SUPERCHARGING ryegrass could add hundreds of dollars for each hectare of pasture, with the greatest benefits being shown in Tasmania, according to the head of the Dairy Futures CRC, David Nation.
The centre had spent about $20 million on industrial biology, “changing pastures and cows in a profound way,” Mr Nation told the Burnie DairyTas conference.
Work was nearing completion on producing genetically modified ryegrasses with more energy, higher yields and more persistence.
Trials carried out at Terang, in Victoria, and Elliott in Tasmania, had shown ryegrass energy could be increased by one megajoule.
“One megajoule means a lot to any farmer, regardless of what the purpose they are using the grass for.,” Mr Nation said.
“On average, it means a $460 increase (in productivity) in Terang and more than $700 in Elliott.”
Depending on grazing regimes and stocking rates, the improvement would be between $200 and $350 a hectare.
He cautioned it could be some years before the supercharged grass could be released, so in the mean time, the CRC was working on other processes to increase energy values.
At the moment, it took 12 years to breed a new variety of ryegrass.
“It is a very long, involved process.”
Researchers were using DNA testing to cut the time taken to develop new strains from 12 years to six.
“Genomic selection will speed the genetic process, we are finding what DNA sequences drive the main nutrients, in the same way as it is used in animal breeding.”
Researchers at the CRC were also seeking to tap into hybrid vigour, in the same way it was used in crosses for animal breeding.
The third area was understanding plant endophytes and the active compounds they produced.
“It used to take $30 and six weeks to work out whether an endophyte lived in the seed or not, that test can now be done on a much larger scale, costs 70 cents and takes six days,” Mr Nation said.
Research into non-GM grasses was being carried out, in parallel, with DNA testing.
“GM ryegrass is of more value in Tasmania than it is on the mainland, but technology is moving so dramatically, there are whole new opportunities from improving the existing plant, from changing its traits, rather than adding gene functions.
“That’s no different to the way plant breeders breed plants now, so there should be no issue.”
