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Performance of white clover cultivars and breeding lines in rotationally grazed Waikato dairy pasture, New Zealand

2000; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 43; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00288233.2000.9513431

1175-8775

S.L. Woodward, J. R. Caradus,

Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock

Abstract The performance of 30 white clover breeding lines, including some already released cultivars, was measured over four years (1 June 1993 to 31 May 1997) in mixed pasture under rotational grazing by dairy cows, in the Waikato region of New Zealand. All the white clovers persisted throughout the trial but parameters measured (visual scoring of vigour, clover yield, and clover %) showed that the performance of most lines and cultivars fell in the final season due mainly to cooler than normal growing conditions in late winter‐summer and a dry spring‐summer. 'Grasslands Pitau' was, overall, the top white clover cultivar but showed a significant drop in performance during the dry 1996/97 year. Six other lines, including a newly released cultivar, 'Kopu II, were in the group of top performing white clovers characterised by high visual scores, clover yields, and clover % in the 1996/97 year. 'Grasslands Kopu', the control cultivar, performed poorly, ranking 25th overall. Results indicated that clover persistence is still a problem in dairy pastures, particularly if the climate is dry. Overall, the trial showed that persistence and drought tolerance should be a major focus of future white clover breeding programmes aimed at developing cultivars more suitable for dairy farming in New Zealand.