Dairy Australia has recently expanded its popular Forage Value Index (FVI) tables for the 2023 sowing season to help farmers make better choices when it comes to ryegrass cultivars.
DA experts estimate choosing the right cultivars could mean as much as $250 per hectare per year of increased net profit.
According to the Australian Seed Federation, in 2021 about 11 per cent - or 1 billion litres - of Australia's total milk production comes directly from newly sown pastures.
"It's of utmost importance for farmers to select varieties which have the best chance of being profitable," DA's FVI Lead, Ruairi McDonnell said.
"There are many ryegrass cultivars to choose from but DA's FVI tables provide farmers with independent assessments in an easy-to-use format to ensure they are making the right choices for their farm, in their region."
The FVI is a tool for farmers and producers which independently ranks varieties of ryegrass according to their potential contribution to overall farm profit.
It was initially released in 2017 by DA for perennial ryegrass, following similar initiatives in Ireland and New Zealand.
The FVI has been updated each year since as new varietal trial results became available, as well as being expanded to include annual and Italian ryegrass.
Ms McDonnell said the FVI used the latest research to provide farmers and advisors with an easy, accurate and independent assessment of the potential economic value of perennial, annual and Italian ryegrass cultivars under Australian conditions.
The data used to create the FVI was sourced from the Pasture Trial Network - a collaboration of seed companies, Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) and DA, which conducts independent trials across the country.
Farmers can download the 2023 FVI tables now to plan their autumn pasture sowing at dairyaustralia.com.au/fvi.
