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.
Key Benefits & Features:
• Early maturing, 6-8 weeks
• Fast recovery from grazing with excellent subsequent yields
Sowing Rate:
4-5 kg/ha, 2kg/ha in herb mixes
Sowing Time:
September to April (given moisture)
- 500mm+
Ecotain®
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+
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