Mainstay

Leaf Size Large
Pasture Life Perennial
Grazing Seasons Spring, Summer

Mainstay is a large-leaved, high producing white clover ideally suited to high-yielding grass pastures, including dairy and beef.

New generation large-leaved white clover bred by AgResearch
Mainstay is a high performer that delivers excellent drymatter production
Mainstay has shown outstanding recovery from drought in the Waikato
Primary clover for dairy and beef systems

Mainstay has shown extremely high production when tested against other cultivars under grazing in ryegrass swards. It has also shown superior drought recovery in Waikato trials. Mainstay has been in a number of trials that have run for four years and has been a dominant cultivar for both yield and persistence.

Mainstay should be used as the main clover component in all dairy and beef pastures. It also suits rotational grazed sheep finishing pastures, especially when mixed with Tribute white clover.

Sowing & Establishment

Seed Weight .71 grams (per 1,000 seeds)
Sowing Rate 4-6 mixed sward

Performance Data

Mainstay was selected for increased persistence and production under very high levels of clover root weevil at all the trial sites.
Mainstay has shown both outstanding yield potential and persistence under adverse conditions for a large-leaved white clover as seen in Figure 1, which shows Mainstays recovery from drought in the Waikato in the summer of 2007-2008.
The result from the Waikato was also repeated in Mainstays performance in the Manawatu under beef grazing where it had excellent total performance and was still performing to a high level in its fourth year.

Suggested Mixes

Dairy Pasture Example Mixes

Diploid Perennial Mixes	Rate (kg/ha)
ONE⁵⁰/Request/Prospect perennial ryegrass with AR37, AR1 or LE endophyte	20
Mainstay white clover	2
Tribute white clover	3
TOTAL	25

Tetraploid Perennial/Long rotation mix	Rate (kg/ha)
Halo tetraploid perennial ryegrass/Ohau tetraploid long rotation ryegrass with AR37, AR1 or LE endophyte	25
Mainstay white clover	2
Tribute white clover	3
TOTAL	30