Introduction

At a Glance:
Location: Jerdacuttup
Area: 800 ha
Rainfall: 550 - 600 mm
Soil type: Sand (medium depth) over gravel over clay
Enterprise mix: 10% crop 80% pasture

Paul and Ann first adopted ryegrass in 2006 to improve their carrying capacity, weed control and soil structure. In addition ryegrass suits areas of the property that are affected by waterlogging and salinity.

Their intention is use the ryegrass pastures to prepare the paddock for crop rotations by controlling weeds with a competitive pasture and improving soil structure.

Paddock choice is based on high weed populations that may in the future be suitable paddocks for cropping.

In the paddock

Variety: Winterstar
Paddock Preparations: 1.5 L/ha of glyphosate
Sowing: Sowing rate: 15 kg/ha
Sowing method: knife points and press wheels

Grazing

Paul rotationally grazes Winterstar with annual pastures.

Difficulties

Paul identified areas where he could change his management to improve his pasture production and preparation for cropping paddocks. In particular, the background Wimmera interfered with Winterstar establishment and persistence. If paddocks are to be returned to cropping Wimmera numbers will need to be reduced.

Benefits

One thing that Paul noticed was that he could achieved more grazing days out of the improved pasture compared to volunteer annual pastures.