The leading cocksfoot in forage yield
Adremo, a highly palatable cocksfoot variety, is the latest release in South Africa with exceptional dry matter results in the Southern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal trials. Cocksfoot is a very persistent perennial grass that tolerates dry summer conditions, moderate soil fertility, insect attack and set stocking. Cocksfoot is used to enhance the growth and persistence of permanent pastures in summer dry areas. It also adds variety to the stock diet. Traditionally seeding rates of cocksfoot were kept low in mixtures, because cocksfoot can dominate pastures, reducing clover levels and digestibility. New fine leaved cocksfoot cultivars like Adremo are much more compatible with ryegrass and other pasture species, allowing better long-term pastures. Cocksfoot is moderately slow to establish and has lower digestibility than most other grasses. Cocksfoot has limited winter- but good summer growth.
Seeding rate
Cocksfoot is most commonly sown at 4-6 kg/ha as a component of a ryegrassbased seed mix. It can be seeded at a higher rate of 15 kg/ha as a specialist pasture, particularly in dry conditions where other grasses struggle to persist.
Grazing management
Cocksfoot should be kept short and leafy throughout the spring to maintain feed value. If traditional cocksfoots become clumpy or stemmy they are unpalatable to stock. In grazing trials, where cocksfoot has been kept short and leafy, animal performance is reasonably good. Maintaining good legume content in cocksfoot pastures will improve animal performance.