Certificate of Pasture Management

Unit 1 – Introduction to Pastures

• Pasture farmers
• Distribution of pasture species
• Pasture improvement
• Choosing a pasture mix
• Seed coating
• Variety selection
• Sustainability
• Maintenance
• Some definitions

Unit 2 – The Pasture Plant

• What is valuable?
• The grass plant
• The Stem
• The Leaves
• Roots
• Inflorescence (The Flower Head)
• Panicle Inflorescence
• Spike Inflorescence
• Raceme Inflorescence
• Growth and development of the grass family )
• Phase 1 – the seedling
• Phase 2 – vegetative stage
• Phase 3 – decline in growth rate and quality
• Annual and perennial grasses
• Carbohydrate “sinks”
• The physiology of grasses
• Structure of a typical grass
• What is a grass?
• Grass plant has several basic characteristics:
• Flowers
• Characteristics common to grasses
• Growth habits
• Tillering, stolons and rhizomes
• Ways to identify grasses
• Identifying grasses
• Using a botanical key
• Identification key to selected common turf grasses
• ‎Identifying tips for common grasses
• Glossary
• The legumes
• Fabaceae (syn. Papilionaceae)
• Mimosaceae
• Caesalpiniaceae

Unit 3 – Pasture Varieties

• Introduction to common pasture grasses
• Ryegrass (lolium)
• Annual ryegrass (lolium rigidum)
• Perennial ryegrass (lolium perenne)
• Victoria perennial ryegrass (cultivar)
• Grasslands ruanui perennial ryegrass (cultivar)
• Medea perennial ryegrass (cultivar)
• Kangaroo valley perennial ryegrass (cultivar)
• Italian ryegrass (lolium multiflorum)
• Hybrid ryegrass (lolium perennex  Multiflorum)
• Timothy (phleum pratense)
• Alpine cat’s tail, cat tail grass (phleum rhaeticum)
• Paspalum
• Cocksfoot (dactylis glomerata)
• Buffel grass
• Kikuyu (pennisetum)
• Perennial or mountain rye (secale montanum)
• Fescues
• Tall fescue (festuca arundinacea)
• Soft brome grass (bromus mollis)
• Awnless brome grass (bromus inermis)
• African lovegrass (eragrostis)
• Bentgrass (agrostis)
• Bermuda/couch grass (cynodon dactylon)
• Panicum
• Phalaris (phalaris aquatica)
• Winter dormant and winter active
• Alpine meadow grass (poa alpina)
• Identifying grasses
• Bent grasses and ryegrasses
• Fescues
• Bluegrasses
• Couches
• Zoysia grasses and carpet grasses
• Grass diagram
• Legumes
• The importance of legumes in pasture
• Nitrogen fixation in legumes
• Nitrogen amounts fixed by different types of legumes
• The rhizobium bacteria
• Common legumes
• Lucerne, perennial clovers, vetches, sainfoin
• Grasses to grow with clovers

Unit 4 – Site Considerations

• Managing pastures
• Farm or site planning
• Choosing the correct site for a pasture
• Choosing the correct seed mix
• Rainfall
• Temperature
• Soils
• Annual or perennial grass
• When the grazing is required
• Some questions you need to consider
• Seed quality

Unit 5 – Establishing a New Pasture

• Preparation of the land for pasture
• Prepared seedbed
• Sowing
• Germination
• Direct drilling
• Aerial establishment
• Weed control
• Weed reduction – heavy grazing, slashing etc.
• Mechanical weed control
• Herbicides
• Seeders
• Band seeders
• Air seeders
• Other planters
• Grazing the new pasture

Unit 6 – Managing Existing Pasture

• Indigenous grasses, naturalised grasses or introduced species
• Native grasses versus pasture
• Carrying capacity of native grasses
• Stocking rate of native grass areas
• The establishment of the native grasslands
• The developing grasslands
• Crustose – lichen stage (lichen 1)
• Foliose – lichen stage (lichen 2)
• Moss stage, grass stage, shrub stage
• Climax forest
• ‎how the grassland deteriorates
• Factors that promote succession or retrogression
• Limiting factors and terminal plant communities
• Allogenic factors
• Autogenic factors
• Grassland management
• Rests to promote rapid growth
• Rests to change the composition of the community
• Rests designed to eliminate or control bush encroachment
• Rests based on the requirements of animals
• Rests to accumulate grazing material
• Rests to provide out of season fodder
• Physiological aspects
• Interception of light energy
• Utilisation of light energy
• Leaf area
• Production of carbohydrates
• Carbohydrate reserves
• 3:1 ratio
• Growth rate

Unit 7 – Managing Stock on Pasture

• Factors affecting food intake by animals
• Animal and feed factors
• Grazing factors
• Herbage availability
• Sward type and structure
• Weather conditions
• Grazing behaviour
• The mechanics of grazing
• Grazing time and ruminant time
• Routine
• Grazing periods
• Selective grazing
• Herd group behaviour
• Non – homogenous groups
• Complementary grazing
• Rank order of dominance
• Pasture management principles
• Rest
• Stocking and carrying capacity
• Equal utilisation or the removal of the top hamper
• Number of herds
• Herd size, paddock size and number of paddocks
• Applying grassland management principles
• Continuous light stocking
• Split – season systems
• One herd, four paddock system
• Intensive system
• Fire in grassland management
• Horse pastures
• Ways to improve or maintain horse pasture
• Pasture for free range poultry
• Managing cattle on pasture
• Fodder trees & shrubs
• Nutritional value of fodder trees and shrubs

Unit 8 – Pasture Management Work Tasks

• Fertiliser/soil nutrients
• ‎pest and weed control
• Biological control
• Advantages of biological methods
• Disadvantages of biological methods
• Good pasture practices – some ideas
• Irrigation
• Fallowing
• Hay feeders
• Cultivation
• Pasture renovation: over-seeding
• Complimentary practices
• Legumes
• Managing pasture after drought
• Guidelines for managing pasture after a drought breaks
• Managing pasture after fire
• Stock management practices on burnt pasture