Phalaris: Building Resilient Long-Term Pasture

The Dream Team

Establishing a perennial pasture with phalaris can significantly enhance farm productivity compared to systems that rely solely on annual grasses.

To complement a long-term phalaris pasture, Sub Clover stands out as the ideal legume. It not only supplies the nitrogen needed to sustain the grass but also boosts overall protein levels, creating a nutritious, well-balanced forage for sheep and cattle.

Pasture legumes like Sub Clover naturally produce nitrogen, which filters through the soil, carrying nutrients while leaving acidic elements behind. The deep-rooted, perennial nature of phalaris helps counteract this by drawing those nutrients back to the surface, thus slowing or preventing soil acidification.

Both phalaris and Sub Clover are uniquely well-suited to Australia's conditions, making them invaluable components of sustainable pastures. Barenbrug’s active breeding programs for these species ensure they remain a cornerstone of temperate pasture systems for the future.

Meet Phalaris

Phalaris is one of the most resilient temperate species, particularly well adapted to summer heat, drought, and periodic waterlogging. With the right cultivar selection phalaris can withstand heavy set-stocking grazing, acidic soil conditions and even lower rainfall environments.

Phalaris falls into two main groups:
Winter active: summer dormant (to varying levels), more erect, more acid tolerant, summer dry sites.
Winter dormant: more prostrate often denser crown, neutral pH, summer moisture likely.

As with all pasture, preparation and establishment are important for best results. Phalaris comes with its own unique management requirements; so to help you get the most out of your efforts, our phalaris breeder, Allen Newman, has created this short, informative video:

Barenbrug offers three unique Phalaris varieties, all Australian bred by the long-term CSIRO program:

	Holdfast GT The most trusted and widely sown grazing-tolerant and winter-active variety in the world.  Holdfast GT offers outstanding grazing tolerance for sheep and cattle and is also highly-productive.
	Advanced AT Bred by CSIRO for to tolerate highly-acid soils (down to a pH of 3.9 in calcium chloride).  The best option for acid soils.
	Horizon The newest phalaris in our stable and offers both un-beatable winter production and establishment speed, while also exhibiting higher summer dormancy allowing it to survive lower-rainfall areas better than traditional varieties.

Sub-Clover: The Perfect Companion

Selecting the right sub-clover for your soil-type and rainfall is important for the long-term success of the pasture.

Selecting several sub-clover varieties (as a mix with phalaris) is a good option to help reduce the risk of failure and adapt to variable soil types within the same paddock. Newer cultivars will all exhibit improved disease tolerance, safe phyto-oestrogen levels, and good levels of hard-seed (to protect against false-breaks). 

There are three sub-species of sub-clover and each have differing adaptabilities:

Yanninicum	Best adapted to acidic to neutral pH soils that may experience winter-water logging.
	Monti Has exceptional early season growth with reliable regeneration. Monti will improve the legume content and productivity of pastures in the waterlogged areas.
Subterraneum	Best for acidic to neutral soils with reliable drainage properties.  Particularly high in hard-seed to aid in long-term survival of the stand against droughts and false-breaks.
	Losa Its early vigour allows for quick ground coverage which is extremely important in low rainfall situations.
	Campeda Has mid season maturity which makes it adaptable to medium and high rainfall environments.
	Denmark Late season maturity makes Denmark well suited to medium to high rainfall zones.
Brachycalycinum	Best for well-drained & slightly acidic to alkaline soil types.  Brachycalycinum are extremely productive.
	Mawson Suitable for long term permanent pastures in low to medium rainfall environments.
	Mintaro Has an early to mid season maturity and is suited to medium to high rainfall environments.

When properly managed, the pasture combination of phalaris and sub clover delivers consistent, high-quality forage year after year and can remain highly productive for over a decade.