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With 25 years involved in pasture development and pasture seed production we can offer advice on pasture types for coastal soils, planting and maintaining the pasture for continuing grass production.
I must stress the point, you only get back what you put in, in other words if you dont prepare and fertilizer the soil adequately then you will end up with a non productive pasture that will become over-run with weed infestation.
These photos show how pastures can be grown in this country. They are photos of our previous property. You can grow pastures like this with correct management techniques.
 
 
Development Techniques
Soil Preparation
Soil preparation is essential in establishing a productive pasture.
An ideal preparation is ploughing and then offset disking the ground, then leveling as above.
I’ve heard people complain that is to expensive. As I said at the start you will only get back what you put in. Pastures are expensive to establish and maintain but if done properly you can have pastures like the above photos
Fertilising
There are no short cuts to soil fertility and because fertiliser prices have varied greatly in the past couple of years, you cannot reduce fertiliser rates because of costs.
Also people have asked about liming (it is cheaper), but again liming only changes the soil pH and has nothing to do with phosphate, nitrogen and potassium levels although it may assist in uptake of nutrients to the plants. We found that pH levels in our area are around 5 to 6.5 and with these readings lime was not necessary as improved pasture plants grow well in this range. If your pH was below 5 liming would be beneficial.
Nitrogen
This element is deficient for sown pasture development in Hervey Bay coastal soils. It is supplied by legumes or by applying a nitrogenous fertiliser such as urea (46% N) or nitram (34% N). Urea should only be applied when there is a reasonable chance of rain within a few days of application.
The majority of produces rely on legumes to supply the nitrogen requirements for the grass component of the pasture. Legumes are herbaceous plants that form a symbiotic relationship with the nitrogen-fixing bacteria Rhizobium. These bacteria are able to convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form available to plants. Legumes have specific nutrient requirements (particularly phosphorous) and some need to be inoculated with the correct strain of Rhizobium at sowing. Many legumes also have specific management requirements such as strategic spelling and maintenance fertiliser.
Phosphorus
If adequate phosphorus is not available, nitrogen fixation can be affected and hence the growth and feed value of the legumes in pastures Phosphorous is deficient in most coastal soils. It is usually applied as superphosphate (9% P: 11%S) but can also be applied as DAP (diammonium phosphate 18% N: 20%P). One bag of DAP provides as much phosphorus as two bags of super and as much nitrogen as 1/2 bag of urea.
DAP can be used for establishing pastures. The nitrogen content improves pasture establishment on infertile soils, and assists the establishing pasture to compete with woody and herbaceous weeds.
Sulphur
This element can be deficient on some soils. It is usually applied as superphosphate (11%S).
Potassium
This element is deficient in the coastal lowland (Wallum) soils and can become deficient on other soils under intensive production systems such as irrigated ryegrass and hay production. It is usually applied as muriate of potash (50% K).
Trace elements
Deficiencies of copper, zinc and molybdenum occur in the coastal lowland soils and must be corrected when the pasture is first established. Two methods can be used to correct these deficiencies. The most common is to apply Cu Zn Mo superphosphate to which these trace elements have been added. The alternative application method is to mix the trace elements in water and spray on with a boom spray.
Some pasture legumes such as Siratro and Wynn cassia have a high requirement for molybdenum in order to fix nitrogen and grow well, while others such as the stylos and lotononis have a lower requirement, and do not usually require extra molybdenum.
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