As seen in Farm Weekly, 25/04/2024

Irwin Hunter & Co's mixes have been Tried and Trusted by farmers due to their consistent and reliable production over the varying conditions and rainfall seasons of WA.

SouWest

SouWest pasture mix is highly successful in WA and continues to set the benchmark for Mixes in Western Australia.

It is the perfect mix that combines productivity with quality.

SouWest contains varieties that prove their reliability and performance in providing high-quality forage, silage and hay across a wide range of WA farming systems and soil types.

Its diverse blend of ryegrasses and clovers will provide a balanced pasture throughout the growing season.

Where managed appropriately and allowed to seed set, the SouWest mix should continue providing high-quality pasture into the following years, with its inclusion of some hard-seeded legume varieties offering some protection against false starts in the forthcoming season.

To ensure maximum production from the SouWest pasture mix, farmers need to manage their grazing and recovery periods and ensure timely fertiliser application throughout the season.

SouWest Mix's key attributes are:

  • Consistent and dependable results across different environments and conditions, year on year.
  • Grazing, silage or hay, if not used for regeneration.
  • Versatile application across a wide range of farming systems and soil types.
  • High-quality feed from highly productive ryegrasses and clovers.
  • It can be managed for regeneration the following year.

Silahay

Silahay mix is a cost-effective pasture that, at a low cost, will exponentially improve your pasture production.

It contains proven varieties of ryegrass and clover that are well suited to WA and produce early establishment vigour and high-quality bulk for silage and hay in the spring.

The Silahay mixture, with varieties Abundant Tetraploid and Dargo Diploid plus inoculated bare clover seed, will offer increased seed numbers compared to mixtures based around Tetraploid ryegrasses and coated clovers sown at the same rate per ha.

This means a Silahay 25kg bag contains many more seeds, giving the farmer better establishment results.

Where sown at the recommended sowing rate of 25 kgs per ha, there is the potential that you could increase your production substantially, resulting from the higher plant population.

Silahay mixture suits a wide range of farming systems and soil types in the 450+mm rainfall zones and can provide an excellent quality crop that will achieve high yields supported by appropriate nutrition.

Self Regeneration Mix

Self Regeneration Mix is a tough and reliable specialty mix that contains a combination of both Aerial seeded and Sub clovers, principally using the ARGT Resistant Diploid Variety, Safeguard, as its main component that assists farmers wishing to reduce the risk of ARGT poisoning in areas where Wimmera exists.

ARGT affects cattle, sheep and other grazing animals and Safeguard annual Ryegrass provides unique and sustainable control over a few years to eradicate it.

Safeguard flowers early whilst there is still good moisture availability in the soil, increasing its opportunity of a successful seed set.

It is important to sow before the break to align its flowering with the Wimmera ryegrass to assist the plants ability to cross pollinate and produce seeds, as it is a self seeding annual.

Testing over subsequent years is recommended to confirm it is safe to graze.

Self Regeneration Mix is productive across a wide range of soil types and suited to areas with lower rainfall.

Self Regeneration Mix is an ideal mix for Regenerative pasture, if allowed to seed set, and as a cover crop option.

Maximix

Maximix components were formulated to provide a cost-effective, resilient mix that, through its diversity, has a wide range of species with varying maturities of both ryegrasses, Tetraploid and Diploid, Aerial seeded clovers and oats, resulting in Maximix providing a full season's worth of production with the ability to also manage for silage or hay production, as well as allow to set seed in Spring and provide a Regenerative Pasture.

The combination of maturities gives it the resilience to produce and extend your growing season irrespective of the variability in the season, whether it is a late or early finish with exceptional results in a normal rainfall season.

Contact your local farm supplier or Irwin Hunter & Co regarding their extensive range of pasture seed and mixes.