Forage crops perform an important role in New Zealand farming systems. They provide
large quantities of high quality forage when perennial pasture growth is low or of poor quality.
The production advantages of forage crops over conventional pasture are varied and relate to the
level of utilisable yield of the forage crop. These advantages include: renovation of pasture that
is beyond improvement through grazing management (Hook, 1981), use as a break crop to assist
weed and pest control, and to confine or reduce the level of overall farm winter pugging.
This paper reviews the off-farm forage cropping opportunities available to dairy
farmers. It assumes that the main livestock objectives are to grow young dairy stock at optimum
rates, maintain or improve the condition of dry cows, or provide feed for longer term
conservation.
Forage crops can be broadly classified into the brassicas and greenfeeds. As brassica
crops are covered in detail in another session of this conference, this paper only covers recent
brassica research conducted at Lincoln University, particularly with regard to leaf turnips. More
detailed coverage is given to the cereal and ryegrass greenfeeds, while the final section gives
some suggested cropping sequences to incorporate the forage crops into an overall farming system.[Show full abstract]
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