SPS Hunter 'n' Herbs
The quickest maturing summer forage crop option to first grazing
Enterprise Type
Sowing Rate
8 kg/haRainfall / Irrigation
700mm+- 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
Ingredients Ingredients Show All
This mix contains the following products
Hunter
A cross between a turnip and a rape Hunter is a quick-growing, leafy turnip with minimal bulb development. It is best suited to multiple grazings for summer and early-autumn feed requirements. A fast maturing forage brassica with the first grazing possible at 6-8 weeks. Hunter is an excellent quality forage capable of providing extremely high liveweight gain on animals. Bred for tolerance to turnip mosaic virus and cauliflower mosaic virus. This, combined with selecting for vigorous regrowth, has provided a variety with fast recovery from grazing and excellent ability to yield in the second, third and sometimes fourth regrowth cycle. Plants usually show good resistance to most clubroot races, but they are susceptible to drought and aphids, and are best suited to heavier soil conditions with periodic summer moisture or irrigation.
Sowing rate:
4-5 kg/ha
- 500mm+
Ecotain® Environmental Plantain
Ecotain environmental plantain is a flexible perennial herb, which is widely adapted to many climates and soil types. It persists through hot summers and wet winters if it is not overgrazed in these conditions.
Ecotain® has erect growth and broad leaves enabling maximum intake per bite.
Ecotain® has a coarse fibrous root system which is very efficient at extracting nutrients, meaning Ecotain® can perform in a wide range of soil fertility.
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+
Choice
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
- 600mm+
Nomad
A small to medium leaved white clover, Nomad was selected for increased persistence and drought tolerance, being especially suited to dry environments. It performs excellently under dryland sheep grazing and grows mostly in spring, summer and autumn. Nomad has high nutritive value and is relatively tolerant of acidic soils, with great stolon density allowing it to persist in areas prone to low summer soil moisture levels.
Sowing rate:
3-5 kg/ha alone
1-3 kg/ha in a mix
- 600mm+
- Small
Winter White
Highly winter active, Winter White II is a large leaf white clover with superior establishment and winter production compared to other varieties. It can be included in all perennial pasture mixes as a valuable legume component through winter and early spring, proving ideal for grazing as well as hay and silage production. Winter White II also performs well with short term ryegrasses from grazing to improving silage and hay production.
Sowing rate:
3-5 kg/ha alone
1-3 kg/ha in a mix
- 800mm+
- Large