Choice

Enterprise Type
Sowing Rate
6 kg/haRainfall / Irrigation
600mm+Choice is a perennial chicory herb demonstrating 3-4 year persistence and a high level of summer dry matter production. This inexpensive herb provides high forage quality and warm-season pasture growth, with a deep taproot resulting in a consistent growth rate, even during dry spells.
Choice chicory can be added to new grass pasture mixes to boost animal performance and feed production.
Sowing rate:
6-10 kg/ha alone
1-5 kg/ha in a mix
This Choice chicory was planted near Exeter on 12 September 2018. The plot was cut to 10cm high on the 14th of January and by the 1st of February it had grown back to 30cm high, with little rainfall. Chicory can produce large quantities of drymatter in hot dry conditions.
- Name: Greg - AusWest Seeds
- Location: Exeter, NSW

This Choice chicory in Ballarat, has had 15 mm of rain for the last 2.5 months.
- Name: Hamish, AusWest & Stephen Pasture Seeds
- Location: Leigh Creek, VIC

This paddock used to be full of bladey grass, tussock and lantana. Now its a lush high production paddock of Choice chicory, red & white clovers, Rhodes grass and perennial rye. To say this farmer is happy with the result is an understatement.
- Name: Stephen Coombes
- Location: Gloucester NSW, NSW

Check out the taproot on the Choice chicory plants we dug up today. The deep taproot helps Choice to make the best of rain and irrigation and produce more feed during a dry spring summer period.
- Name: Aaron - AusWest Seeds
- Location: ARMIDALE, NSW

Choice being used as a finishing crop and grass clean up crop.
- Name: Mark Palmer - SPS
- Location: Nathalia, VIC

Not normally a species for tablelands pastures, Choice Chicory sown with a mix of white clovers is to provide a quality source of feed for spring - autumn without the need for resowing. Early days, I am confident we made the right Choice. Ha.
- Name: Adrian Keith
- Location: Black Springs, NSW
Seed Mixes Seed Mixes Show All
This product is available in the following mixes:
AusWest MAXImiser ® Alpaca Mix
This mix is suited to Alpaca and other Camelids. It contains a safe and durable pasture combining hardy grasses, herbs and legumes to provide close to year round feed for your Alpaca.
MAXImiser Hunter 'n' Herbs
A highly productive, quick maturing pasture blend that will help maximise animal performance. The use of Hunter brassica allows for quick feed, while the addition of perennial herbs such as Ecotain® environmental plantain and Choice chicory extend stand life and increase pasture quality.
MAXImiser Irrigated Pasture Mix
This late heading perennial pasture blend including herbs is ideal for high rainfall areas or irrigation. The MAXImiser Irrigated Pasture Mix has been designed for optimum feed quality and strong year round growth with excellent late season performance. The inclusion of herbs (Choice chicory and Ecotain® environmental plantain) with white clover provides high quality forage to increase profit for your farming system.
MAXImiser Lamb Finishing Blend
Designed for the producer who wants to grow lambs quickly the MAXImiser® Lamb Finishing Blend is able to provide year round quality and production. The use of summer and winter active perennial herbs in this blend helps reduce the effects of “Red gut” and maximise animal performance. Combined with lucerne and clovers this blend provides a high quality diet for your lambs.
MAXImiser Millet 'n' Herbs
The MAXImiser® Millet 'n' Herbs mix allows producers to extend the growing season of a millet crop by adding perennial herbs Ecotain® environmental plantain and Choice chicory. The addition of herbs to the millet also aims to
increase pasture quality and animal performance.
MAXImiser Premium Tablelands Mix
With the combination of late maturing perennial ryegrass, fescue, clovers and herbs the MAXImiser® Premium Tablelands Mix is the ideal choice for growers wanting to maximise pasture production and pasture quality. The addition of perennial grazing herbs Choice chicory and Ecotain® environmental plantain to an already high quality pasture will allow for even greater animal performance.
- Endo
MAXImiser Winfred 'n' Herbs
The MAXImiser® Winfred 'n' Herbs Mix offers producers the up-front productionof Winfred, combined with the high quality and perennial nature of Choice chicory and Ecotain® environmental plantain.
SPS Forage Blend Plus
Boost overall production and diet quality
Multiple grazings and vigourous regrowth
Tolerant of dry conditions
Allows ryegrass to be direct drilled in the autumn extending production through to winter and spring
This blend provides variety in the diet, with greater mineral availability than a brassica crop alone. Both Ecotain® environmental plantain and Choice chicory are extremely pest tolerant and consistently produce high quality feed over multiple grazings. This blend is productive and persistent in dry periods, with rapid recovery when soil moisture improves.
Optimum sowing time: August - October, March - April (include 10 kg/ha Knight Italian ryegrass)
Soil type: wide range
Fertility requirements: Low-medium
Optimum first grazing: 10-12 weeks
SPS Hunter 'n' Herbs
Multiple grazings with rapid regrowth given moisture availability
Mineral rich for a well balanced diet
Provides a strong herb and white clover based pasture for ryegrass to be direct drilled the following autumn
This blend combines herbs and clovers with a brassica crop, allowing the brassica to act as a cover crop as the other species establish.
Optimum sowing time: September - November
Soil type: Clay - loam
Fertility requirements: Medium - high
Optimum first grazing: 6-8 weeks
SPS Millet 'n' Herbs
Diamondback moth, cabbage moth and cabbage white butterfly resistant
Outstanding bulk summer feed with excellent regrowth even under hot conditions, given moisture availability
Provides a strong chicory and clover based pasture for ryegrass to be direct drilled the following autumn
Quick transition from summer crop to winter/spring pasture, minimising the downtime period from autumn sowing to grazing
This blend combines millet with chicory and white clover, increasing the quality of the crop and therefore animal performance over a stand alone millet crop. Shirohie millet has been a popular summer crop to sow over many years. It's fast to establish, is heat tolerant and can produce quick green feed during the summer depending on rainfall availability or irrigation.
Optimum sowing time: November - December (soil needs to be 16-18 degrees and rising)
Soil type: Clay - loam
Fertility requirements: Medium - high
Optimum first grazing: Approx 30-40cm in height
AusWest MAXImiser® New England Ryegrass
This mix is designed for higher altitudes and higher rainfall eastern fall New England Country. The Maximiser New England Ryegrass mix contains Halo AR37 Tetraploid Perennial Ryegrass, one of our highest performing ryegrasses as well as PGOne50 AR37 the long-term benchmark for perennial ryegrass performance and persistence.
Complementary Products Complementary Products Show All
Are you planning to plant a mixed pasture? These products are great companion species to plant with this variety.
Mainstay
A new highly productive, large leaf variety with high stolen density normally seen in smaller leaf varieties. Displays both persistence and high drymatter yields, making it ideal for use in high performance pastures. Has excellent heat tolerance and would be ideally suited in dairying pastures under irrigation.
Sowing rate:
3-5 kg/ha alone
1-3 kg/ha in a mix
- 800mm+
- Large
Relish
Relish red clover offers superior persistence within grazing systems, with a semi-prostrate growth habit and high yield potential. As a perennial species it contains low levels of oestrogen and is highly productive in early spring, making it a suitable pure stand choice for lambs or in permanent mixes for quality grazing, hay or silage.
Sowing rate:
10 kg/ha alone
4-6 kg/ha in a mix
- 700mm+
Ecotain®
Ecotain® - The Plant
Ecotain® environmental plantain is a mineral rich perennial grazing herb. Ecotain® is fast establishing and tolerant
to a wide range of soils. This includes less fertile soils and especially dryland regions of approximately 600 mm
rainfall.
Ecotain® has a deep coarse root system, which gives it a degree of drought tolerance and the ability to
respond quickly after summer dry conditions. Ecotain® pastures offer some great animal performance potential
for sheep, beef and dairy farmers, particularly in winter and spring, as well as supporting a high level of animal
health, reduced incidence of dags in sheep and good micronutrient supply. Pure stands of Ecotain® can be used
during lambing to increase lamb and ewe weights at weaning.
Ecotain® has also been shown to reduce the amount of N lost from farm systems. Ecotain® can reduce
N leaching from the urine patch by up to 89%*.
Ecotain® can be sown alone as a pure stand or recommended in perennial pasture mixes, especially medium
term, quality finishing mixes.
* NZ data: Woods, 2017 used with permission
Sowing Rates:
10-14kg/ha as a pure stand
5 kg/ha in a perennial pasture mix
4-6 kg/ha with chicory and clover as a specialist crop
4 kg/ha in a lucerne stand
8 kg/ha with 2 kg/ha of forage brassica
- 600mm+
Succession Products Succession Products Show All
If you are wondering what to plant after your crop has finished, these are our recommended succession products to get the best out of your paddock.
Knight
Knight is a fast establishing Italian diploid ryegrass that yields outstanding growth and performance in all seasons. Knight stands and delivers during winter and summer when you need your paddocks to be working hardest. Ideal for grazing, hay and silage, Knight has good tolerance to rust and its reputation as a fast starter has gained a strong following with milk and meat producers throughout Australia.
Sowing rate:
20-25 kg/ha alone
10-20 kg/ha with clovers
- Diploid
- 600mm+
Prospect
Prospect is a new-generation mid-season, late-heading perennial diploid ryegrass providing excellent yields. Characterised by a dense fine-leaved habit, one of its main strengths is its reliable all-year-round production.
Prospect has proven its excellent adaptation to a wide range of environments from hill country to highly productive dairy pastures. Bred and selected with AR37 novel endophyte, its densely tillered, fine leaf nature enables it to recover from hard grazing once established and leads to good persistence under tough conditions.
Sowing rate:
20-25 kg/ha alone
15-20 kg/ha with clovers
- Endo
- Diploid
- 700mm+
One50
One50 is a new generation late-heading perennial ryegrass providing outstanding drymatter production and high quality feed for silage and hay. It is high yielding and offers excellent summer, autumn and winter production with strong quality late feed.
Due to One50's late-heading date it maintains vegetative leaf production into late-spring and early-summer, making pasture management easier. Recommended for rotational grazing, One50 is available with AR37 endophyte for improved persistence and production advantages.
Sowing rate:
20-25 kg/ha alone
15-20 kg/ha with clovers
- Endo
- Diploid
- 700mm+