Endophyte options

Using Endophytes in your permanent pasture mixes improves animal health providing better animal performance, more palatable pasture, and easier pasture management.
What is Endophyte?

Endophyte is a fungus (called Neotyphodium lolii) that greatly affects animal health and performance. Endophyte is found only in ryegrass and tall fescue. It lives completely within the plant and is only visible under a microscope. Endophyte occurs naturally and is found in many old pastures.
Why have Endophyte?

There are many different types of Endophytes currently available, and each varies in persistence, yield, and insect protection. Endophyte protects plants from a range of insects. In dry summer situations ryegrass containing endophyte consistently out-yields and persists better than ryegrass Without endophyte.
Please browse the different the types of ryegrass endophyte below:

AR1 Endophyte

Ryegrass with AR1 endophyte is a non-staggering endophyte that has excellent animal performance. However, the Peramine does not give good resistance against Black Beetle, and care is needed in areas with high Black Beetle numbers, such as the northern half of the North Island. AR1 endophyte has now been extensively field-tested for animal safety and productivity and is now available commercially in a number of ryegrass cultivars.

AR1 endophyte in ryegrass offers the following benefits:

• Better liveweight gains and milk production than wild-type endophyte ryegrass.
• No ryegrass staggers.
• No heat stress.
• Less dags and flystrike
• No prolactin depression
• Excellent control of Argentine stem weevil
• Pasture productivity like that of wild-type endophyte ryegrass
• Better pasture persistence than endophyte-free ryegrass

AR37 Endophyte:

Ryegrass with AR37 gives you simple, economical insect control and around the clock protection from most pasture pests. AR37′s continual and superior insect protection ensures maximum pasture production and better pasture persistence allowing higher animal productivity. AR37 endophyte in ryegrass offers the following benefits:

• Greater insect protection than any commercially available ryegrass endophyte
• Continual protection against Argentine Stem Weevil, Adult Black Beetle, Pasture Mealy Bug, Root Aphid and Porina
• Improves tiller density and persistence of perennial ryegrass.
• Maximizes animal performance.
• Higher pasture productivity allowing higher animal productivity and more profit.

• Grub OUT U2 Endophyte

The Grub OUT® U2 endophyte is a strain of Neotyphodium uncinatum. A unique set of alkaloids called lolines, which insects don’t like. Use Grub OUT® U2 and enjoy the benefits of better pasture protection against insect pests, improved pasture persistence and superior livestock performance potential. Its benefits include:

• Protection of host grasses against root and top feeding insect pests including:
  • Grass grub larvae
  • Black beetle adults and larvae
  • Argentine stem weevil
  • Porina caterpillar
  • The red headed pasture cockchafer and more
• Improved pasture persistence
• No known ill-effects to sheep, cattle or deer. (No grass staggers or heat stress either)
• High palatability and animal acceptance
• Enhanced livestock performance
• Better farm profit potential

High / Standard Endophyte (HE/SE)

High/ Standard Endophyte is still available in some older varieties. It is not recommended because it causes ryegrass staggers, depresses liveweight gains in lambs and reduces milk production in dairy cows. This type of endophyte although persists extremely well in tough conditions.

Low Endophyte (LE)

Low Endophyte grasses provides better animal performance than High Endophyte ones but the downside of this is that it won’t persist as well.
Max P Endophyte

Max P is a novel endophyte for use in modern tall fescue cultivars. Max P greatly increases tall fescues persistence and production by protecting it from insects. In Canterbury trials yield increases of 25 -39 % have been recorded when comparing Max P with non-endophyte tall fescues. For more information on Max P Tall Fescues please contact Specialty Seeds.

NEA

This endophyte is available in Shogun and Forge ryegrasses. It gives excellent animal health and performance, and good black beetle control.

NEA2

NEA2 endophyte is ideally suited to farming systems through all regions of NZ, providing persistent pasture for dairy cows, sheep and beef cattle with excellent animal performance and health (see pages 72-73). Ryegrass with NEA2 gives good control of black beetle, Argentine stem weevil (ASW) and pasture mealy bug (provisional rating). NEA2 is a designed mix of two endophyte strains. Available in Array, 4front and Rohan.

NEA4

NEA4 endophyte is very similar in animal health, performance and insect control to NEA2, but forms a better relationship with some of our cultivars. It is a designed mix of two endophyte strains. Available in Maxsyn and Tyson.

NEA12

NEA12 is a new endophyte and differs from other NEA endophytes in that it produces janthitrems. It provides good control of black beetle and very good control of root aphid. We are currently testing other insects and believe NEA12 will show a wide range of insect control including for porina. Overall animal performance in animal safety testing has been good, although NEA12 has been shown to cause some ryegrass staggers in lambs at a similar level to AR37 pastures. NEA12 should not be used for horses or deer. Available in Shogun.

Without Endophyte (WE)

Without Endophyte gives good animal performance, but reduced insect resistance. Only suitable for summer wet South Island areas.
Downloads: If you require more information on Endophytes please download the Specialty Seeds Endophyte Options PDF.