Farmers can often turn unprofitable farm enterprises into commercial successes by simply improving pastures. Ideal for farm owners, farm managers and farm hands, produce or land agents, farm supplies managers and those in the agriculture sector, our Certificate of Pasture Management will develop your capacity to manage pasture for commercial success and gain employment in various agricultural jobs.

In this pasture management course, you will learn to select plant varieties, evaluate sites for pasture development and manage established pastures. You will also study animal feed, stock management, grazing behaviour, weed control, the nutritional and commercial value of plant species, and how to develop a work program for a pasture farmer.

Learning Outcomes

Outcomes achieved by undertaking a course in improving pastures include:

• Learning about pasture farmers, the distribution of pasture species and pasture improvement
• Exploring how to choose a pasture mix, seed coating, variety selection, sustainability and maintenance
• Gaining an understanding of the pasture plant in terms of what is valuable and the grass plant
• Studying the stem, leaves, roots and inflorescence (the flower head, including panicle, spike and raceme inflorescence
• Examining the growth and development of the grass family, including the seedling, the vegetative stage and the decline in growth rate and quality
• Understanding annual and perennial grasses, carbohydrate “sinks”, the physiology of grasses and the structure of a typical grass
• Attaining knowledge of flowers, characteristics common to grasses, growth habits and tillering, stolons and rhizomes
• Gaining insights into the ways to identify grasses, using a botanical key and identification keys to selected common turf grasses
• Learning about legumes, including identifying tips for common grasses
• Gaining insights into winter dormant and winter active plants and Alpine meadow grass (poa alpina)
• Learning about bent grasses and ryegrasses, fescues, bluegrasses, couches, zoysia grasses and carpet grasses
• Exploring legumes, the importance of legumes in a pasture, nitrogen fixation in legumes and nitrogen amounts fixed by different types of legumes
• Gaining an understanding of the rhizobium bacteria
• Studying lucerne, perennial clovers, vetches, sainfoin and grasses to grow with clovers
• Examining how to manage pastures, farm or site planning, choosing the correct site for a pasture and choosing the correct seed mix
• Understanding rainfall, temperature and soils
• Attaining knowledge of annual or perennial grass, when grazing is required and seed quality
• Gaining insights into establishing a new pasture, preparing the land for pasture, preparing the seedbed and sowing and germination
• Learning about direct drilling, aerial establishment, weed control and weed reduction via slashing, heavy grazing etc.
• Exploring herbicides, seeders, band seeders, air seeders and other planters
• Understanding continuous light stocking, season systems, one-herd-four-paddock systems, intensive systems and fire in grassland management
• Attaining knowledge of horse pastures and ways to improve or maintain horse pasture
• Gaining insights into pasture for free-range poultry, fodder trees and shrubs and their nutritional value
• Learning about fertiliser/soil nutrients, pest and weed control, biological control and the advantages and disadvantages of biological methods
• Exploring good pasture practices, irrigation, fallowing, hay feeders and cultivation
• Gaining an understanding of cultivation, pasture renovation, complimentary practices, legumes and managing pasture after drought
• Studying how to manage pasture after a drought breaks and fire and manage stock on burnt pasture

And more!

Pasture Management Tips 

Managing and improving pastures is a critical part of being a livestock farmer, and these skills are also extremely valuable to other agricultural roles. It can involve using existing natural grasses or planting additional grasses to maximise a property’s productivity and properly managing farm animals. It also involves being able to distinguish between desirable and undesirable plants and understanding the grazing habits of stock.

However, the process can be highly complex as there are many elements, and each constantly changes. For example, many plant varieties are used for grazing in specific areas. Each plant will also will react differently to different treatments and environmental conditions.

Different stock also graze in various ways — goats typically browse on bushes, sheep prefer to graze close rather than eating long grass, and cattle eat long grass. It’s complicated!

Natural pasture is also constantly changing and developing depending on the number and types of animals that graze on it and environmental conditions, and these aren’t often immediately apparent.

Farmers also rarely have one type of pasture. Most farms will have “natural” pasture, which is often a mix of grasses with some suited to one kind of animal, and others that suit a different type of animal. Many will also have “improved” pastures. These are specially planted to provide grazing at various times of the year;  therefore, they need different management. By understanding the different elements that affect grassland, those involved in pasture management can gain insights into how to effectively manage a critical resource — grazing.

Choosing a Pasture

Pastures differ on many levels. From the mix of plants they are composed of to how plants grow and their general vigour and health. For effective grazing and in terms of improving pastures, pastures need to match their use, and the type and number of animals being grazed should be carefully considered.

Seed coating is a new development available to farmers. It was essentially developed because grass seeds face many hazards before and during germination. They need precise amounts of nutrients and moisture to germinate and grow, and they are also light, so they can be blown away. If the seed is a legume, it requires a specific type of Rhizobium bacteria to enable it to “fix nitrogen”.

Fixing nitrogen is a term that’s used to describe a process by which bacteria living on the roots of legumes extract nitrogen from the air and convert it into a form that is used by plants. A coating around the seed offers a great deal of protection, including from stresses like sun, acid, wind, low moisture and infertile soil.  Birds and rodents also avoid coated seeds. Coated seeds makes sowing by machine easier, and even grasses like Digit Grass (Digitaria eriantha spp. eriantha) are more evenly distributed when coated.

Pasture Growth and Development

An important part of improving pastures is understanding the phases of a grass plant’s growth and development. These can be divided into three phases, and they coincide with the summer period from early November through to March or April. The times of these phases are essential so that rest periods can be built into a farmer’s grazing management progress, ensuring there is no mismanagement of grass.

Phase 1: November and December

Seedlings are very small in this phase because they use the maximum amount of light to produce carbohydrates via the process of photosynthesis. Carbohydrates are required for root system growth and development, which ensures the grass plant receives the maximum amount of nutrients and moisture from the soil.

During this phase, seedlings are sensitive to bad management by overgrazing, particularly by hoofs and teeth! Hence, paddocks should have a substantial “rest” time at this stage to successfully establish these small grasses.

Phase 2: January and early February

This is a stage when a vast amount of leafy material is produced, so it should be the stage where grazing is utilised to its fullest. The “graze half and leave half” rule is applied whenever animals graze on a particular paddock. Progress is made in maintaining and regaining the grasses’ vigour. Some farmers believe this forces livestock to level the paddock, hence they remove the long tuft-like grass that is not productive. However, this thought process can be misguided.

Firstly, fussy stock won’t touch the long, tuft grass, preferring to graze on more palatable vegetation, including vulnerable new shots. This puts strain on the more desirable grass, which in time can die out. Secondly, leaving a certain amount of leaf canopy after each grazing period enables plants to recover quickly.

If farmers want to level the grazing, they should do this mechanically (such as with a mower) rather than having it grazed down severely. This “graze half and leave half” rule also applies to cutting. If a plant is severely cut, the roots typically stop growing within twenty-four hours. So, if 50 per cent of the leaves are removed, the roots will continue to grow, but probably at a slower rate. And if more than 50 per cent of the leaves are removed, root growth may stop for three to eight days. Above 80 per cent defoliation, roots will start dying back from their tips.

Phase 3: late February and early March

This is the reproductive phase, which is essential for the development and release of seeds. Seeds are vital for the establishment and maintenance of pasture. At this stage, farmers should encourage the reproduction of more desirable grass species.

 

Gain a comprehensive understanding of pasture management to work towards improving pastures for more productive farms with our Certificate of Pasture Management.