Bermuda Couch Grass Seed

Bermuda couch is one of the better options. Bermuda Grass Speedie has tolerance to salinity, waterlogging and drought, and suits pasture or hay production where soluble salts in the water hold back other crops. It grows on sands through to heavy soils with a soil pH (CaCl2) of 5.5 or more, and needs 600 mm of rainfall or irrigation. As a warm-season grass, it can be grazed from mid-October and cut until frost time in May.

Bermuda couch is a practical choice for small irrigated or high-rainfall paddocks. It spreads by runners above ground (stolons) and below ground (rhizomes), so it self-repairs and fills bare patches without resowing. Bermuda Grass Speedie is suited to beef cattle and horses. Strip or rotational grazing works best, keeping the sward under about 15 cm. As with any single-species pasture, check the mineral balance for horses grazing it long-term, and talk to your vet or nutritionist about whether a calcium and mineral supplement is needed.

Sow Bermuda Grass Speedie at 8 kg/ha for pasture and 100 kg/ha for turf, where you want a dense surface quickly. The seed is very small, so placement matters as much as rate: aim for about 6 mm deep and no deeper. Speedie has been dehulled, so it germinates a little quicker than normal unhulled Bermuda seed. It's sold as coated seed, treated with Gaucho.

Sow once soil temperatures are above 18°C; mid-October to December is ideal. On irrigated country, drill into a dry seedbed and irrigate up, unless you've disced first to kill germinated weed seed. Give a light irrigation 3 to 5 days after the first watering so the surface doesn't crust, and keep the soil damp through germination and for at least 1 to 2 weeks after sowing. Expect about 90 days from sowing to first harvest.

The usual causes are seed sown too deep, the surface drying out, or soil that was still too cold. Bermuda seed is tiny, so sow as close to 6 mm deep as you can, wait until soils are above 18°C, and keep the seedbed moist for at least 1 to 2 weeks after sowing. Small gaps often fix themselves. Bermuda spreads by stolons and rhizomes, so bare patches from the first sowing are usually filled in without a second sow.

Bermuda grass is a heavy, efficient user of nitrogen. The normal recommendation is 200 to 300 kg of actual nitrogen per hectare a year, split into 3 or 4 even applications. Make the first in early November as the grass begins to green up, and the last in late April or early May. Control irrigation carefully so nitrogen isn't lost in run-off, and check soil tests to keep phosphorus and potassium up with regular cutting or grazing.

As a guide, irrigate Bermuda couch at local evaporation plus 30 to 75% each week during the growing season. Sand sits at the top of that range, often 50 to 75% above evaporation, and suits lighter, more frequent waterings. Heavier soils suit heavier, less frequent irrigation. After each watering, let the topsoil dry before stock go back on; it limits compaction and keeps the stand productive for longer.

Bermuda couch is a proven option. A well-fertilised, irrigated stand can yield 11 to 22 tonnes of hay per hectare a season, usually from about 6 cuttings between mid-October and the May frosts. The hay's total digestible nutrient value is about equal to lucerne hay, though it has less digestible protein. The first harvest is about 90 days after sowing; don't mow closer than 4 cm for the first 2 or 3 harvests while the stand thickens.

Strip graze it. Confine stock to an area they'll graze off in 2 or 3 days, ideally with a portable electric fence, and keep the grass under about 15 cm. When stock can't keep up, cut the excess for green chop or hay. Under irrigation in WA, a planting can generally carry four horses, eight head of beef cattle or six cows and calves per hectare over the seven-month grazing period, with growing cattle gaining about half a kilo a day.

It can. Bermuda couch is very vigorous and competitive, and its above- and below-ground runners can strangle out other pastures, so sow it where you want a permanent couch sward rather than into a mixed pasture. Couch is also a common competitor when establishing other summer perennials, so control it before sowing those. It doesn't tolerate shade well, and it can lose colour and go dormant over winter, especially after frost, before greening up again.