Heading dates

Ryegrass heading dates

Heading date is when a paddock visually has 50% of the plants seed heads emerged. Heading dates are defined relative to the cultivar Nui, heading at day 0.

Ryegrass heading date influences pasture production in two ways:

Timing of spring-flush: Very early through to mid season heading ryegrasses often produce more dry matter earlier
Timing of late spring/early summer quality: Later heading cultivars hold quality, providing leafy high quality feed later in spring

Key recommendations: Heading dates

Sow a range of ryegrass cultivars with different heading dates to spread timing of heading and reduce loss of summer quality
Sow ryegrasses with different heading dates in separate paddocks
Sow no more than 50% of the farm in late or very late cultivars to reduce early spring feed pinches

Aftermath heading

Aftermath heading refers to the number of seed heads produced after the main heading event. If there are a lot of seed heads produced after the main heading event (high aftermath heading) then this means pasture quality is reduced. If there are minimal seed heads produced (low aftermath heading) then pasture quality is maintained for longer.