Alexandra, Victoria, Australia
May 1999
Much of the early forage perennial ryegrass breeding occurred in Central Western Europe
and was followed by breeding in New Zealand. These regions of the world have relatively
mild climates. While some forage related breeding occurred in the U.S.A., little activity
has been evident in countries with extreme climates. Australian company, Valley Seeds Pty.
Ltd., was the first private company in Australia to breed an extreme climate perennial
ryegrass.
'BOOMER Perennial Ryegrass is the latest release from our breeding programme' said
Managing Director, Donald Coles. 'We have bred a variety that is very likely to have the
highest winter herbage yields of any variety in the world!'
'Most varieties bred outside Australia lack heat tolerance and winter growth', he said.
'Soil temperatures in Australia are high enough in winter to achieve growth in perennial
ryegrass. This fact provided an opportunity for breeders at Valley Seeds to select plants
that actively grow in the winter. Some of the parent plants were initially collected from
many parts of Australia and have
been subjected to significant environmental pressure since first European settlement.'
This environmental selection pressure also produced some other outstanding characteristics
that Valley Seeds breeders were able to use to their advantage. One of these
characteristics is tolerance to high summer temperatures. We have been able to concentrate
the heat tolerance genes that enables Boomer to withstand extremely high summer
temperatures, much higher temperatures than other perennial ryegrasses can withstand.'
said Mr. Coles.
'Part of the secret of achieving high winter herbage yields has been to shift surplus
spring herbage back into the late winter period. This has, in part been achieved by
breeding an early heading variety, said Mr. Coles. We believe that Boomer is the earliest
heading variety in the world. An added benefit in shifting the heading date to an earlier
time is that Boomer returns to a vegetative stage over the early summer period while other
varieties are loosing leaf and palatability.'
Mr. Coles went on to say 'Boomer also has extremely good crown rust resistance. Crown rust
resistance is important in order to maintain herbage quality in humid summer periods. If
you add this fact to the genetic heat tolerance of Boomer you have not only a variety that
produces high herbage yields during the coldest time of the year but also a variety that
will produce quality herbage in the hottest time of the year. We believe that this is a
combination that has never before been achieved in perennial ryegrass breeding.'
For more information and trial data about Boomer Perennial Ryegrass contact Donald Coles
from Valley Seeds at dcoles@valleyseeds.com.Company news release
N1809 |
