Tall Wheatgrass Seed

Tall wheatgrass is the saltland grass for it. Once established it can keep growing into summer and autumn on moderately saline ground, filling the feed gap when most other pastures are dry, and it is more productive where summers and autumns are moist. Tyrrell Tall Wheatgrass suits sands to heavy soils in areas with 450 mm or more of rain, including poorly drained, salt-affected paddocks. Keep it short and leafy to hold its feed quality.

Reset it, then keep it short. Rank tall wheatgrass that has run to seed drops below maintenance in feed value and palatability. DPIRD suggests crash grazing, slashing, mulching or burning to remove the old growth so fresh, leafy regrowth comes through. From then on, graze often enough to hold the pasture below about 10 cm, especially through summer and autumn. Established plants tolerate hard grazing, and regular grazing also stops plants turning coarse and clumpy.

Sow Tyrrell Tall Wheatgrass at 10–15 kg/ha on its own, or 5–10 kg/ha in a mix, for example with a perennial legume such as Strawberry Clover. Early autumn sowing generally gives the best results. Tall wheatgrass is slower to establish over winter than most other grasses, so don't judge the stand too early. Once established it persists well on poorly drained, saline ground.

Look at what's already growing. DPIRD notes tall wheatgrass does well where sea barley grass, buck's horn plantain and spiny rush grow, but not where samphire dominates or water lies on the site into spring and summer. Tyrrell Tall Wheatgrass suits moderately saline ground and handles winter waterlogging, provided the ground dries out over summer. A soil salinity test before sowing, read with your agronomist, takes the guesswork out.

Yes, it can. DPIRD rates tall wheatgrass a high environmental weed risk in medium to high rainfall southern Australia, because plants allowed to set seed can spread and colonise areas where they are not wanted, particularly along watercourses. Don't sow it next to creeks and waterways, remnant vegetation, plantations or roadsides. Keeping the pasture grazed short limits seed set and keeps feed quality up at the same time.

Plan a year ahead. Spray-top sea barley grass the spring before sowing, then use a knockdown herbicide if annuals germinate before you sow after the autumn break. Lightly cultivate or scarify the soil first. Don't sow vigorous annual legumes at the same time, as they suppress the slow grass seedlings; add a legume the following year. Watch for redlegged earth mite, and fence the area so stock can't pug the wet soil or graze seedlings too early.

Strawberry Clover and Paradana Balansa Clover both fit on the less saline parts of the paddock. Strawberry Clover is a perennial with waterlogging and mild salinity tolerance for neutral to alkaline soils in 450 mm-plus country. Paradana balansa tolerates waterlogging and mild salinity in 500 mm-plus country; DPIRD suggests direct-drilling balansa the year after the grass establishes. Inoculate strawberry clover with Group B and balansa with Group C. Strawberry clover can cause bloat in cattle.

Keep tall wheatgrass short and vegetative, below about 10 cm once established. Leafy tall wheatgrass has good digestible energy and protein, but quality falls sharply once it goes rank and sets seed, and it declines over late summer even when kept short. Defer the first grazing until crowns are well developed and plants can't be pulled out. After that it tolerates hard grazing, which also stops it becoming clumpy.

Tall wheatgrass is well suited to it. Tyrrell Tall Wheatgrass has high salt tolerance and grows and persists on highly alkaline soils, providing palatable feed where very little else will grow. It is a coarse, densely tufted perennial adapted to soils from sands to heavy soils, including poorly drained ground. It needs 450 mm or more of annual rainfall, and it is slower than most grasses to establish over its first winter, so good weed control before sowing pays off.

Yes, where salinity is moderate. Tyrrell Tall Wheatgrass is used to reclaim saline soils and for soil conservation, and as a densely tufted perennial it holds ground cover where little else persists. It suits sands to heavy soils in areas with 450 mm or more of rain. On the saltiest, winter-wet scalds, puccinellia is the better choice. Establish it with good weed control and fence out stock until plants are well anchored. Keep it away from creeks, waterways and remnant bush, where seed can spread, and graze it to limit seed set.