Kikuyu pastures, a valuable feed source for dairy farmers on the North Coast for many years, are destined to have a role further inland as a valuable summer forage crop.

NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) says dairy farmers in the Dubbo and Upper Hunter areas are already reaping the benefits of the hardy and trouble-free pastures.

With above average rainfall and mild summer conditions, Dubbo dairy farmer Don Skinner has experienced one of his best years on the 946 hectare family property, "Wembley Park", where 234 hectares is under irrigation.

While the cool summer nights have allowed the ryegrass pasture to stay around longer than usual, he has relied on kikuyu to maintain production for his 700 cow herd.

"Our cows love the kikuyu - we get down to a seven or eight day rotation in summer, with no drop in milk production, and they just keep chewing," Mr Skinner said.

"All of the irrigated flats are sown to ryegrasses, but those paddocks don’t cope with wet weather and we don’t get much growth in the summer.

"We’ve tried sowing summer crops, but the time taken to establish them, and the fact that you have bare ground not feeding the cows while you’re waiting for it, just doesn’t work for us when we are milking 700 cows.

"And we hate pulling out ryegrass that is still performing relatively well, just to put the summer crop in".

Despite some excellent results achieved in NSW DPI trials, kikuyu has been seen as more appropriate for the coastal regions, generally because most of its dairying area is on alluvial flats.

NSW DPI dairy officer, Anthea Young, said there were good reasons why kikuyu should be considered as an option for dairy farmers across the range.

"It’s often difficult to get good production off perennial ryegrass over summer months due to the heat," Mrs Young said.

"The disadvantage of summer forage is the time taken to prepare the ground and establish, as well as the water required to get good production.

"One of the issues for farmers has been the perceived low quality of kikuyu pastures compared with temperate grass species.

"Kikuyu is lower in energy and crude protein than ryegrass - all tropical grasses are.

"But when it is part of a well-balanced ration, you can harvest more than twice the total megajoules off well-managed kikuyu than forage sorghum over a full summer."

Meanwhile, Don Skinner is encouraging kikuyu growth onto more areas of the farm, aiming to maintain his high stocking rate with lower input establishment costs.

Contact Anthea Young, Scone, (02) 6544 4900.