As seen in Farm Weekly, 17/04/2025

IH Seeds' SouWest Pasture Mix is an adaptable and diverse mix that has stood the test of time across Western Australia, delivering consistently high-quality forage, hay and silage for a wide range of farming systems and soil types.

SouWest pasture mix is ideally suited for farmers looking for a specialty blend of ryegrass and clover to provide a balanced pasture during the growing season.

Where managed appropriately, the SouWest Pasture Mix can continue to provide high-quality pasture into the following years.

Carefully formulated for WA's unique environment, this mix combines reliable and well-proven varieties of both ryegrasses and clovers.

It offers balanced, nutritious pasture throughout the growing season while also allowing flexibility – whether for grazing, silage, hay, dry standing feed, or regeneration.

For early feed production, consider dry sowing before the break into clean paddocks where the prior year's weed burden was low and where you're comfortable with the associated risk.

Once established, ensure plants are well anchored to avoid pulling, taking care to avoid overgrazing.

Follow with a rotational or strip grazing program through winter and spring for optimal pasture performance, allowing the pasture time to recover, regrow and store energy in the roots before the next grazing.

This helps to maximise continued productivity and persistence.

Develop a fertiliser plan as paddocks grazed regularly need to also have regular fertiliser applications.

Cut mid-spring for silage, late spring for hay, or lock up and graze through winter and early spring, allowing the paddock to run to seed in spring for the first year.

This will provide the following year's regeneration, and if managed well and locked up annually to seed, SouWest should continue to provide high-quality pasture into subsequent years and be a good option for farmers wishing to pursue Regenerative practice.

Key benefits of the SouWest Pasture Mix

  • Ideal for grazing, silage, or hay, with regeneration potential.
  • Performs well across diverse farming systems and soil types.
  • Delivers high-quality feed from productive ryegrasses and clovers.
  • If locked up in spring, it can be managed for self-regeneration in the following season.

Standout components

  • Abundant; Dargo; Dunstan: A blend of annual and perennial ryegrasses combined to provide exceptional winter and spring growth, offering an early flush of high-quality feed and strong spring performance – perfect for grazing, late silage or early hay cutting.
  • Arrowleaf Clover: An aerial seeded, deep-rooted clover, which is later flowering that thrives in mid to late spring when moisture is available, delivering highly productive quality forage.
  • Paradana Balansa Clover: Adding strong early to mid-spring production and setting large amounts of seed if allowed to seed set. Paradana pairs well with a mid-season maturing variety, Riverina Sub Clover, especially in wetter soils. Riverina is a mid-season variety and exhibits high forage production. It is a white-seeded Yanninicum type with good levels of hard seed.
  • Crimson Clover: Extends the growing season with its rich, high-quality feed in mid to late spring, where moisture allows. Deep-rooted and high seed production.
  • Persian Clover: A mid-season, moderately hard-seeded annual and is very persistent if allowed to go to seed in the first year. Produces premium-quality forage, enhancing both silage and hay.
  • Sub Clovers (black and white-seeded types): Selected for adaptability across soil types, with varied flowering dates to maximise seed set and improve regeneration potential.

When managed with rotational grazing, SouWest Pasture Mix can deliver maximum productivity and long-term performance.

It is suited to a wide range of farming systems, soil types, and conditions, with recommended rainfalls of 500mm+ and a sowing rate of 15–25kg/ha.

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