Barrier is a specialist insect tolerant, and highly palatable, animal-safe perennial grass variety for use where insect pests are a serious threat to the productivity and persistence of your pastures.
Containing the
GrubOUT® U2 endophyte, Barrier has strong insect pest tolerance of a wide range of insect pest including grass grub larvae, black beetle adults and larvae, red headed cockchafer, porina caterpillar, black field cricket, root aphid, pasture mealybug and Argentine stem weevil.
Product Features
- Improved plant tolerance to a wider range of top feeding and root feeding insects
- Improved pasture persistence against insect pests
- Safer for animals. It won’t cause grass staggers or heat stress.
- Extremely palatable
- High voluntary intake
- High metabolisable energy
- High livestock performance potential
Australian agent:
Notman Seeds
Agronomic Information:
Ploidy: |
Diploid |
Heading date: |
Late |
Persistence: |
5+ years (subject to climate, insect pest pressure and management) |
Endophyte forms: |
GrubOUT® U2 endophyte |
Sowing rate: |
25-28kg/hectare along with 3-4kgs of clover, plus 2-4kgs of herbs (chicory and/or plantain) if desired |
Sowing depth: |
1-2 cm |
Sowing dates: |
Autumn and spring when soil temperatures are greater than 12°C |
Barrier Festulolium with GrubOUT® U2 endophyte Tech Sheet |
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Best practice for sowing and managing your Barrier pasture
To achieve optimum establishment of your Barrier permanent pasture, we recommend the following:
A well worked, fine, firm and moist seed bed is the ideal to enable good seed to soil contact. Having a firm seed bed, with good seed-to-soil contact will aid speed of germination and establishment.
Full cultivation before sowing kills insect pests and is the recommended method where insect pest numbers are high. Our experience is that best establishment results have been achieved by full cultivation prior to sowing Barrier.
Direct drilling is acceptable where insect numbers are lower, but take care that the correct drilling depth is adhered to as establishment can suffer with uneven depths. Do not drill into the existing pasture without first spraying, as the existing pasture provides insect pests with a feed source.
If you intend broadcasting Barrier seed, make sure that it is incorporated well into the soil.
Lack of soil compaction is one of the common causes of poor pasture establishment.
Where soil is light and fluffy (as can be the case where using power harrows for example), rolling with a Cambridge roller or equivalent is recommended to create a firm seedbed. This will enhance seed to soil contact which is critical for optimum germination and establishment
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As with any grass, the timing of the first grazing is critical to ensure he plant tillers out well. Use the ‘pluck test’ i.e. The leaf will snap rather than pull the plant out of the soil when pulled gently.
Barrier is particularly responsive to nitrogen. An application of urea after first grazing is highly recommended.
Once established, manage Barrier as you would any other perennial ryegrass, although rotational grazing is recommended.
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Insect pests (such as slugs, grass grub, black beetle, porina, field crickets and Argentine stem weevil) which are present in your soil or existing pasture can affect the establishment, production and persistence of any new pasture, including Barrier.
The small developing root systems of any young pasture plants are no match for high levels of insect pressure – even when treated seed is used, or where using pasture containing the GrubOUT® U2 endophyte.
Where insect numbers are very high, they should be reduced or eliminated through insecticide application, cultivation, and/or by first putting the paddock into a fodder crop to ensure optimum establishment.
Consult your animal health company representative for the appropriate insecticide programme for the insect pests present in your pasture. To reduce slug populations, ensure that the previous pasture cover is removed (e.g. buried through cultivation) and use slug bait prior to sowing.
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Barrier is an extremely palatable pasture. Stock will preferentially graze it to low residuals when given a choice of pastures, so opening the gates between paddocks could lead to overgrazing.
Avoid overgrazing and rotationally graze where possible.
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Barrier is more sensitive to soil temperature than ryegrass at sowing. Best establishment results are obtained when Barrier is sown at soil temperatures of 12°C or higher.
This usually occurs from late September through until the end of March. Sowing at temperatures less than this can slow establishment.
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Barrier should be sown at a rate of 25-28kgs per hectare. Always use treated seed where insect pests are present. Mixing other grasses with Barrier is not recommended – it will provide insects with a safe feed source and could create pasture management issues due to Barrier being so palatable relative to most other grasses.
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If you have a question about Barrier Festulolium with GrubOUT® U2 endophyte then please contact us using the form below - we'll be happy to assist you with your enquiry...