Volume 27, 387

Tropical Grasslands (1993) Volume 27, 387–390

Tropical pasture establishment.
14. Producer establishment practices and experiences in southern inland Queensland

A.V. FRENCH¹ and S.P. CLARKE²

¹Department of Primary Industries, and
²''Kentara'', Miles, Queensland, Australia

Abstract

Establishment failure in grass pasture is common on the clay soils due to factors such as rapid soil drying, competition from weeds, depth of planting, seed quality and insects.
Sowing into a fully cultivated seedbed in midsummer has given the most reliable results although a great variety of techniques have been used with some degree of success. Mixtures with medics or lucerne are sown in late summer or autumn and pure swards of these legumes are normally planted with a cover crop of wheat or barley. Recent innovations have been the use of grain planting machinery fitted with press wheels to sow free flowing or pelleted seeds and the use of seeders attached to heavy duty blade ploughs in run-down pastures with timber regrowth.