Dairy Pasture Seed Mix

A ryegrass-based mix that pairs fast winter growth with late-season quality. IH Dairy Select Mix blends the tetraploid annual ryegrasses Abundant and Evoke with the Italian ryegrasses Amass and Achieve, plus 20% late maturing Persian, balansa and arrowleaf clovers. It's formulated for high production and feed quality and, season dependent, has the potential for two cuts of silage, haylage or hay. It suits areas with 550 mm or more of rainfall, on sands through to heavy soils.

Sow IH Dairy Select Mix at 25–30 kg/ha. It's suited to areas receiving 550 mm or more of annual rainfall, on sands through to heavy soils, and flowers from August to November. If you're planning to cut silage or hay, sow early in autumn: Amass, one of the Italian ryegrasses in the mix, is a good silage and hay variety when planted early. Sow into moist soil with good seed-to-soil contact.

Cut when the ryegrass is just reaching early ear emergence, which balances yield and quality. Lock up only pasture that's surplus to the herd's needs, and if you apply nitrogen, use up to 50 kg N/ha and cut within six weeks of applying it. Wilt to about 30% dry matter for pit silage, or 45–50% for baled silage. In IH Dairy Select, Achieve's upright growth habit helps prevent lodging at cutting time.

Start early and choose varieties that keep growing late. Sow in early autumn so the pasture has a long season. In IH Dairy Select, Amass is a good silage and hay variety when planted early, Evoke was selected for improved later-season growth, and Achieve has later season maturity for high spring yields. Two cuts are season dependent and rely on good spring moisture. Take the first cut on time, then feed the regrowth with nitrogen while soil moisture allows.

Graze ryegrass when it reaches 2.5 to 3 leaves per tiller, or before the canopy closes, and aim to leave 4–6 cm of residual between clumps. Grazing earlier slows regrowth, while leaving it much longer lets older leaves die off and wastes feed. That means rotation length changes through the year with growth rate. The Italian ryegrasses in IH Dairy Select, Amass and Achieve, recover well from heavy grazing, which suits intensive dairy rotations.

Bloat risk is highest when hungry stock go onto lush, fast-growing legumes, particularly when legumes make up 50% or more of the pasture. Fill cows with hay or other roughage before and during grazing, use anti-bloat products, and don't turn hungry cows onto fresh breaks. In IH Dairy Select the Persian clover is sown with Italian tetraploid ryegrass, which helps reduce bloat risk, and the arrowleaf clover has a low bloat risk. Talk to your vet about a bloat plan.

Most of its species handle wet winters. The four ryegrasses and the Persian and balansa clovers in IH Dairy Select all tolerate waterlogging, and balansa clover's waterlogging tolerance is excellent. The exception is arrowleaf clover, which doesn't tolerate waterlogging, so it will contribute less on the wettest patches. Keep cows off saturated paddocks where you can, as pugging damages the sward and slows regrowth.

Earlier-heading ryegrasses go to seed sooner, and quality drops once seed heads appear. For late-season quality, choose later-heading, later-maturing varieties. In IH Dairy Select, Evoke is late heading and selected for later-season growth, Abundant stays green longer into late spring when well managed, and Achieve holds its quality late into the season with excellent rust resistance. The late maturing clovers extend this, with arrowleaf growing strongly into late spring and early summer.

Part of it can. The Italian ryegrasses Amass and Achieve can provide high-quality pasture for up to two years where well managed, and Amass persists into a second year under favourable conditions such as irrigation, summer rain or late spring rain. The tetraploid annuals Abundant and Evoke last a single season. Balansa clover is hard seeded and can regenerate, though regeneration is limited if it's cut for late silage or hay.

Dairy Australia suggests 20–50 kg N/ha per application when soil moisture allows, and nitrogen works on ryegrass once soil temperature is above 4°C. Applying it after grazing lets the pasture use it in the regrowth. The Persian, balansa and arrowleaf clovers in IH Dairy Select fix some nitrogen of their own, so match your rates to the clover content, your soil tests and how much feed the herd needs.