Angas cattle grazing NyPa forage growing on a salt scald near Meningie South Australia, producing Coorong Angas Beef (reg Trade Mark). Grazing is the best method of utilizing the NyPa Forage and correctly managed it produce a good ration sufficient for non lactating animals. It is notable that the grass does not hold salt in it's tissue, unlike most halophytes.
[2] Sargeant M R The agronomy of Distichlis spicata cv. yensen-4a (NyPa Forage) and its potential role as a forage plant on saline land. PhD thesis Latrobe University March 2009
- The management requirements to achieve good levels of animal nutrition have been measured for both irrigated and dry land situations;
- irrigated with saline effluent from land base aquaculture at 15,000 ppm, fertilized and cropped every 42 days provided animal feed of 31.4 kg/ha dry matter per day with 16.7% crude protein, 67.6 dry matter digestibility and 9.5 mJ/kg, metabolisable energy (ME). These are laboratory figures (Lymbery A. 2009 Murdoch University)[1]
- in dry land circumstances similar crude protein and energy levels are achieved with high nitrogen and phosphorus regimes and grazing three times a year. These improvements are attributed to larger leaf area, and higher leaf-to-stem ratios due to adequate fertilizer (Sargeant 2009 LaTrobe University)[2].
[2] Sargeant M R The agronomy of Distichlis spicata cv. yensen-4a (NyPa Forage) and its potential role as a forage plant on saline land. PhD thesis Latrobe University March 2009
