Establishing and managing improved plants in hill country

Abstract

Legume introduction by oversowing steep hill country is accepted practice. Grass oversowing is less commonly attempted. Why do farmers choose to oversow, and why is success of oversowing variable? In answering these questions we suggest how success of oversowing might be improved. We also consider the appropriateness of attempting to introduce improved plants to steep hill country, how to go about it, and how to make best use of introduced plants. In this paper, improved plants are taken to mean those cultivars on the National List of Acceptable Herbage Cultivars. In practice, seed of unimproved plants is commonly used. At least 50% of pasture seed mixtures sown in North Island hill country are "bush burn" mixtures, and much of the white clover sown is of permanent pasture origin.