A note on liveweight gains of sheep grazing different ryegrass pastures

Abstract

Abstract Three trials are described in which the liveweight gains, of sheep grazing different strains of ryegrass with and without white clover were compared. In the first trial, the pastures were: perennial ryegrass (P), perennial ryegrass plus white clover (P + C), short‐rotation ryegrass (S), and short‐rotation ryegrass plus white clover (S + C). The ranking of the pastures in order of decreasing liveweight gains was: S + C, P + C, Sand P. In the second trial, the pastures investigated were: Ariki ryegrass (A), Ariki rye grass plus white clover (A + C), P and S. A + C gave the greatest liveweight gain, followed by S, while A was intermediate between Sand P. The pastures in the third trial were: A, P, A + C, and Italian rye grass (I). I gave the greatest liveweight gain, followed by A + C. P and A, which were similar, gave the poorest liveweight gains, A separate comparison indicated no difference in liveweight gains between I and S.