TROPICAL PASTURE ESTABLISHMENT .14. PRODUCER ESTABLISHMENT PRACTICES AND EXPERIENCES IN SOUTHERN INLAND QUEENSLAND

Establishment failure in grass pasture is common on the clay soils due to factors such as rapid soil drying, competition from weeds, depth o f planting, seed quality and insects. Sowing into a fully cultivated s eedbed in mid-summer has given the most reliable results although a gr eat variety of techniques have been used with some degree of success. Mixtures with medics or lucerne are sown in late summer or autumn and pure swards of these legumes are normally planted with a cover crop of wheat or barley. Recent innovations have been the use of grain planti ng machinery fitted with press wheels to sow free flowing or pelleted seeds and the use of seeders attached to heavy duty blade ploughs in r un-down pastures with timber regrowth.