INTRODUCTION, PRODUCTION, AND PERSISTENCE OF 5 GRASS SPECIES IN DRY HILL-COUNTRY .1. INTRODUCTION, SITE DESCRIPTIONS, AND GENERAL-METHODS

Ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.), phalaris (Phalaris aquatica L.), prairie grass (Bromus willdenowii Kunth), and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), vary in their production and persistence during dry conditions. Improved cultivars of these species have been released but not yet evaluated for use in dry hill country, which is typically uncultivatable and of low nitrogen and phosphate fertility. This study tested the production and persistence of these cultivars in a co-ordinated series of experiments on six dry and marginally dry hill country sites of New Zealand for up to 6 years. Fertiliser inputs and summer grazing management treatments determined the adaptability of the new cultivars to contrasting management strategies. During this time summer rainfall was average at four sites, and below average at two sites. Winter rainfall was average at three sites, and below average at three sites.