General pastures on capital stock farms are defined by some key requirements.

The general pasture must:

• Have quality in late summer and autumn during mating, it is particularly important when facial eczema is a risk
   
• Tolerate a winter grazing round and accumulate winter growth for hitting target lambing covers
   
• Be resilient and enable the farm to hold its capital stock numbers through a range of environmental conditions

Perennial ryegrass 

• Perennial ryegrass with AR37 such as Legion*, Reason and Samson and create ideal general pastures 
• Where conditions are drier and fertility is lower, Savvy cocksfoot is an ideal grass to mix with perennial ryegrass

Cocksfoot and lucerne 

• Savvy cocksfoot and Titan 5 lucerne pastures have a good fit for free draining hot summer and cold winter environments. The flexibility of year-round grazing from Savvy is complemented by the spring and summer performance of Titan 5 lucerne

Herbs and legumes

• Legumes such as Relish red clover, Attribute white clover, Nomad white clover and herbs such as Choice chicory, and Ecotain® environmental plantain in higher rainfall climates, add sustainability and performance to grass-based mixes.

Fescues 

• Hummer MaxP^® tall fescue and Haven MaxP^® tall fescue have a lot of resilience in more fertile conditions including free draining soils, grass grub environments and winter wet/summer dry claybased environments
• Oakdon meadow fescue with MaxR® endophyte is often mixed in 50:50 with Hummer or Haven tall fescue to maintain all the advantages of a tall fescue pasture but greatly improves grazing management

When wintering in colder environments it is important to consider crops that strategically help build whole farm pasture cover for lambing in early spring.

The winter crop must: 

• Create reliable yield 
• Be able to be well utilised in often difficult winter conditions
• Be able to maintain or put on body condition through winter

Brassica 

• Triumph and Domain swedes are a common feed for capital stock in environments that have cooler summers and cold winters
• Later sown SovGold kale can provide useful winter feed crops, however early sown crops can be almost unusable to sheep due to increased stem height
• Turnips such as New York are ideally suited to early sown turnip and grass mixes
• January and early February (rainfall dependent) sown Spitfire and Mainstar rapes make excellent ewe feed through winter

Italian ryegrass or cereals 

• From February/ March Manta Italian ryegrass is a flexible winter feed option. If sown in later autumn then Milton and Coronet oats are suitable

AUTUMN BODY CONDITIONING 

Autumn body condition for mating ewes and hinds is a major event in a capital stock calendar. The following forage options can help achieve desired body conditions.

Newer pastures

• High legume and herb content in newer pastures are excellent companion species for an autumn mating

Regrowth rapes 

• Mainstar and Spitfire provide excellent animal performance potential before mating