A regular user of the Forage Value Index (FVI) pasture tables, Ben is happy to consider trial results in Tasmania, Victoria or anywhere else similar to his growing conditions.
Ben says that seeing different trial sites producing similar results reinforces his decisions.
“If you look at different regions, you quite often see the same varieties making it to the top of the index and that gives you more confidence,” he says.
“I look at the growing conditions, regardless of how close the trial is to us. For irrigated pastures, it could be more relevant to look at a higher rainfall region or another irrigated trial site. As long as it’s a similar climate to us in a southern growing region, the exact region isn’t that important to me.”
For the past five years, Ben and his wife Michelle have been 50-50 sharefarmers at Mt Schank near Mt Gambier in south-east South Australia with farm owner and fellow Kiwi native Chris Proctor.
It’s the first share farming gig for Ben and Michelle, and having independent data to back their decisions is essential.
The farm has conventional Perennial ryegrass with white clover under irrigation, while the dryland is mostly Annual ryegrass.
For Ben, the FVI really comes into play when he’s considering new cultivars.
“To get unbiased data on emerging cultivars helps inform your decision making,” he explains.
“You should already have confidence in the existing cultivars on your farm, but if there’s potentially a contender to outdo them, you want unbiased research data on it.”
The basis of the FVI is a direct outcome of Dairy Australia’s funded research in collaboration with several industry partners. The initiative commenced around a decade ago, and it has been further developed and expanded under the DairyFeedbase research program.
The FVI is usually about reaffirming Ben’s decision making – not necessarily changing things, but he has made adjustments based on the trials.
“With our annual re-grassing program, we want to make sure we’re using the right cultivars each year,” he says.
“The Perennial cultivar selection is even more important because of the long-term implications if you make a poor choice.”
Ben says the independence of the data is paramount.
He digs into the Index to find information important to his farm, with a particular emphasis on energy, dry matter yields and seasonal growth. He says energy content is an important factor when reviewing the data.
“We know what dry matter yields we’re getting from our own pasture management, but we’re not out there testing the ME. We can look at what falls into the milk vat each day, but it’s all very subjective.
“These trials are under the same grazing or cut and measure conditions so you’re getting differences in energy content for several cultivars that are under the exact same management – that’s valuable information.”
The Forage Value Index is one of the many ways that Dairy Australia delivers outcomes from research to improve herd and feed genetics, as well as providing farmers with insights to support their decision making.
The FVI tables have been developed annually since 2017 by Dairy Australia, in collaboration with DataGene, Meat & Livestock Australia and the Pasture Trials Network. It provides an independent and reliable assessment on the potential economic value of Perennial, Italian and Annual ryegrass cultivars.
The 2025 FVI tables are available now at Forage Value Index | Dairy Australia.
