10.1.1. Carrying capacity

The carrying capacity of poor native pastures is about 1 DSE per hectare, where a DSE is dry sheep equivalent. This means one hectare of this pasture could support a wether weighing about 40 kilograms for a year of normal seasons. 
In contrast, the carry capacity of improved perennial pastures is about 7.5–10 DSE/ha, meaning one hectare of improved pasture could support a 400 kg horse for example for most of the year without additional feeding.
But this has to be taken in its seasonal context. An excellent NSW DPI Agnote on matching pasture production to livestock enterprises in the south-west slopes of NSW is available online. This paper includes a pasture growth rates graph for native, mixed and improved pastures for this region.
Improved pasture generally has a very high growth rate from September to November. Native grass pasture which is well-managed and fertilised with suitable, manure products has a smaller growth rate, but for a longer period — between October and March.
In good to average years, the improved pasture would yield about 7 tonnes per hectare of feed per year, with the native pasture providing about 6t/ha. So the improved pasture is only a little better overall. However, in below-average rainfall years, it’s likely there will not be enough growth to satisfy livestock, regardless of the pasture type.
Weekly estimations of pasture growth rates (in kg/ha/day) for Wagga and surrounding regions can be obtained from the Pastures from Space website.