1. Sow What Mix ? Do your home work! Creating seed mixes Discussion with Farmer – What to sow? Read and understand marketing material Switch Selling Mixes or Cultivars

3. Do your home work! 3. Clearly understand where other pasture grasses best fit in the farming systems 4. Means you can be confident and professional * Range for persistence and performance Early Summer Flexible All 700-850mm Light-medium P 16-25 Pasture Brome Rotational Silage/hay Flexible Rotational Rotational Flexible Intensive rotation Flexible Flexible Grazing Autumn & Late winter Cattle, Deer (Sheep) 650-800mm Light-medium P 25-45 Prairie Grass Autumn All 650-800mm Light-medium P 16-25 Grazing Brome Sheep/deer (Cattle) All Cattle, ewes Cattle (Sheep, Deer) All All Stock class Responsive 700mm+ Wide range P 18-35 Perennial & Long Rotation Ryegrass Responsive 550mm+ Medium-Heavy P 20-35 Tall Fescue (Summer active) Autumn 600mm+ Light-medium P 14-20 Cocksfoot 650-800mm Light-medium P 18-35 pH 6-6.5 Lucerne Late spring 850mm Medium-heavy P 18-35 Timothy Very Responsive 700mm+ Wide range P 18-35 Hybrid, Italian & Annual Nitrogen Rainfall* Soil types* Fertility* Species

5. Read and understand marketing material Reading New Zealand Plant Breeding & Research Association (NZPBRA) trial summaries. This tells you that if the trial was repeated the result would fall between the error bars 95% of the time. The more trials the shorter the error bars and more reliable the yield range is. Ball equals the average yield for the cultivar Reliability bar or error bar Cultivars with reliability bars that overlap are not statistically different and therefore NOT DIFFERENT

6. Read and understand marketing material Reading New Zealand Plant Breeding & Research Association (NZPBRA) trial summaries.

7. Read and understand marketing material Reading New Zealand Plant Breeding & Research Association (NZPBRA) trial summaries. Other important points to note; 1. Not all marketing material will be up to date as printing dead lines and stocks of brochures means that summaries can be up dated before marketing material. The most up to date information on the summaries is found on the NZPBRA Website at www.nzpbra.org 2. There is a Canterbury summary a North Island Summary and a national summary that includes Canterbury, NI & Southland information 5. The regional summaries are the most powerful particularly when the region is relevant to your clients. The easiest summary to present in marketing has been the national summary. 3. A cultivar has to be tested 3 times in a region to make the regional summary 4. A cultivar only has to be tested 3 times nationally to make the national summary. One location has to be north of Taupo.

8. Discussion with Farmer – What to sow? Ask Questions! Farmers nearly always know the answers they want they just don’t ask themselves the right question. 1. Soil fertility – helps to discuss, high yielding cultivar vs general purpose, diploid vs tetraploids or whether to use other species Climate & Soil 3. Rainfall – helps to discuss summer actives vs winter active grasses and helps also indicate what grass species would work in mix 2. Soil type – helps to discuss diploid vs tetraploids or whether to use other species

9. Discussion with Farmer – What to sow? 1. What's it going to be grazed by? – helps in discussing, if its finishing or for maintenance (SR), high yielding cultivar vs general purpose, diploid vs tetraploids or whether to use or include other species Pasture use 3. What is the expectation of persistence – helps in discussing ryegrass type and helps also indicate what grass & herb species would work in mix 2. When is feed required? – helps in discussing ryegrass type and cultivar choice or whether to use other species 4. What level of fertiliser inputs are they prepared to use? – helps in discussing ryegrass type, high yielding cultivar vs general purpose, diploid vs tetraploids 5. Is there a paddock rotation you should be aware off? – helps in discussing ryegrass type, and use of other species 6. Is there a weed history or potential need for spraying – helps in discussing the use of herbs

10. Discussion with Farmer – What to sow? 2. What is the normal seed mix? – This gives a starting point, also often tells you a lot about who’s been supplying information and or seed in the past. Also gives a basis to provide improved advice or start switch selling products Other Questions on Pasture use that are often of useful? 3. How much is normally sown/ha? – This gives a starting point to stick to when making a pasture mix, also gives a basis to provide improved advice, Tetraploid vs Diploid, different grass species 4. Is there a seed budget in mind? – This gives a ball park to stick to when making a pasture mix 1. How will the pasture be sown? – This gives an opportunity to provide advice on the sowing of different species within the pasture mix

11. Creating seed mixes Our aim has to be to create seed mixes that meet our clients expectations as often and as reliably as possible. 3-4 6-8 (95%) 1.9 Red clover (Diploids) (59%) (282%) (100%) (166%) (17%) (400%) (220%) (78%) (51-50%) (100%) 3-5 1-3 1-2 15-20 1-2 4-6 1-3 10-16 10-16 8-14 Part of a mix Average sowing rate in a mix (kg/ha) 1000 seed wt (g) ryegrass =100 Species 8-12 3.4 Red clover (Tetraploids) - 0.71 White clover - 2 Plantain 3-5 1.2 Chicory 30-35 11.5 Bromes (Grazing, Prairie) 4-6 0.5 Timothy 6-8 0.9 Cocksfoot 20-25 2.6 Tall Fescue 20-25 3.9-4.0 Ryegrasses (Tetraploids) 18-20 2.0 Ryegrasses (Diploids) Dominant

13. Creating seed mixes Pasture mixes are ecosystems which have rules of thumb that always come about based on soil fertility and environmental interactions 1. Pastures will always has a dominant species . All other species will conform to a order of ranking for the remaining space with in the pasture 2. All your understandings of management, fertility and soil types and climatic conditions are designed to influence the paddocks conditions to maintain the best balanced pasture (ecosystem) for your farming practice Examples only weed White clover herbs Grass species Species 4 th order 2 nd order 2 nd order 1 st order Transitional ecosystem 4% 8% 23% 65% Proportion of pasture Proportion of pasture Stable ecosystem 4% 15.5% 15.5% 65% 4 th order 3 rd order 2 nd order 1 st order