Allison was a speaker at recent field days for Aber high sugar grasses (HSG) run by Germinal Seeds and spoke out against commercial interference in how research was conducted and reported.
Now retired, Allison’s research career included working at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) research and AgResearch at Invermay. He was chair of Pastoral Genomics, a research consortium, but was removed after a clash with AgResearch over concerns about its commercial relationships.
Although he’s open about his close link with Aber HSG as Germinal Seeds’ scientific advisor, he said evidence pointing to unfair reporting of research on HSGs was damning. There had been a crashing silence over how well HSGs had performed in New Zealand in the early 2000s, he said.
In 2007 a dispute between Germinal Seeds and AgResearch, which was developing a high sugar grass of its own, appeared to have been dealt with by a joint statement that said both companies believed ryegrass with enhanced water soluble carbohydrates levels was expected to offer dual benefits by enhancing production and reducing nitrogen (N) losses.
But Allison said HSG trial results weren’t treated fairly to champion the importance of good science and independence.
A NZ Grassland Trust booklet published in 2006 said United Kingdom-bred cultivars (the Aber varieties) didn’t express their high sugar qualities in New Zealand except in cooler winter conditions, when they weren’t growing strongly. This was despite published data showing Aber Magic varieties tested in the spring and autumn over two years at Palmerston North showed soluble sugar levels of 19.6%, higher than the standard varieties of Impact and Bronsyn, which tested at 16.8 and 16.6% respectively. At Gore the comparison was 22.3% for the HSG, compared with 20.6 for Impact and 21.5% for Bronsyn.
Since then Allison said research into Aber’s HSG offering had shown a higher WSC percentage, evidence of improved milk production performance in autumn, lower protein levels in spring and good resistance to pests such as Argentine stem weevil.
He referred to research by Tavendale et al, presented at the 2006 Grasslands Conference, which found soluble sugars and starch in HSG grasses in a Palmerston North trial were 19.1% in morning samples compared with 14.1% for a standard ryegrass. In the afternoon samples HSG soluble sugar and starch levels were at 23.5%, while standard ryegrass was at 20.6%.
In 2007 Cosgrove et al reported that a trial carried out in 2006 found cows grazing HSG had an autumn milk production level of 1.03kg milksolids (MS)/cow/day, compared with 0.89kg MS/cow/day for a standard ryegrass. That’s equivalent to a 16% increase.
In 2007 the difference was 10% in favour of the HSG.
Allison also pointed out research showed that in spring the HSG didn’t outperform the standard variety.
It was important research was presented in an unbiased, factual way and that trials were not selectively reported, he said. Data on a range of factors, not just yield or drymatter (DM) production, needed to be collected and reported fairly and without bias so a full picture of a forage variety could be properly assessed by farmers.
Persistence, animal preference, nutritive value and environmental impacts such as urinary N outputs, or even greenhouse gas emissions, could all be important factors. He was pleased to see persistence and nutritive value were to be included in the DairyNZ FVI.
Persistence, or lack of it, had become a serious issue for many farmers disillusioned with newly sown grasses running out in the third and fourth years. Care had to be taken in assessing persistence, with cultivars managed as they would on-farm so farmers could be confident any persistence rating was relevant. It should be carried on for five years and ensure those stress effects were present.
For cultivars to be persistent they needed to have a vigorous, fibrous root system, be relatively prostrate and dense and have many fine tillers. Many of the new upright, open and less densely tillered cultivars appeared to be unable to cope with even one severe pugging or over-grazing event.
Palatability was also important for FVI evaluation, Allison said.
With councils looking like moving towards setting nutrient caps, having good science on what impact a forage had on factors such as urinary N output would become increasingly important, he said. Research in the UK had shown a reduction in urinary N in cows consuming HSGs compared with standard forage.
Farmers should ask the hard questions and get the full story on trial results, not just the characteristics seed companies wanted to promote.
