Use the Cultivar Selector Tool to make more informed, confident, and profitable decisions when choosing ryegrass cultivars for pasture renewal programme. Read more what it is and how the star rating is calculated.
The Forage Value Index
The DairyNZ Forage Value Index (FVI) is an independent, region specific, profit-based index for short-term and perennial ryegrass cultivars.
Information from the FVI is included in the Cultivar Selector Tool to allow farmers to make more informed, confident, and profitable decisions when choosing ryegrass cultivars for their pasture renewal programme.
Select the ryegrass best suited to your region and farming system with the Cultivar Selector Tool.
Star Rating Explained
The Index is based on independently calculated Economic Values (EV) and Performance Values (PV). Each cultivar has an associated star rating to represent its rank in the Forage Value Index.
The short term (winter feed and 12 month) ryegrass FVI are calculated based on the seasonal dry matter (DM) yield traits using cultivar-specific PV.
The perennial ryegrass FVI are calculated based on the seasonal DM yield traits using cultivar-specific PV as well as trait information on seasonal metabolisable energy (ME) content and persistence traits. The ME content and persistence trait information included in the perennial ryegrass FVI uses average PV across groups of cultivars (‘functional groups’, that we found conformed similarly in trials). While the perennial ryegrass FVI do not currently include cultivar-specific ME content and persistence trait information, we aim to include this in the future to strengthen the FVI.
Further explanation of the FVI is available in the FVI Handbook.
Diagram depicting traits now included in the perennial ryegrass Forage Value Index (FVI).
