Luke Penna
Nutrien Ag Solutions, Rockhampton
Luke has been working in the agriculture services sector for more than 12 years, the last 10 focusing on pasture production.
“I’ve been involved in agriculture one way or another throughout my life, starting with working on the family farm after school and on weekends. After school, I spent 12 months at the Emerald agricultural college studying beef production. On completing my diploma, I worked on a cattle property 100km west of Charters Towers for a couple of years.”
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced with the pastures you manage?
The pastures that I’ve been working on have been consistently grazed by cattle since the original scrub pulling schemes back in the 60s-80s. The nutrient levels have slowly declined since then and a lot of the buffel pastures have become a monoculture.
What we’re trying to achieve now is to increase ground cover and improve the number of species in a paddock. This has been done with the introduction of legumes into grass-dominant pastures and opening country back up with machinery to hold up the water.
What benefits to productivity or performance have you seen using Progardes®?
Progardes® has been a big help in improving the productivity and performance of grass dominant pastures in a wide range of soils. A lot of the work I’ve done has been with graziers who were looking for an alternative legume to use in heavier clays. It’s a true perennial which has done a great job for us in the heavy clay brigalow soils in Central Queensland.
Luke, in your experience, what are the top 3 reasons to consider Progardes®?
For me, the main benefits of Progardes® are:
- It’s easy to establish
- It’s persistent
- It’ll grow in a wide range of soil types
Want to find out more about Progardes® ? Give us a call on 1300 979 395.
