Irrigated Pasture Seed Mix

Under an early watering program you can sow from March, which gets the pasture established before winter instead of waiting for the autumn break. Our Irrigation Mix is set up for this, combining Amass and Achieve Italian ryegrasses, Hypa hybrid ryegrass and Haifa white clover. Sow at 25–30 kg/ha on sands through to heavy soils with a pH of 5 (CaCl2) or more. Keep the seed shallow, as white clover should go no deeper than 1.5 cm, and hold off grazing until plants can't be pulled out.

Graze it more often through spring, then manage it from late spring into summer to stop seed heads developing. Once ryegrass runs to head, feed quality drops, so the aim is to keep plants leafy and vegetative. Shorten the rotation while growth peaks in spring, and cut or top paddocks that get ahead of stock. Our Irrigation Mix helps: its Italian and hybrid ryegrasses are all mid-late heading, and Achieve has excellent rust resistance, maintaining quality late in the season.

Plan on about two good years from the Italian ryegrasses, with the hybrid ryegrass and white clover able to carry on under good management. In our Irrigation Mix, Amass and Achieve can provide high-quality pasture for up to two years where managed well, and Amass is persistent under heavy grazing. Hypa, bred from 75% perennial and 25% Italian ryegrass, has good persistence, and Haifa white clover acts as a perennial under irrigation, with prolific seed set and some hard seed spread by livestock. As the ryegrass thins, over-sow in autumn.

Yes, if you sow species that handle wet feet. Our Irrigation Mix is rated for waterlogging and low pH, and its components are chosen for it: Amass is ideal where periodic winter waterlogging occurs, Achieve tolerates waterlogging, and Haifa white clover tolerates waterlogging and low pH. It suits sands through to heavy soils with a pH of 5 (CaCl2) or above. Keep cattle off saturated ground where you can, because pugging on wet soil destroys soil structure and can cut pasture regrowth for months.

On sand, irrigate smaller amounts more often, because sandy soils hold much less readily available water than heavier soils. Work out the daily deficit as evapotranspiration minus rainfall, and irrigate before the deficit uses up the soil's readily available water. Readily available water divided by daily evapotranspiration gives the number of days between irrigations, so the interval shortens in hot weather and on lighter soils. Applying more than the soil can hold just drains below the roots. Weather-based scheduling tools and soil moisture monitoring make this easier.

The usual culprits are sowing too deep and being shaded out by the grass. White clover seed should go in no deeper than 1.5 cm, so set the seeder shallow and aim for good seed-soil contact. Once it's up, white clover needs light, so graze frequently to stop the ryegrass smothering it. Sow it with Italian, hybrid or perennial ryegrasses rather than annual ryegrass, which white clover generally can't compete with. Make sure the seed is inoculated with the right rhizobia if it isn't pre-inoculated.

Manage both the stock and the pasture, because bloat risk is highest when hungry cattle go onto young, lush pasture with a high clover content. Keeping a strong ryegrass component in the sward helps. Fill cattle up on hay before they go onto a fresh break, and limit intake by strip grazing or restricting grazing time. Anti-bloat preparations, drenched, applied to the flank or sprayed onto the pasture, are the main preventive tools. Talk to your vet about a plan for high-risk periods such as spring flushes.

Yes. Our Irrigation Mix suits grazing, hay and silage. Achieve has an upright growth habit that prevents lodging during hay and silage production, and Amass is a good variety for silage and hay when planted in early autumn. Higher sowing rates, backed by more fertiliser, lift dry matter production, which helps bulk up a cut. After cutting, return the paddock to rotational grazing and manage regrowth from late spring into summer to keep seed heads down and quality up.

Choose ryegrasses with strong rust resistance, because rust cuts the quality and use of feed when you need it most. Our Irrigation Mix includes Achieve, a diploid Italian ryegrass with excellent rust resistance that maintains quality late in the season, and Hypa hybrid ryegrass, which has good tolerance to rust. Management matters too. Keep up pasture nutrition, graze on a regular rotation so old leaf doesn't build up, and control late-spring growth so the pasture stays leafy.

Once plants can't be pulled out of the ground, graze at 6–8 cm high to increase tiller density, then run a rotational grazing program for the life of the pasture. Increase grazing frequency when growth is fastest, such as spring, and lengthen the rotation when growth slows. Sowing toward the top of the 25–30 kg/ha range for our Irrigation Mix increases competition between plants during establishment, giving earlier grazing and higher dry matter production when supported by extra fertiliser.