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Confederate phalaris pastures are still standing strong and continuing to impress local graziers almost a decade after their first test in the region by *Agronomist Anthony Pearce.
“We got some Confederate before it was released – it was still just a line number – and sowed it in a strip trial near Mount Barker against six other phalaris varieties, including some of the biggest name GT varieties on the market at the time,” Anthony said.
“Our goal was to find a phalaris that would provide reliable grazing, year in, year out, under various management systems, and that’s what Confederate has done. It has performed really admirably.”
Anthony said a dry matter yield assessment in year three revealed no discernible productivity differences between the different phalaris varieties and the feed quality of Confederate has been consistently good.
“In mid-winter, we have seen Confederate test around the low 30s for protein and 11 ME with an NDF of about 42,” he said.
“We get a really nice response from Confederate – it’s just very honest and consistent.”
Confederate has been successfully grown by many of his clients across the Adelaide Hills, including mixed farmer Paul Edwards from Birdwood.
Paul runs cattle and sheep as well as growing wine grapes.
He sowed his first Confederate phalaris and Aurus cocksfoot multi species pasture mix in June 2021 and has continued to renovate paddocks using the same pasture base every year since.
The combination of Confederate phalaris and Aurus cocksfoot is one of Anthony’s preferred seed mixes for an easy to manage, quality pasture base with good grazing tolerance.
“Confederate does the winter work, while Aurus responds to summer rain, grows well through autumn and keeps its forage quality through spring,” Anthony explained.
While conditions were terrible for sowing, both too dry and then too wet, and the paddock was underprepared, Paul said it came up magnificently and performed extremely well.
“The next year we planted more and it also performed well, so we’ve asked our seed supplier to make sure he’s got plenty on hand so we can make Confederate our main base for multi-species plantings for years to come,” he said.
“Our country is only a light sandy loam, but it just seems to thrive and do really well. Any spit of rain or subsoil moisture will keep it growing, and in fact, we’ve just turned a big mob of heifers in there because it is still green at the end of February even though we haven’t had any rain for December, January or February.”
For beef and sheep grazing, Anthony said Confederate was his absolute ‘go to’ variety, but he has also introduced it to some dryland dairies where it has played a role in delivering strong winter feed along with Gibberellic acid.
“Having those paddocks of phalaris as part of the grazing mix means the farmers are able to extend their rotations a bit longer and cut silage a little earlier,” he said.
For beef and sheep operations, he said one of the main strengths of Confederate is its tolerance to grazing and persistence.
“One of the things I like about it is its ability to persist and keep performing with minimal attention. It doesn’t need any TLC and the pastures are lasting,” said Anthony.
“At this point in time, I can’t see any of those Confederate-based pastures needing to be removed,” he said.
“It is going to come down to farmers choosing to get rid of them before they disappear, but for that to happen, there would need to be another variety that performs significantly better in a number of ways."
“Confederate has stood up to the challenge and is still standing strong, still performing across a number of properties and providing excellent value for sowing in 2023.”
While it is early days for Paul, he can’t see that he will be losing his pastures any time soon.
He has found that grazing hard with larger mobs of cattle or sheep at a stocking rate of 18 DSE/ha over a few weeks keeps the pasture down and growth even. The stock are coming off in good condition due to the balance of nutrition in the pasture mix.
“We don’t do anything special to look after it, just apply 100kg/ha of single superphosphate each year and just sit back and enjoy it,” Paul said.
“We’re always happy to recommend and support a good product or service in farming, and if anyone wants to see the proof in the pudding, they are very welcome to come and have a look,” Paul concludes.
For more information on DLF Seeds varieties, including Confederate phalaris and Aurus cocksfoot, contact your local DLF Seeds Sales Agronomist.
* Anthony Pearce, Agronomist at Hills Farm Supplies
