‘Grasslands Wana’ cocksfoot persistence and autumn/winter production in hill country, under contrasting managements and micro‐topographies

Abstract ‘Grasslands Wana’ cocksfoot ( Dactylis glomerata ) was oversown (10 kg viable seed/ha) following spraying (0.7 kg glyphosate/ha) in small plots in North Island hill country, New Zealand, under contrasting grazing managements (continuous versus rotational grazing), fertiliser rates (375 versus 125 kg super phosphate/ha), aspects (sunny versus shady), and slopes (steep versus flat). Measurements between April 1984 and May 1987 included assessment of herbicide effect, net seedling appearance, autumn/winter total herbage accumulation (THA), and botanical composition. Wana proved persistent and productive throughout the trial and in autumn/winter of the third year, yielded 12% more than resident pastures. Under continuous grazing Wana produced 23% of THA compared to 62% under rotational grazing, and this difference was further exaggerated on flat areas (25 versus 71% of THA). Its performance was better on flat areas (50% of THA) than steep areas (30% of THA) and better with high fertiliser rate (49% of THA) than low fertiliser rate (38% of THA). Wana performed similarly on sunny and shady aspects. Of the four factors investigated, it was concluded that Wana production and persistence was most dramatically affected by grazing management.