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

  • Sothis is the first cultivar of eastern star clover (Trifolium dasyurum). It germinates very late in the season, up to six weeks after the break.

  • Prima is the first cultivar of gland clover to be released in Australia.

  • Biserrula is a persistent pasture legumes for Mediterranean farming systems. Biserrula has hard seed, a deep root system and a high level of grazing tolerance.

  • French serradella is an annual pasture legume with three cultivars suited to Mediterranean climatic zones of Australia. Cadiz and Eliza are soft seeded while Margurita and Erica are hard seeded.

  • Bartolo is the first cultivar of bladder clover (Trifolium spumosum) commercially available to world agriculture.

  • Cadiz, Eliza, Margurita and Erica have different characteristics allowing them to be used in different agricultural systems.

  • Kikuyu (Cenchrus clandestinus) is a subtropical, perennial C4 grass that is widely used as a pasture and turf.

  • Silver saltbush (Atriplex bunburyana) is one of many plant species found in the Western Australian rangelands.

  • Neptune messina is an annual pasture legume for winter-wet saltland areas of southern Australia with more than 375 millimetres (mm) annual rainfall and soil pH(Ca) of 5.5 or more.

  • Subterranean clover is a grazing tolerant annual pasture legume sown over eight million hectares (ha) in Western Australia (WA) and 29 million ha across southern Australia.