Why use Native Grasses for Revegetation & Grazing


Native grasses have been a major component of Australia's grazing industries and indeed still hold a high percentage of the feed source in many areas.

Native grasses have been the neglected area of our pastures until only the last couple of decades when scientists looked at their worth in detail.
Given the right management, native grasses can be a valuable component of a pasture. There are many articles on the web now on how to manage your stands.

The Department of Natural Resources & Environment have a good site along with The Department of Primary Industries NSW .
Native grasses will persist under the extreme conditions of our changeable weather, can grow in low fertility, offer high quality forage and lower cost, when re-sowing of exotics has to be factored in.

It has been noted in scientific literature (G M Lodge, Temperate native Australian grass improvement by selection) that graziers are noting the persistence over exotics when the continuing dry conditions occur.

Native grasses are being looked to for amenity, local government work, roads authorities and mining companies for re-capping mine sites.
This is becoming more affordable as companies like Ko-Warra Native Grasses take up the commercial role of developing and growing local and other sourced Australian native grasses for distribution into these markets.

We have worked tirelessly to get a number of these grasses to the quantity and quality that these markets are beginning to demand.
Ko-Warra Native Grasses are working to develop methods of sowing and harvesting some of the less requested grasses as our knowledge and ability grows with each commercial crop.

Grass Seed Production at Ko-Warra


Grasses

Dichanthium sericeum
Silky Blue Grass
Microlaena stipoides
Weeping Grass
Poa labillardieri

Tussock Grass
Austrodanthonia setacea

Bristly Wallaby Grass

 

Chloris ventricosa

Tall Chloris

Themeda trianda

Kangaroo Grass

Bothriochloa macra

Red Grass

Austrostipa densiflora

Foxtail Speargrass

Native Grass Seeds Suitable For Revegetation & Grazing




  Dichanthium sericeum – Silky Blue Grass
  Silky blue grass is a warm season perennial grass that is palatable to cattle more so than sheep.

 
  • It is a highly regarded native pasture species.

 
  • It grows down the eastern states into Victoria, central and northern Australia and into Western Australia.

 
  • It has blue green leaves which hay off after first heavy frosts. Blue grass prefers heavier clay soils. See chart below.
  Poa labillardieri – Tussock Grass
  A local provenance of this grass is being grown for revegetation purposes in our catchment along streamsides, alluvial flats and hillsides.

 
  • This grass is highly sought after by the garden trade for its showy habit and hardiness. Needs trimming back regularly to keep an attractive leaf in the garden.
Austrodanthonia – Wallaby Grass
  There are 35 species of danthonia which are distributed throughout the temperate areas of Australia.

  • They mainly occur in the southern parts of the continent. They are green all year round given the required moisture, show most of their growth in the spring, summer and autumn.

  • They are cool season, produce palatable green leaves all year round and respond to fertiliser and crash grazing.
  Bothriochloa macra – Red Grass
  Red Grass is a warm season grass which is a hardy drought and heat tolerant perennial.

  • It becomes dormant after first heavy frosts, growing again in the early spring.

  • It grows down the eastern states of Australia preferring clay soils in the main.
 
  • It is a low growing tussock grass with green leaves tending to purplish red at the tip.
    See chart below.
Microlaena stipoides – Weeping Grass
  Weeping grass is a cool season tufted perennial grass that produces high quality green feed (10 to 27% crude protein, 55 to 80% digestibility) all year round given adequate moisture.

  • It grows from far north Queensland down the eastern states of Australia into South Australia and the south western areas of Western Australia.

  • Microlaena responds to fertility, is frost tolerant and will grow in acid soils. It is a hardy grass that will survive through extended dry conditions.
    See chart below.
Grass-Seeds Bulk POA

Dichanthium

sericeum

 (Silky Blue
Grass)
Poa
labillardieri 		 (Tussock
Grass)

Austrodanthonia
setacea

(Wallaby
Grass)
Bothriochloa
macra 		(Red Grass)
Microlaena stipoides (Weeping
Grass)
Chloris
ventricosa		 (Tall Windmill
Grass)
Grasses-Seedling Stock
Austrodanthonia - setacea
  - caespitosa
Austrostipa

densiflora (Fox
Tail
Speargrass)
 

elegantissima
(Feather
Speargrass)
 

mollis (Rough Speargrass)
 

scabra

Microlaena stipoides
(Weeping
Grass)
Themeda trianda
(Kangaroo
Grass)
Herbage quality of native and introduced species on the southern tablelands (Simpson,2000)
Species
AUTUMN
WINTER
SPRING
SUMMER
 
CP
DDM
ME
CP
DDM
ME
CP
DDM
ME
CP
DDM
ME
Phalaris
19.9
70
10.5
20.0
70
10.6
10.8
63
9.5
18.6
68
10.30
Cocksfoot
14.6
63
9.4
17.4
66
9.9
12.4
61
9.2
13.0
62
9.3
Fescue
13.6
65
9.7
16.8
65
9.8
9.9
62
9.2
15.0
64
9.7
Ryegrass
15.6
69
10.3
19.3
73
10.9
9.0
60
9.0
15.0
64
9.6
Microlaena
15.5
66
10.0
20.0
61
9.0
18.3
66
9.9
21.0
70
10.4
Austrodanthonia
14.1
61
9.1
14.9
59
8.9
12.5
58
8.8
13.9
60.9
9.1
Tarana
CP=Crude Protein DDM = Digestible Dry Matter ME=Metabolisable Energy
(mjkg DM)
Pastoral features of some native and introduced grasses
Dominant Grasses Grazing History Fertiliser Rates Carrying Capacity Herbage Quality
Kangaroo Grass
Poa		 L-M Nil 1-3 L-M
Poa
Spear Grass
Red Grass
Wallaby Grass		 M-H 0.5-1kg
P/DSE/ha		 5-10 L-H
Wallaby Grass
Weeping Grass		 M-H 1kg
P/DSE/ha		 Up to 12 M-H
Phalaris
Cocksfoot
Ryegrass
Tall Fescue		 M-H 1-2kg
P/DSE/ha		 Up to 16 M-H
Henry, D. R. (ed.) (2004) 'Managing native pastures for agriculture and conservation'. (NSW Dept. of Primary Industries: Orange, NSW).  ISBN 0 7347 1620 6