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

  • Climate change is a pressing global issue that creates both challenges and opportunities for Western Australia.

  • Dry pastures in Western Australia provide good early feed after senescence but rapidly become unable to maintain stock.

  • The Northern Beef Development program aims to support the Western Australian northern beef industry to become more profitable, resilient, and sustainable.

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

  • Bacterial wilt of lucerne (Clavibacter insidiosus) is a disease that reduces the lifespan and productivity of lucerne stands. It also makes lucerne crops hard to establish.

  • Cultivars of French serradella (Eliza, Cadiz, Erica and Margurita) and yellow serradella (Charano, Santorini and Yelbini) have been developed with the aim of reducing the cost of seed production.

  • The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) is a research partner in the national collaborative Dryland Pasture Legume Systems Project to develop pasture legumes that can

  • Yellow-winged locusts (Gastrimargus musicus) are native insects, distinguished by bright yellow wings, they are 35-50mm in length when mature and make a distinctive clicking noise when fly

  • This page provides information links specific to nutrient management of high rainfall pastures (more than 600 mm average annual rainfall) in the south-west of Western Australia.

  • Most unplanned hot fires change the plant composition and reduce growth and carrying capacity in the following season.

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