Cocksfoot Seed

Graze it harder and more regularly. Cocksfoot becomes bulky and rank under lax grazing, and the old, stemmy material is low in digestibility, so stock leave it. DPIRD suggests keeping established swards at about 1000–2500 kg DM/ha, roughly 3–8 cm high. Use rotational grazing with enough stock to clean each paddock down, but don't graze so close that the crowns are damaged. Treposno can also be cut for hay or silage when growth gets ahead of stock.

Yes, an upright cocksfoot can do both. Treposno Cocksfoot is suited to permanent pasture, silage and hay, with an upright habit, dense sward and high yield potential, particularly in the first cut. It can be used for 4–6 grazings or mown 3–4 times. It suits 450 mm or more of rain on sands through to heavy soils and tolerates low pH. Cocksfoot copes well with intensive fertiliser use, so keep phosphorus and nitrogen up to hold yields across cuts.

Summer-dormant, or Mediterranean, cocksfoots shut down in a dry summer and regrow after the break, which helps them survive long, hot, dry spells. Summer-active types such as Treposno keep growing when there is summer moisture, giving more summer and autumn feed. The trade-off is that summer-active types need more careful grazing through a dry summer. They are the better fit where summer rain or stored soil moisture is reliable, or under irrigation.

Sow Treposno Cocksfoot at 5–8 kg/ha, 1–2 cm deep. Cocksfoot seed is small and light, at roughly 1.3 million seeds per kilogram, so a firm seedbed and good seed-soil contact are critical. Sow in autumn into a clean seedbed. Cocksfoot seedlings compete poorly with annual ryegrass, barley grass and silver grass, so control weeds before sowing rather than trying to catch up later.

Cocksfoot is well suited to it. DPIRD lists well-drained sand or loam over clay or gravel as typical cocksfoot country, and it can succeed on fairly infertile soils. Treposno suits sands through to heavy soils with 450 mm or more of rain and tolerates low pH, which fits many WA gravels and duplex soils. Cocksfoot still responds to better fertility, so give new sowings enough fertiliser to build a strong root system. On deep, pale sands, Mission Veldt Grass is the better perennial.

Cocksfoot has low tolerance of waterlogging, so plants in low-lying, poorly drained areas often thin out after a wet winter. It is not well suited to saline soils either. Keep cocksfoot on well-drained slopes, rises and lighter soils. For the wet parts of the paddock, phalaris or tall fescue is the better perennial grass, as both tolerate waterlogging. Where a paddock has distinct wet and dry zones, it can pay to sow each to a different species.

Out-of-season rain can trigger summer-active cocksfoot to regrow, using up its stored carbohydrate. If stock then graze off that new leaf before the plant rebuilds its reserves, and it turns dry again, plants can be badly weakened or killed. After summer storms, keep grazing light on summer-active stands like Treposno until the new growth has recovered, and avoid grazing them close through summer. Rotational grazing with good residual cover protects the crowns.

Add a legume. Cocksfoot is a little lower in digestibility and crude protein than perennial ryegrass, and a good clover or lucerne content lifts both while supplying nitrogen to the grass. Sub clover, lucerne and serradella are proven cocksfoot companions in WA. With a summer-active cocksfoot like Treposno, a summer-growing legume such as lucerne or Red Clover, which needs 600 mm or more of rain, keeps legume content up through summer, while sub clover covers winter and spring.

Wait until the seedlings are firmly anchored, which is often 6–8 months after sowing, then graze lightly. Cocksfoot's early growth is slow, so heavy grazing in the first year can badly thin a new stand. DPIRD suggests using cattle rather than sheep for these early grazings. Through the first year, keep plenty of leaf on the plants, around 1200 kg DM/ha or about 5 cm, and don't let stock graze into the crowns.

No toxicity problems have been reported in stock grazing cocksfoot, and DPIRD notes it does not contain substances harmful to animals. That sets it apart from phalaris, which can cause staggers and sudden death, and ryegrass, which can be affected by toxic endophytes or annual ryegrass toxicity. That makes cocksfoot a useful grass where you want to avoid those risks. Any sudden illness in stock should still be checked by your vet.