As seen in Farm Weekly, 08/06/2023

At Irwin Hunter & Co we offer a wide range of quality, proven and tested pasture seed Mixes and Custom Mixes that are ideally suited to your farm in Western Australia.

Our summer pasture mixes include Northern Perennial Mix, Southern Perennial Mix and Summer Cover Crop Mix.

When planting pastures for summer grazing, it is important to choose crop species that are well-suited to your specific location and growing conditions, and to manage your crops carefully to ensure that they establish successfully.

It’s also important to consider factors such as soil type, rainfall, temperature and prevalence of frost, when selecting your summer pasture crop species as well as what your livestock requirements are.

Planting summer pasture grasses in Western Australia can be a valuable way to improve soil health, reduce erosion and provide grazing opportunities during the summer season.

Some farmers, dependent on location, in Western Australia may use a combination of annuals and perennials to maximise productivity and manage seasonal fluctuations in forage availability.

The choice between perennial and annual pastures depends on a range of factors, including the climate, soil conditions, livestock management objectives, and available resources.

Perennial pastures consist of mixes of grasses and legumes that have a longer lifespan and can persist for several years.

They provide a more stable and reliable source of forage throughout the year.

Common perennial pasture species in Western Australia include Kikuyu grass, Panic grass, Rhodes grass, Lucerne, clovers, and various native grasses.

Perennial pastures require initial establishment and can take up to a year or more to fully establish before grazing can begin.

Once established, they have the advantage of being more drought-tolerant and can recover after grazing.

Perennial pastures generally require more careful management to maintain productivity and quality, such as rotational grazing, weed control and fertilisation.

Northern Perennial Pasture Mix

Northern Perennial Pasture Mix has been designed essentially for North of Perth but can be grown in the Southern frost-free areas.

This is made up of a mix of Rhodes grass and Gatton Panic.

Finecut Rhodes Grass

Finecut Rhodes Grass, bred from Katambora, offers improved dry matter production, increased leaf to stolon ratio over Katambora, has increased palatability and has excellent hay attributes.

Finecut Rhodes has finer leaves and stems with a good leaf to stem ratio and excellent water use efficiency once well established.

Finecut Rhodes can be grown for grazing, silage and hay.

Gatton Panic Grass

Gatton Panic Grass is a robust tufted, medium height bunch grass that produces well under low fertility conditions.

It has broad dark green leaves and smooth stem nodes and will establish across a wide range of rainfall zones and more easily than other panic grasses and can provide very good first year production if allowed to establish well.

Gatton Panic can also grow on lighter soil types but requires good soil nutrition to persist.

As with most tropical species, sow when soil temperatures are 16-18°C and rising.

  • Sow no deeper than 2cm.
  • Where practical remove weed burden before sowing.
  • Sow into soils with a recommended pH of 5+ at a rate of between 4 to 8kg/ha.
  • Annual rainfall 300+ mm.

Once the paddock is seeded, do not graze until plants are well established usually after the first autumn break, 8-10 months after sowing.

After the first grazing has been completed move to a rotational grazing system.

Grazing height for sub-tropical perennial grasses is 25 to 30cm.

Graze down to a residue of 12 to 15cm. Do not overgraze.

Recovery from grazing will vary considerably depending on factors including the time of year, the biomass retained after grazing, soil moisture and plant nutrition.

It is important to monitor and reduce grazing pressure over summer, unless there is adequate moisture for plant growth and when seed set is occurring to allow for the subsequent reproduction.

Southern Perennial Mix

Our Southern Perennial Mix made up of Kikuyu, Rhodes Grass, Gatton Panic Grass and Setaria, are perennial grasses that have been selected for complimentary adaptations as a pasture mix.

Setaria

Setaria is a robust perennial leafy forage grass that can grow up to 1.8 metres in ideal conditions.

Leaves are bluish grey green in colour and up to 1cm wide.

Setaria was selected for increased winter production and frost tolerance.

Narok Setaria is suited to a wide range of soil types ideally with a pH range of 5.5 to 6.5.

It requires good soil nutrition to achieve high dry matter yields.

Narok Setaria responds well to nitrogen fertiliser and is relatively frost tolerant and can stand some water logging.

Setaria species have low sodium and high oxalate content therefore should not be grazed by horses where it is the sole species.

Kikuyu

Kikuyu is a highly persistent, high-quality forage if moisture is available in the summer.

It can survive long dry periods, suppresses weeds, is highly persistent and reasonably frost tolerant.

It responds well to fertilisation, especially nitrogen in the warm season.

Being very competitive Kikuyu effectively reduces soil erosion.

Once Southern Perennial Pasture Mix has been seeded do not graze until plants are well established.

This may be 8 to 10 months after sowing.

The Southern Perennial Mix requires the same recovery periods and rotational grazing as for the Northern Perennial Mix.

The recommended sowing rate is also between 4-8kg per hectare in areas with rainfall over 300mm+.

Summer Cover Crop Plus Mix

Summer Cover Crop Plus Mix is a tailored combination of various summer species that include Chicory, Forage Brassica, Millet, Sorghum, Sunflower and Cowpeas.

The selection of species provides drought tolerance, high biomass production in summer conditions, strong root systems, nitrogen fixing legumes and biodiversity.

This results in improved soil health by reducing erosion and nutrient leaching and improving nitrogen fixation, assisting with weed and pest management, and providing increased water retention by reducing run off.

Contact your local farm supplier or Irwin Hunter & Co for more information regarding its extensive range of pasture seed and mixes.