Pasture Trials Network

21/10/2026

PTN is continuing to expand its coverage of deep-rooted perennial grasses, including these 2025-sown cocksfoot and fescue trials at RAGT AU’s forage screening and evaluation facility in Western Victoria.

A greater variety of species, varieties, and environments in the PTN network strengthens the foundation of dependable, trusted performance data, which supports informed forage sowing decisions via our free-to-access tools.

We look forward to seeing how they perform over the coming seasons!

Meat & Livestock Australia | Dairy Australia

14/10/2026

At University of New England, AU, these grazing tolerance trials examine something new from PTN: how pasture varieties endure grazing over time.

As PTN continues to expand its trial program, our grazing trials focus on stock applying pressure to swards and on assessing changes in density over time. These three-year trials, established in 2025, provide PTN with another important way to understand how varieties perform under grazing pressure.

Despite a very dry period in recent times, these trials are showing good recovery, with data eventually making its way into future updates to PTN’s tools.

Industry requested; PTN listened, generating valuable insights to support sowing decisions.

Meat & Livestock Australia | Dairy Australia

12/10/2026

Have you had your say in the PTN 2026 Annual Survey?

There's still time to share your feedback and help guide the future direction of the Pasture Trials Network.

Whether you've used PTN's trial data, accessed our resources or engaged with our work, we want to know what's working, where we can improve and what information would be most valuable to you.

Your feedback helps ensure PTN continues to deliver relevant, practical information for Australia's pasture and forage industries.

Help us make PTN even more valuable to the industry.

Complete the survey today: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2026PTNsurvey

🌱 PTN 2026 Annual Survey | HAVE YOUR SAY!

What do you value about PTN? What could PTN do better? What pasture and forage information do you need next?

We want to hear from you!

Directly shape the future of PTN and the value we deliver to the pasture and forage industries.

Take a few minutes to complete the survey and help shape our future.

Have your say: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2026PTNsurvey

Your experience. Your insights. Your PTN.

Meat & Livestock Australia | Dairy Australia

07/10/2026

Fresh in, this 2026 PTN perennial ryegrass trial at RAGT AU’s Western VIC forage screening and evaluation facility is just getting started. Stay tuned for updates over the next three years!

It’s a good reminder of the time and effort behind PTN data – establishing trials, monitoring performance across multiple seasons, and building reliable, high-quality information that producers and advisers can trust when comparing pasture varieties.

These trials are part of a broader investment in multiple species throughout the region.

Meat & Livestock Australia | Dairy Australia

30/09/2026

An update from our visit to University of New England, AU last year. Tony takes us through a 2024-sown cocksfoot and fescue trial – and after some challenging seasons, there are striking differences between varieties and species.

These are the differences that long-term, independent pasture trials are designed to capture – not just how a variety establishes, but how it performs and persists when conditions test it. Alongside these trials, UNE continues to host our grazing trials, focusing on sward persistence over time.

View the outcomes of these yield trials now on the Meat & Livestock Australia PTN eTool!

Meat & Livestock Australia | Dairy Australia

23/09/2026

Out in the trials at Southern Cross in Western Victoria, where this perennial ryegrass trial is being managed by Meridian Agriculture.

Sown in 2025, the trial was due for another cut in the coming days – looking good despite the conditions experienced in the region of late.

There is still plenty of evaluation ahead, with trial data expected to feed into the Meat & Livestock Australia PTN eTool in two and a half years.

It’s another snapshot of the work happening across the PTN network to build independent, locally relevant pasture variety performance data.

Meat & Livestock Australia | Dairy Australia

21/09/2026

🌱 PTN 2026 Annual Survey | HAVE YOUR SAY!

What do you value about PTN? What could PTN do better? What pasture and forage information do you need next?

We want to hear from you!

Directly shape the future of PTN and the value we deliver to the pasture and forage industries.

Take a few minutes to complete the survey and help shape our future.

Have your say: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2026PTNsurvey

Your experience. Your insights. Your PTN.

Meat & Livestock Australia | Dairy Australia

16/09/2026

Explore a second-year Italian ryegrass trial at RAGT AU’s forage screening and evaluation facility - discover the future of pasture research!

Now in its second year, this 2025-sown trial is well underway and looking strong.

Data from this trial is expected to be available, alongside existing performance information, via the Meat & Livestock Australia PTN eTool or our new PTN genotype x environment (GxE) analysis. Together, these tools help producers and advisers make smarter, more informed sowing choices.

Like all trials, we prioritise quality by implementing rigorous governance processes, including audits and data reviews, to ensure all trials align to PTN values.

The result: reliable data you can trust.

Meat & Livestock Australia | Dairy Australia

09/09/2026

PTN Case Study | Turning Trial Data into Action

Independent trial data is only valuable if it can be used with confidence.

In this final case study, the team behind the latest South Australian trials and the Barossa Improved Grazing Group (BIGG) discuss the role PTN plays in delivering trusted pasture data and how tools like the Meat & Livestock Australia PTN eTool help producers and advisors put that information into practice.

Watch the video to hear how PTN is enabling better pasture decisions through strong partnerships, independent research, and accessible data.

Meat & Livestock Australia | Dairy Australia

31/08/2026

Join Tony for a look at the PTN phalaris trial at the Southern Farming Systems (SFS) site in Rokewood!

Established in 2024, the trial is part of PTN’s independent pasture variety evaluation program, which has included phalaris since the program launched in 2011. This trial has faced some dry periods of late in Western Victoria.

Recent phalaris trials have been extended to four years. This long-term assessment provides the independent data foundation for PTN, offering producers and advisers more reliable information to make informed decisions about forage varieties for sowing.

Stay tuned as the Rokewood trial progresses!

Meat & Livestock Australia | Dairy Australia