Pastures

Pastures play a major role in agricultural enterprises and contribute over $3 billion annually in Western Australia through animal production, improvements to crop rotations and conserved fodder. In a typical year pastures occupy up to half the land in low to medium rainfall areas and over two thirds of the land in high rainfall areas. Improved pastures are increasingly being used to play a more comprehensive role in farming systems to address emerging challenges for environment protection and food production.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is a world leader in pasture breeding and selection, grazing systems design and agronomic management of pastures. The department provides information, tools and resources to support the success of the agriculture sector in improving the productivity and profitability of pasture systems under both dryland and irrigated conditions. 

Articles

  • Spray-topping is a very effective method for managing annual grass seed set in pastures.

  • SnapCard is a combined smartphone and website app, is free and was developed to assist growers and crop consultants to make smarter decisions on when and how to apply pesticides most efficiently.

  • The Pest and Disease Information Service (PaDIS) provides advisory and identification services on animal and plant pests, weeds and diseases that impact Western Australia's agriculture and food ind

  • Estimating or measuring soil texture provides valuable information about soil properties affecting crop and pasture growth. Soil texture affects the movement and availability of air, nutrients and

  • The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development provides this agri-climate profile of historical and projected climate information to support farm business managers in their response

  • The whole farm nutrient mapping procedure described here applies to pastures in the greater than 600mm rainfall zone of south-west Western Australia.

  • In Western Australia, competition from 7-90 capeweed plants per square metre in a wheat crop can reduce crop yield by 28-44% and net return by 25-76%.

  • Barley grass is a common name for Hordeum glaucum and H. leporinum.

  • DDLS Seed Testing and Certification offers a wide range of tests to assess the quality of your seed.

  • Water quality can influence the efficacy of chemicals used in spraying crops and pastures.

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