Phalaris Guide

PLANTTECH PHALARIS RANGE

• Atlas PG
  Winter Active, High Summer Dormancy
• Australian II
  Semi Winter Dormant, Low to Moderate Summer Dormancy
• Holdfast
  Winter Active, Moderate Summer Dormancy
• Landmaster
  Winter Active, Moderate Summer Dormancy

ADVANTAGES OF PHALARIS

Phalaris is the most productive and persistent perennial grass available to graziers. It can be sown over a wide range of soil types. Once established it is drought tolerant and highly productive throughout autumn, winter and spring. As a deep rooted perennial it offers environmental benefits that other grasses cannot, these include — suppression of serious pasture weeds, reduction of soil erosion, curtails outbreaks of soil salinity and reduces the rate of acidification.

Other advantages of Phalaris include:

• Good performance in poorly drained and waterlogged soils
• Excellent frost resistance and high productivity during winter
• Very few diseases cause serious production losses on Phalaris
• Excellent resistance to livestock trampling, particularly on wet, clay soils or under irrigation

LEADING PHALARIS BREEDING

The entire PlantTech Phalaris product range has been bred by CSIRO Plant Industry; whose breeding program is leading the way in providing the best possible Phalaris to Australian farmers.

The CSIRO Phalaris breeding program started in the 1950's and has bred all the leading Phalaris varieties currently being grown in Australia, excluding the original variety Australian and the New Zealand variety Grasslands Maru.

With the support of Australian Wool Innovation Ltd and Seedmark, the CSIRO is continually working towards further improving Phalaris varieties specifically for Australian growing conditions. Breeding projects are underway that are focused on further increasing Phalaris persistence under the adverse conditions often encountered on Australian farms, with specific focus on grazing tolerance in winter active cultivars and acid soil and aluminum tolerance.

Holdfast offers excellent production and persistence in areas with acidity and moderate rainfall. It has a low level of summer dormancy so it can respond to summer rainfall, potentially providing feed all year round. Holdfast provides excellent seedling vigour which will assist in successful establishment. Its ability to grow in acidic conditions increases the range of pasture species available to combat soil degradation. As the regional agronomist for Landmark in Cooma, Bombala and Delegate, I am often asked 'What Phalaris variety and how much to sow?'. The obvious answer to this is Australian II. In the winter active lines I recommend Holdfast and Landmaster. Holdfast has proven itself in combination with Australian II for the more fertile soils on the Monaro while Landmaster is the standout, again in combination with Australian II for those lighter, less fertile, acidic soils. The sowing rate is mostly between 2 and 4 kilograms per hectare of Phalaris using a 50/50 mix of the two varieties that best suit your soil type'.

Chris Hillman - Landmark Regional Agronomist

ATLAS PG

The Phalaris option for non traditional Phalaris areas

• Erect habit, winter active variety
• High summer dormancy to stop summer shoot growth
• Improved persistence in dry marginal Phalaris areas
• Strong seedling vigour and high winter production
• Drought tolerant
• Suited to higher rainfall part of the wheat belt
• Rotationally graze to maximise persistence

Atlas PG requires a growing season of 8-9 months and is the first seed retaining Phalaris developed that provides summer dormancy. This will lead to better long term persistence of Atlas PG in lower rainfall districts prone to false breaks. However given significant summer rainfall, Atlas PG will respond but herbage production will be reduced compared to other more summer active types such as Holdfast and Landmaster. It has excellent seedling vigour which will assist in successful establishment along with strong persistence.

AUSTRALIAN II

The Set stocking Phalaris

• Prostrate cultivar
• Low Summer dormancy
• 'True to Type' Certified Quality
• Tolerates waterlogging and can withstand flooding
• Good tolerance to mildly saline conditions
• Very persistent once established
• Suited to set stocking conditions

A significant strength of Australian II is its ability to persist under heavy grazing in dry, conditions. Its prostrate growth makes it very well suited to set stocking systems and it demonstrates superior grazing tolerance and persistence compared to other Phalaris varieties. It has excellent seedling vigour, which assists in successful establishment.

LANDMASTER

The Phalaris for Lighter, Shallow Acidic soils

• Semi erect to erect, winter active variety
• Adapted to shallow acid soils with low fertility
• Strong seedling vigour – equal to Holdfast
• High winter forage production
• Reduces recharge and helps prevent dryland salinity
• Rotationally graze to maximise productivity

Landmaster is renowned for its ability to grow in more highly acidic, less fertile conditions compared with other Phalaris varieties currently available. It has been shown to have better persistence than Cocksfoot in low fertility soils, particularly during droughts. Landmaster has a moderate level of summer dormancy so it can respond to summer rainfall, potentially providing green feed all year round.

HOLDFAST

The Proven Performer

• Semi erect to erect, winter active variety
• Excellent seedling vigour with strong, deep root system
• Improved tolerance to acid soils relative to Sirosa
• Lower level of know alkaloids (toxins) than Sirosa
• High winter growth rate and excellent palatability
• Rotationally graze to maximise productivity

Holdfast offers excellent production and persistence in areas with high acidity and moderate rainfall. It has a moderate level of summer dormancy so it can respond to summer rainfall, potentially providing feed all year round. Holdfast provides excellent seedling vigour which will assist in successful establishment. Its ability to grow in acidic conditions increases the range of pasture species available to combat soil degradation.

In past decades clients in the beef-sheep zone have relied heavily on their old swards of Victorian Perennial Ryegrass to sustain their wool-sheep enterprises. However as farmers in this high rainfall area move into more intensive animal enterprises, such as prime lamb production, the swing is to higher fertiliser inputs, and pasture varieties which can better utilise this improved soil fertility, as well as provide far more winter pasture production. Holdfast Phalaris has been found to fill this gap, and its characteristics of long term persistence, excellent winter performance, and ease of establishment make it ideal for pastures for prime lamb ewes in this region. In fact I have many clients in the Hamilton region who are running their prime lamb enterprises at 20 DSE/ha on these pastures. Holdfast has been found to be an improvement over old Australian Phalaris stands when it comes to Phalaris staggers, which was a negative with old Australian Phalaris stands.

Tony Goode - Elders Agronomist, Hamilton

KEY ATTRIBUTES OF PHALARIS

* Minimum rainfall range depends upon region.

PHALARIS PERSISTENCE

Phalaris is being selected by an increasing amount of graziers to combat the lack of Perennial Ryegrass persistence. With inconsistent and late autumn breaks continuing Phalaris has given graziers the ability to graze productive pastures from early autumn through to early summer. The other bonus Graziers have encountered with Phalaris over Perennial Ryegrass is avoiding Ryegrass Staggers.

The persistence of Phalaris was clearly demonstrated in CSIRO trials, sown in NSW in 1999. In 2002, the third year after sowing was a severe drought year at Tamworth and Yass. Phalaris clearly survived much better in Yass during the 2002 drought year than other species. This occurred despite the acidic soil conditions.

PHALARIS ESTABLISHMENT & GRAZING MANAGEMENT

A little care in the establishment year and ongoing grazing management will give Phalaris a chance to be a Persistent & Productive part of your enterprise. The following Do's & Don'ts give you some general guidelines:

DO'S

• If your aluminum levels are marginal, sow Landmaster
• If Olsen Phosphorus is eight parts per million (ppm) or less, apply superphosphate
• In drier, more marginal areas, graze Phalaris residues in summer to promote clover germination and growth
• In districts prone to Phalaris toxicity, graze cautiously in autumn and early winter; add other grasses and legumes to the mixture and spray 250 grams per hectare cobalt sulphate in April - June
• In drier, more marginal areas, Phalaris should be allowed to grow at least to head emergence to achieve a high number of dormant buds and to maximise summer dormancy
• Graze established winter active varieties rotationally with 4 -6 week spells in autumn and winter
• Set stock in spring to allow some heading; if rotationally grazing in spring, avoid grazing below 1500-1800 kilograms DM per hectare

DON'T'S

• Don't sow Phalaris in highly acid subsoil -sow cocksfoot instead
• Don't sow Phalaris into a weedy seedbed. Stop seeding of annual grasses by spray topping in the previous spring
• Don't graze new stands until Phalaris has flowered, unless good growth or weeds need a quick, light grazing
• Don't spell winter active varieties more than eight weeks in autumn or winter. Tall shoots suppress the growth of new shoots
• Don't crash graze, or graze hard and often, after stem growth starts in spring, especially in a dry year
• Don't heavily graze new stems on summer re-growth of winter active varieties
• If soils have marginal pH, phosphorus, depth or drainage, a mix of Australian and a winter active Phalaris such as Landmaster should be sown

This is a brief guide to establishing and managing Phalaris. More detailed information: