United Nations Climate Change Conference:

Thirsty grass

Grass that can drink water with a high salt content sounds almost too good to be true at a time when the drinking water resources on Earth are reduced perilously. However, DLF-TRIFOLIUM’s researchers are increasingly focusing on integrating this ability into future clover and grass species. 

The sight of roadsides with lush green grass is often scarred by the first 30-40 centimetres from the road to the shoulder. Here the grass is often completely burnt:

”The grass has simply died of thirst, because we salt the roads here in Denmark. In this process some of the grass is also sprayed with salt, and it can’t tolerate that”, researcher Christian Jensen from DLF-TRIFOLIUM says.

Now, roadsides are naturally not the biggest problem. It is far worse with the 230 million hectares of cultivated land, which is irrigated regularly all over the globe – especially with recycled water – to save drinking water resources. The motive is sound, but recycled water often contains high levels of sodium. This causes salt to accumulate and the grass dies of thirst. 

”In Denmark it is not such a big problem, as it rains a lot, especially in the spring and autumn, and so the salt is washed out of the soil again. But in countries with low amounts of precipitation, it is a very serious problem. And therefore you’ll see soil entirely rid of vegetation,” says Christian Jensen.

New grass species on the way

In order to be able to offer more hardy grasses for  affected soil, in recent years DLF-TRIFOLIUM has worked on growing grass varieties which can tolerate a high content of salt thus minimizing the risk of desiccation also called salt stress.

This is a.o. done by traditional breeding, where plants are selected repeatedly in saline soil or pot trials and then crossed. By doing so the share of genes granting improved salt tolerance is increased for every generation.  

This process takes many years, so it will take about 8 years for the first variety ready for sale to see the light of day. But in the meantime customers are assisted in choosing among the current existing varieties to find the variety best suited for saline soil.

Field Day

In October, DLF INTERNATIONAL SEEDS hosted a Field Day event for Ewing Irrigation, the fastest growing commercial landscape irrigation company in the United States. Over 25 participants, including Ewing employees and customers, enjoyed a beautiful day in Oregon touring the Research Farm located just outside of Corvallis. DLF Chief Breeder Steve Reid  & Turf Sales Associate Brad Jeffreys directed the tours that featured the newest DLF varieties of Fine Fescue, Tall Fescue, Kentucky Bluegrass, Perennial Ryegrass and Microclover plots. Lori McGinty, DLF Intl Seeds Export Specialist, led a lunch time discussion on Ewing Seed Specifications and how they are incorporated into the Seed Analysis Tag.  John Rector of Ewing Irrigation expressed his appreciation by saying, “Thanks to the entire DLF group for the time and effort spent with our Ewing group. I thought it was a good program covering a broad range of topics and marketing ideas. I know it got a lot of the guys thinking.” Due to the positive response, DLF-IS is already planning more targeted Field Day events for this spring.

October

DLF Trifolium page advertorial for Greenkeeping

Overseeding key to transition from Poa

Courses are proving that regular overseeding is a key element in maintenance programmes that seek to banish annual meadowgrass, reports Colin Victor.

Greenkeepers across Britain are battling against the advance of Poa Annua in their greens, tees and fairways.

The annual meadowgrass seeds itself several times a year, so if given a chance can quickly dominate the sward.

Poa is a hungry beast and demands extensive feeding and watering to stay green, particularly when dry conditions persist.

A programme of regular overseeding, as frequently as four or five times annually, gives greenkeepers the means to introduce other more drought and disease resistant cultivars into their turf. However, other factors also come into play to ensure a successful transition from predominantly Poa to those more sustainable cultivars.

Courses that build in overseeding as part of the overall maintenance plan therefore are giving themselves a fighting chance to cure the meadowgrass malaise once and for all.

Free-draining sites particularly can suffer when Poa predominates. At Harleyford Golf Club, for example, the course plays on a chalk, flint substrate, with only a thin layer of topsoil.

Johnsons fescue mix has helped head greenkeeper Simon Marsh complete a major renovation of his 18 fairways as part of an ongoing overseeding programme at the exclusive Marlow, Buckinghamshire, course.

"I had planned to use a dwarf rye mix but a visit to DLF Trifolium's demonstration area convinced me that sheep's fescue was the way forward."

The opportunity of seeing first-hand how different grasses perform throughout the year can be a valuable one for greenkeepers, believes Derek Smith DLF Trifolium's marketing manager.

"Greenkeepers rarely get to see cultivars up close and personal," he says. "When Simon visited us, he quickly saw the opportunities that fescues presented for him."

Other methods can reinforce the plan to banish Poa. Allen Blizzard, head greenkeeper at The Royal Blackheath Golf Club, one of the oldest in England, founded in 1608, took the bull by the horns during his two-week renovation window in August by employing sand injection to renovate his greens.

Contractor R & K Kensett used a Graden machine to reduce thatch, sand slit and sow a Johnsons J Allbent mix in one pass. Eight days later, germination was underway in what was now a more receptive rootzone. After six weeks, the new seed was still thriving.

"With each run, we can strip out up to12% of the surface with 3ml blades, and introduce new cultivars," says managing director Keith Kensett. In fact, he completed two passes on the 18th green and the difference to the sward is clear to see.

"There's a marked improvement in the quality and colour of the green, which has developed a fast, smooth surface now," says Blizzard. "The results have shown me that the more receptive the green is when seeding, the greater the take. Where bent is concerned, the trick is to bury it, rather than pushing it into the surface."

The method and results reinforce the stance adopted by the United States Golf Association, which states that between 15 and 30% of the surface of a green needs to removed and replaced every year to maintain tournament standards.

The speed of the technique (Kensett completed the work in two days) also means greens downtime is minimised and fees income less vulnerable to pressure from members to reduce them while the work is in progress, Blizzard adds. "We'll continue to renovate the greens using the Graden and I'll be planning in the work for the next maintenance period," he confirms.

Such remedial work is part and parcel of programmes that can help clubs rely on more traditional principles that they will need to adopt to meet EU legislation, among other measures.

"Using techniques such as Graden sand and seed injection gives greenkeepers another valuable weapon in their fight against Poa," Smith says. "Together with regular overseeding with bents and fescues, for example, courses stand every chance of returning to more sustainable, environmentally sound, management that relies less on irrigation, feeding and spraying."

ENDS

25 Years with Grass Seeds

One of Denmark’s “grand old men” within clover and grass seed, Ole Groenbaek, can look back at 25 years as product manager in DLF-TRIFOLIUM. And the development in this industry has been rapid.

Since Ole Groenbaek started in the grass seed business in 1984, things have moved fast. The structural development in cattle farming has demanded heavy changes for suppliers of clover and grass seed. In 1984 we had approx. 33.000 cattle farms in Denmark. Today this figure is below 5.000.  The total of milking cows in this period has dropped by 400.000 practically without having caused any changes in the total milk production in Denmark. Every single cow thus produces much more today compared to previously, and therefore the forage used today must be of a different quality.

Yearly Increase in Yield by 10 pct

Farmers needed then, and still do, new and improved grass varieties, so product development has all the time been an important activity. Breeding has played a major role in terms of improving the yield of the grass fields. From 1994 to 2006 the yield in Danish variety trials of grass increased from approx. 8.000 to approx. 12.000 FE/ha. This represents an increase of 10% or 300 FE/ha.

“The technical aspects of my job and the fact that I can communicate and use my skills in my daily work really make my dreams come true. At the same time our company has undergone a rapid development which I have been a part of .  I have enjoyed that a great deal, and I have got many new colleagues all over the world. In all places where our type of grass is growing we can learn something from each other”, says Ole Groenbaek.

Quality Forage in your Feed Management Plan Ensures a Healthy Herd

Karsten Weinkouff, in Uggerby Jutland, focuses on his grass field. Grass silage is the central point in his feed management plan, so there is no doubt in his mind that both yield and quality go hand in hand.  At his farm “Norrevang” situated only a few kilometers away from the North Sea, the land is well suited for growing grass seed, however that is not the main reason why clover and grass production play such a significant role.

”Our herd is much healthier when given plenty of grass”, says Karsten Weinkouff.  “And we can replace a lot of the compound feed that we have to purchase with grass silage, when the quality is ok. 

At Norrevang they harvest approx. 10,000 feed units per hectare, when controlling what the cows actually eat, and since harvest and ensiling cost about 600 DKK per hectare per cut, grass silage is not that expensive to produce.

Stefan Kristensen is one of two regular agricultural workers at Norrevang, and he is in charge of the work in the fields.  “We have not yet experienced rain at the time when laying our grass seed in swaths”, says Stefan.  “We plan to lay the grass in swaths one day, and perhaps use the fodder tedder, and then do the ensiling the day after. The agricultural contractor always fulfils our requirements in this respect.”

In the barn with 270 milking cows and 4 Robotic Milking systems, rules Peter Pedersen, the cowman. He does not need more sugar in the grass when making his feed management plan, however, he could wish for more protein.  Peter challenges all the time Stefan and Karsten, so during lunch their discussion is about grass, coarse fodder and cows.

Stormy weather in Vendsyssel (Northern Jutland)

The grass fields at the farm of Karsten Weinkouff mainly consist of a mixture of hybrid ryegrass, STORM, as the main variety – supplemented with large leaved white clover and intermediate perennial ryegrass. 

“This grass seed mixture is yielding very well and lasts without any problems for four cuts per year for two or three years in a row.  Last year we initiated a large scale trial in terms of replacing STORM with PERSEUS - a festulolium variety - in the mixture.  It looks promising, too, so time will show whether we will change entirely to this new mixture instead”.

The seed has been bought at DLG in Vendsyssel, Northern Jutland, which sells STORM, PERSEUS and other varieties from DLF-TRIFOLIUM. “At Karsten’s farm there is always room for us to try new ideas for mixtures”, says product manager, Ole Groenbaek from DLF-TRIFOLIUM, “so we benefit from this and in this way learn more about our new varieties.”

They are farming 250 hectare of land at Norrevang. 130 hectare of these are clover and grass seed, 35 maize and from this year also 12 hectares with fodder beets to be ensiled together with the maize. On the remaining hectares cereals are produced.  In addition there is about 50 hectares of wood, meadow and sand hills, among others.

”We are constantly at the lookout for news that can improve our earnings”, says Karsten Weinkouff. “Therefore we are chasing higher yields in our grass fields in terms of new varieties, and we try this year to ensile fodder beets to avoid purchasing coarse fodder, and we seek at all times to simplify and improve things where possible.”

August