Case study – Ben Heslop, South Otago – Stampede CM142

Stampede Proves Itself Down South

Fast lamb growth and good drought recovery in autumn 2024 turned a new grass experiment into full scale pasture renewal this season to enhance red meat production in South Otago.

Gains from an initial 10 ha trial of Stampede perennial ryegrass with CM142 endophyte were good enough to prompt sowing another 45 ha in spring 2024, says Hewett Farm manager Ben Heslop.

That equated to the farm’s entire area of new pasture for 2024/25, and he’s looking forward to further productivity benefits as a result.

Totalling 1000 ha (850 ha effective), the Waitahuna property is mostly medium to steep hill country, and carries 4000 Romney ewes, plus 1200 hoggets, as well as 220 Angus cows and replacement heifers.

Ben’s goal is to finish as many surplus lambs and cattle as possible each year, and he says while a small area of summer crop helps achieve this, high quality pasture does much of the job.

Stampede was an unknown element when the first three paddocks were planted in spring 2023, but it didn’t take long to show its potential.

“We ran ewes and lambs on it that first spring, then finished 400-odd straight Romney lambs, which did really well. I just kept rotating them around the three paddocks through summer and into autumn.”

Stampede lambs did better than those on summer crop, and the new pasture held up well during unusually dry weather in February and March.

“We were very impressed with the results from that first year,” Ben says.

With a much larger area of Stampede available this season, he has again used it for lambing during what turned out to be a cold, wet spring, followed by terminal-cross lambs which are drafted for slaughter from January on.

While it’s early days, he’s hoping for good persistence, and has a general policy of looking after new grass paddocks, avoiding grazing them too heavily and spraying for broadleaf weeds as required.

A new perennial ryegrass from Cropmark Seeds, Stampede is growthy, dense, and late heading with reliable yield in winter and early spring. CM142 is Cropmark’s own novel endophyte, providing robust insect protection.

To learn more about Stampede CM142 and download a tech sheet click here