Trials have now started to test the FVI systems under realistic dairy farm management conditions, DairyNZ senior scientist Cathal Wims said.
The DairyNZ FVI is an independent, region-specific, profit-based index for short-term and perennial ryegrass cultivars.
It allows farmers to select cultivars based on the expected economic value to their business. It categorises cultivars into five star-rated groups in each dairy region – those with a higher star rating are expected to deliver greater economic value for dairy farmers.
The FVI is supported by a comprehensive, levy-funded programme of research and was launched in 2012.
It’s now entering a validation phase, testing the FVI systems under realistic farm management conditions.
That will give DairyNZ increased confidence the FVI methodology is robust and that the FVI can be trusted.
The FVI measures only seasonal dry matter (DM) yield but DairyNZ plans to include metabolisable energy and persistence in the index.
Trials are taking place on DairyNZ’s Scott Farm, just outside Hamilton, and are managed by DairyNZ’s science, technical and farm teams.
Over the past three autumns 40 hectares of pasture was regrassed, with equal areas sown to high- and low-ranked FVI cultivars.
The high-ranked FVI cultivars were selected from the five-star rating band in the FVI for the upper North Island while the low-ranked FVI cultivars were selected from the one- and two-star rating bands.
All cultivars were sown with white clover, which is standard farm practice.
The pastures were used to create two farm systems treatments: one based on low-ranked FVI cultivars and another based on high-ranked FVI cultivars.
They will be compared in a three-year farm system experiment that started last month.
The aim is to determine whether DM yield differences of the cultivars emerge as expected and translate into profit rankings matching their relative FVI positions.
“We’ll measure milk production and pasture production and calculate the operating profit from each system,” Wims said.
The Scott Farm trials are being supported by work at the Southern Dairy Hub where 32ha was regrassed using either high- or low-ranked FVI cultivars in February 2017. The results of these tests will also be shared when they are available.
This area has been managed under the hub’s standard farm management practices with pasture growth information collected from weekly farm walks.
It will allow DairyNZ to determine if the predicted differences in seasonal DM yield from the FVI are realised when cultivars are grown under realistic dairy farm management conditions in the lower South Island?
MORE:
Check out the Southern Dairy Hub’s partnership research programmes (including those on the FVI) at southerndairyhub.co.nz
Key points
1. Trials have started to test the FVI systems.
2. They’ll compare high- and low-ranked FVI cultivars.
3. The research will measure milk and pasture production and calculate operating profit.
4. It will ensure FVI methodology is robust and a trusted tool for farmers.
