Ryegrass Pasture Seed Mixes

At 400 mm, look at MaxiMix Pasture Mix, which suits areas from 400 mm annual rainfall. From 450 mm you can also consider Silahay Pasture Mix or the ryegrass-only Western Annual Mix, while SouWest Pasture Mix is suited to 500 mm and above. All four suit sands through to heavy soils with a soil pH of 5 (CaCl2) or more. In drier country where annual ryegrass toxicity is a concern, our Self Regeneration Mix, suited from 350 mm, is worth a look.

Silahay Pasture Mix is built for it. It pairs Abundant tetraploid and Dargo diploid annual ryegrasses with balansa and Persian clovers, giving early establishment vigour and high-quality bulk for spring silage and hay, and it can be grazed as well. Graze early at 6–8 cm to increase the clover component, which adds quality to the cut. Fertiliser in spring promotes bulk growth, then cut mid spring for silage or late spring for hay. Sow at 15–25 kg/ha where rainfall is 450 mm or more.

Sow a ryegrass-only mix that complements the clover you already have. Our Western Annual Mix is a good, robust choice where clovers are prevalent from prior years, combining Abundant tetraploid and Dargo diploid annual ryegrasses. It is productive across sands to heavy soils from Geraldton to Esperance, suits 450 mm-plus rainfall, and is rated for waterlogging and mild salinity. Sow at 15–30 kg/ha. Western Annual Mix is available through Landmark branches and agents.

Sow a blend of earlier and later maturing varieties rather than relying on one. If the spring finishes early, the earlier types will already have produced; if the season runs long, the later types come into their own. MaxiMix Pasture Mix does this with early, medium and late diploid and tetraploid ryegrasses, oats and aerial clovers. Western Annual Mix pairs shorter-season Dargo with Abundant, which can extend vegetative growth into late spring when moisture and nutrition allow.

SouWest Pasture Mix and MaxiMix Pasture Mix can both regenerate if you let them seed. Graze through winter and early spring, then let the paddock run to seed in the first year; if locked up to seed each year, SouWest should keep providing high-quality pasture in later years. Cutting late for silage or hay reduces regeneration of the balansa clover in MaxiMix. Western Annual Mix is a single-season annual ryegrass mix, and in Silahay the ryegrasses are annual, though the Persian clover should provide some hard seed.

SouWest Pasture Mix is a diverse ryegrass and clover mix, ideal for dryland sowing. It blends Dunstan perennial ryegrass, Abundant and Dargo annual ryegrasses, black and white seeded sub clovers, and arrowleaf, balansa, crimson and Persian clovers. The aerial clovers give a continuity of early and late feed, and the mix suits grazing, silage or hay. It is coated with BioNPK Powder S and suits sands to heavy soils, sown at 15–25 kg/ha in 500 mm-plus rainfall country.

Once plants can't be pulled out, graze to the height that suits the mix, and don't overgraze. For SouWest Pasture Mix, graze to 8–10 cm, and for Western Annual Mix, lightly graze at 8–10 cm, to increase tiller density. For Silahay Pasture Mix, graze at 6–8 cm to lift the clover component. MaxiMix Pasture Mix is grazed at about 20–25 cm high, taking it down by 40–50%. After that, run a rotational grazing program through winter and spring.

Because of what's in it. Silahay is made up of almost equal proportions of diploid and tetraploid ryegrasses plus uncoated clovers, so a 25 kg bag holds roughly 25% more seed than a traditional tetraploid ryegrass and coated clover mix sown at the same rate per hectare. Diploid ryegrass seed is smaller than tetraploid seed, and uncoated clover seed carries no coating weight. Silahay is sown at 15–25 kg/ha in areas with 450 mm or more rainfall.

It can be for early feed, but only where the paddock is clean of weeds and competitive grasses and you've weighed up the risk of a false break, which can germinate seed that then dies if follow-up rain doesn't come. Variety choice helps. Astound tetraploid ryegrass in MaxiMix Pasture Mix performs well in unreliable autumn breaks, while soft-seeded crimson clover, found in MaxiMix and SouWest, is susceptible to germinating after a false break. Otherwise, sow on the break into good moisture with a chance of follow-up rain.

For wet patches, Western Annual Mix is the pasture mix rated for waterlogging, as well as mild salinity. It combines Abundant tetraploid and Dargo diploid annual ryegrasses and suits sands to heavy soils. If you want clover too, MaxiMix Pasture Mix has several components that handle wet conditions: Astound and Amazon T ryegrasses tolerate short periods of waterlogging, Paradana balansa tolerates waterlogged soils, and Shaftal Persian clover tolerates medium waterlogging. For badly waterlogged or salty ground, ask us about Mix & Match Custom Pasture Blends.