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New grass harvester on board
The slow and difficult process of collecting native grass seed by hand will now be much simpler thanks to the North East Community Seedbank’s purchase of a special native grass seed harvester.
Obtained with funds donated by Landcare and local government, Seedbank co-ordinator Jodie Kurpershoek said the harvester would help meet the growing demand for native grass seed in the region.
“The grass harvester is towed behind a ute and can be offset so that you don’t run over the grass in the vehicle first,” she said.
“This makes harvesting easier as the grass isn’t knocked down and out of the reach of the brush.
“The brush moves grass seed into a bin located at the rear of the machine.”
Jodie said hand collection of native grass seed was a very time consuming and labor intensive process, particularly when trying to collect the amount of seed required to revegetate areas like dam batters and roadsides.
The recommended application rate can be as high as 3kg of pure seed.
She said native grasses have many benefits including:
* Application in a diverse array of settings including bush restoration, erosion control, lawns and gardens, and catchment health (ie combating salinity, increasing biodiversity);
* Reducing erosion, nutrient runoff and loss of water from the landscape as they are deep rooted perennials
* Low input – most natives do not like high nutrients therefore fertilizer application is not generally necessary, although some do respond to carefully managed fertilizing regimes;
* Toleration of acidic soils;
* Many provide good stock fodder – especially in summer when not much else is growing;
* Attractive plants for landscaping purposes.
Jodie said the North East Community Seedbank was interested to hear from people who have native grasses growing on their properties.
“We would like to be able to secure access to grass harvest sites to ensure a good supply of seed to meet revegetation and restoration needs over the coming years,” she said.
“Having a good stand of native grass on your property is something very special.
“Native grasslands would have once covered much of the Riverina plains area, but with the advent of farming most has been wiped out due to persistent grazing, cropping, increased nutrient loads and weed sprays.”
Field days have been organised by the CRC for-plant based management solutions to dryland salinity to promote and explain native grasses, and to demonstrate the harvester. These will be held on properties at Tarrawingee on November 30 and Wymah on December 9.
For more information contact Jodie Kurpershoek on (02) 6043 7626.
