Better Grazing, Better Pastures Blog Series Part 1: Healthy Pastures

The VSTWP have just completed a new brochure titled ‘Reducing the impact of Serrated Tussock through grazing and pasture management’. We are exploring the brochure over a four-part blog series, covering each topic featured in the brochure in greater detail. The full copy of the brochure can be downloaded here.

Healthy Pastures: the best defence against Serrated Tussock

When it comes to managing Serrated tussock, many landholders focus on herbicides and direct weed control. While these tools have an important role, the most effective and cost-efficient defence often starts with something much simpler: healthy, competitive pastures.

Serrated tussock thrives where ground cover is poor, soil fertility is low, and desirable pasture species are weak. Once established, it can rapidly dominate paddocks, reducing carrying capacity, lowering productivity and increasing management costs. With each plant capable of producing up to 100,000 seeds annually, preventing establishment is far easier and cheaper than dealing with a widespread infestation.

Why competition matters

Like most weeds, Serrated tussock exploits gaps in the landscape. Bare ground and weakened pasture provide ideal conditions for seedlings to germinate and establish.

Research and field experience consistently show that dense perennial pastures significantly reduce the opportunity for Serrated tussock seedlings to survive. Healthy pasture plants compete for sunlight, moisture and nutrients, leaving fewer resources available for invading weeds.

Maintaining strong pasture competition should be viewed as the foundation of any long-term Serrated tussock management program.

The importance of perennial species

Perennial grasses provide year-round protection because they remain established in the soil across multiple seasons.

A mixture of cool-season (C3) and warm-season (C4) perennial grasses can provide continuous growth throughout the year, helping maintain ground cover during changing seasonal conditions.

Examples of cool-season perennial species include:

• Phalaris
• Cocksfoot
• Perennial Ryegrass
• Yorkshire Fog
• Wallaby Grass
• Native Poa

Warm-season species include:

• Kangaroo Grass
• Redleg Grass
• Silky Blue Grass
• Windmill Grass
• Paspalum

Combining these species helps ensure that productive plants are actively growing for most of the year, limiting opportunities for Serrated tussock to establish.

Ground cover is critical

One of the simplest indicators of pasture health is ground cover.

Landholders should aim to maintain at least 90 per cent ground cover throughout the year. Research indicates that maintaining approximately 1,000 kilograms of dry matter per hectare in introduced pastures greatly reduces the risk of Serrated tussock seedling establishment.

Every bare patch creates an opportunity for invasion. Whether caused by overgrazing, drought, rabbit activity or soil disturbance, exposed soil should be viewed as a risk area requiring attention.

Where bare areas occur, prompt action through pasture renovation, fertiliser application or reseeding can help restore competition before weeds gain a foothold.

Building resilience for the future

Healthy pastures do more than suppress weeds. They also improve livestock productivity, protect soil health, increase drought resilience and support biodiversity.

Native grass pastures can be particularly valuable on rocky or difficult terrain where conventional pasture establishment methods may be challenging. Dense native grass communities efficiently utilise soil moisture and nutrients while maintaining excellent ground cover.

The most successful Serrated tussock management programs focus on creating conditions where desirable species thrive, and weeds struggle to survive.

A long-term investment

Effective weed management is not simply about removing unwanted plants. It is about creating a productive landscape that naturally resists invasion.

By maintaining strong perennial pastures, improving soil fertility and protecting ground cover, landholders can significantly reduce the impact of Serrated tussock while improving the long-term productivity and resilience of their properties.

Healthy pastures remain one of the most reliable and sustainable tools available in the fight against Serrated tussock.

This project was funded through the Victorian Government Partnerships Against Pests (PAP) Grants and delivered by the Victorian Serrated Tussock Working Party (VSTWP).