure the yield of grass just prior to each silage harvest.
This combined information will improve our understanding of how these mixtures perform and persist in farm systems. The persistency of each component variety within these swards will be closely monitored over the next 4 years. In 1997 there was no difference in grass D-value of hybrid versus diploid versus tetraploid despite the mature appearance of the hybrid swards prior to harvest. Each of the partner farmers has adopted slightly different approaches, ranging from 4-cut silage system through to successful combination of early sheep grazing, opportune silage cutting and summer dairy cow grazing.