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Plantain

Plantain is a herb which is better known to many people as a roadside weed. It is tolerant of pests and diseases and has become increasingly popular as a specialist crop or sown in a pasture mix. It is likely that 5,000 ha of plantain or plantain mixes were sown in 2011 and this may have increased to 10,000 ha in 2012. Work to date shows that specialist plantain pastures can also out-yield ryegrass pastures in terms of dry matter and have a clear advantage as a high quality feed in late winter and spring. Questions we are addressing include how long a plantain pasture will last and whether we can develop management systems to extend the life of a plantain pasture.