Our Technical Team share their top tips to consider when sowing new pasture this season.

PADDOCK SELECTION

• Identify the damaged and poor performing paddocks on your farm for spring cropping.
• Check paddocks you are targeting for spraying out and, if there are specific weed issues, consider a spike to go with the glyphosate.
• Start monitoring your soil temperature  to help make sowing decisions.

SPRAY-OUT

• Spray out paddocks early if you can to improve the seedbed soil moisture.
• Go through your spray shed and identify containers with labels that need to be re-attached.
• Check your sprayer nozzles are not worn before you start the season.

NITROGEN PLANNING

• Planning your nitrogen application for the correct feed wedge is critical to fit your feed budget.
• Soil temperature is one of the key influences towards pasture response.
• Check soil temperature at similar times every day (9 to 10 am). As your soil temperature begins to move into 8 to 10 degrees, your N response will be greater and response time more immediate.
• N fixation by clover is slow and the rate of N mineralisation from your soil organic matter is low in this latewinter/early spring window. 
• Urea is an option to drive pasture growth.