Perennial Pastures Pay in the Long Term

Issues

Weeds are always a threat, particularly broadleaf weeds following summer rain. The Seeliger’s work on the principle that the best way to beat these weeds is to provide competition. Currently annual grasses such as barley grass and silver grass are creeping into a couple of paddocks. The Seeliger’s will remove these by spraying herbicide in autumn at a rate that doesn’t kill the perennials. The Seeliger’s still have good perennial pastures that were sown 30 years ago — the secret is, they looked after them, rotational grazing is the key to achieving this and they have found that set stocking is a recipe for disaster.

Project Profile

Wes and Margaret Seeliger

Property location: Flaxman Valley, Barossa Ranges

Property size: 560 Ha (plus 40 Ha leased)

Current enterprise: Dairy (managed by son Steven and his wife Verica)

Rainfall: 670 – 751mm (approx)

Soil type: Sandy loam over clay

Features: 12 Ha native vegetation, established 11kms of shelter belts, some fenced and revegetated watercourses, an average of 186 Ha of pasture is cut for hay.

Wes Seeliger has played an active role in land management over the years. Currently Wes is the Chair of the North Para Land Management Committee and is a member of the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management (NRM) Board – Northern Group.

As one of the few thriving dairy operations remaining in the area, the Seeligers, owe their success to dedication and to well-managed perennial pastures. Wes’s interest in pastures goes right back to when he left school in 1954 and started his own plot trials with different species. It wasn’t long before Wes’s father became interested, and he was one of the first in the district to recognise the importance of soil nutrients, particularly phosphorus and molybdenum, and soil acidity. This was the start of a professional approach to pastures that continues today.

The foundation of the Seeliger’s pastures has always been the perennial grasses mainly cocksfoot, phalaris and perennial rye with sub-clover. South Australia’s Mediterranean climate encourages many land managers to think of a growing season that starts in April and ends in October however, every year we have summer storms, and every year the perennials respond. On the other hand, annual grasses deteriorate with the rain and leave you with not much more than a fire risk.

Key things learnt over time:

Perennial pastures although expensive to establish are worth the investment in the long term
The need to manage the land to its capability, fencing makes this possible
Maintaining native vegetation and re-vegetating has whole of landscape benefits
Soil fertility is the foundation of all good land management

NRM in perspective

There is no doubt that much of the Seeliger’s success comes from getting the basics right. Pastures need to be well managed to recover the cost of establishment and continue to contribute to farm profitability.

The underlying principle that Wes uses on his farm is management of different areas according to their capability.

Wes has overcome problems such as waterlogging, salinity and reducing the likelihood of soil erosion. This also has the benefit of reducing weed infestations by out competing with more desirable grazing species.

The Seeliger farm makes extensive use of shelter belts. While some land managers are reluctant to ‘give up’ productive land for trees, animals sheltered from cold winds need less feed, and pastures sheltered from drying winds are certainly more productive. The trees also benefit native wildlife by providing shelter, a food source and a safe corridor for movement.

QUOTE: “progressive land managers like the Seeligers will continue to prosper”

Figure 1: Before- showing annual grasses and lack of shade and shelter	Figure 2: After- showing perennial pastures and shelter belts
Before- Photo B	After- Photo B

Prepared By: Claire Stephenson, A/Manager Sustainable Agriculture and Training, Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management (NRM) Board