Making more from sheep on irrigated pastures

Project: Making more from sheep on irrigated pastures

Location: multiple

Species: Sheep

Date: Aug 2012 - Mar 2015

Status: Ongoing

Topic: Grazing and pasture management

State: Victoria

Objectives:

This PDS was initiated by members of the Central Murray Best Wool Best Lamb group to develop systems to maximise water efficiency use in pasture production and develop more profitable sheep enterprises utilising irrigated pastures.

Most of the groups properties have a mixture of irrigation and dry land fodder production on heavy soils with the sub clover pastures dominating the traditional pasture systems.  Cereal crops are generally grazed as stubbles and very few fodder crops have been grown specifically for grazing.

With a short growing season, most producers in the group lamb in autumn with the aim of turning of lambs before feed dries off in spring. However, it is common amongst the group that lambs don’t meet their target weights before the end of spring and are put into feedlots to finish or carried over on stubbles.

The PDS aims to identify a range of pasture species that will provide early feed in autumn for lambing down ewes, pastures to enhance dry matter production in winter and pastures to provide an extended growing season in spring.

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