Introduction

At a Glance:
Location: Coomalbidgup
Area: 3500 ha
Rainfall: 550 - 600 mm
Soil type: Sand (medium depth) over gravel over clay
Enterprise mix: 60% crop, 30 % pasture

Coomalbidgup farmer Tim Scott, introduced Winterstar ryegrass in 2005 with the aim to improve his pasture productivity. Tim is intending to implement a phase farming system on his property with 2-3 years of ryegrass followed by a cropping phase for several years.

Paddock choice

As rotational grazing management is the key to success, Tim chose his paddocks based on size and how close they are to the yards and shearing shed for ease of management. Tim has had to reduce the size of some paddocks.

In the paddock

Variety: Winterstar because of its good production and as it's a quick producer of winter feed. However he is looking to adding a legume component to his pastures for the soil fertility benefits.

Sowing

Paddock preparations: Spray topped in previous spring, knockdown prior to sowing
Sowing rate: Winterstar 15 kg/ha
Equipment: Knife points and press wheels
Fertiliser: 85 kg/ha of MAP
                 80 L/ha Flexi-N®

Grazing management

In 2006 Tim stocked a 16 ha paddock with 350 ewes and lambs six weeks after sowing. They remained in there until weaning in Sept-Oct. In addition 350 cross bred lambs grazed for two weeks toward the end of spring. Over summer this paddock also carried 120-140 rams. Tim found it to be continually persistent after grazing which allowed him to take pressure off other paddocks.

In previous years Tim has been able to cut for hay at the end of the season however the quick finish in 2006 prevented this.

Pest and Weed

Pest: Red legged earth mites can affect the production of ryegrass
Weeds: Capeweed and silver grass

Difficulties

One difficulty Tim has come across is applying the correct grazing pressure on such large paddocks. Tim subsequently reduced the size of the paddocks which helped to achieve even grazing. The high establishment costs are also an issue.

Benefits

One of the cost benefits of using Winterstar has been its ability to take some of the pressure off other pastures paddocks in addition to the higher pasture production.