Persistent, productive perennial pasture

Project: Persistent, productive perennial pasture

Location: multiple

Species: Pastures

Date: Sep 2009 - Mar 2013

Status: Complete

Topic: Grazing and pasture management

State: Victoria

Objectives:

Producers involved in this Producer Demonstration Site were located around the Euroa region of North Central Victoria.  They are members of the Euroa Grazing Group and are motivated, knowledge seeking farmers that are focused on sustainable production and improving farm profitability.

From 2002-2008, livestock producers in this region had experienced several years of well below average rainfall, which led to poor establishment and persistence of perennial pastures, significant decline in pasture legumes, dominance of annual weed species and poor ground cover levels.

In response to these issues, two demonstration sites (at Longwood and Euroa) were set up in 2009 to gain a greater understanding of the place, purpose and management requirements of perennial species and a variety of options for their local environment.

The sites were based on the EverGraze principle - The right combination of perennials put in the right part of the landscape for the right purpose and with the right management improves profit, risk and natural resource management simultaneously. In applying this principle, key considerations in selecting and evaluating combinations of pasture species for the project included:

• ability to persist and maintain ground cover in the soils of the local area, and through highly variable seasonal conditions;
• the cost of establishing perennials can be justified with increased profits and improved natural resource management
• achievement of high carrying capacity and feed quality to maximise the beef produced per hectare;
• contribution to filling the autumn and early winter feed gap, minimising supplementary feed costs, particularly through the establishment phase; and
• ability to utilise the good seasons and respond to out of season rainfall when it occurs

The project used MLA's More Beef from Pastures procedures - the partial budget tool to determine the profitability of the perennial pastures compared to cropping at the end of three years and the procedure to determine appropriate stocking rates for the trial and measure pasture growth.

The feed demand calculator was used to demonstrate feed supply/demand and pasture utilisation using the growth rates determined on the sites.

Progress:

This project was completed in February 2013.

The overall objective that this PDS set out to achieve was to provide evidence of the costs and benefits of perennial pastures, and to develop skills and knowledge among local producers to enable better decision-making, including what species are best suited to the local area, steps to ensure successful establishment, and management requirements to ensure production and persistence.

The producers learnt that it is expensive to establish a perennial pasture, with the payback period being on average 6 years. However with the inclusion of grazing crops into the system on different sections of the farm, it may be possible to shorten the payback period.

This project also found that perennials have the ability to be able to support a cattle finishing enterprise, due to the ability to produce a high level of pasture production, therefore increasing carrying capacity, which can result in increased beef production, especially during key times of the year.

Throughout this project, the producers observed the key benefits of the perennial pastures being trialled. A greater understanding was developed of what species could best tolerate water logging, those that had the ability to fill the autumn/winter feed gap those that struggled to persist when faced with competition from annual grasses, and the ones that responded to out of season rainfall.

This information equipped producers with an increased knowledge and confidence in perennials, allowing them to make more informed decisions on their own properties. Many group members have made changes based on the skills and knowledge built. Some of the key knowledge/skills group members gained from being involved included:

• preparation for sowing
• grazing management of newly sown pastures
• rotational grazing makes an enormous difference to production
• important to not only be able to grow grass but to be able to utilise it fully
• the importance of measuring weight gains and improvements in pasture especially in a finishing system, it allows more informed decisions to be made.
• fertiliser decisions

Some of the changes made included:

• re-fencing paddocks to improve efficiency in grazing management
• using grazing management to better control weeds
• sowed a paddock of Uplands cocksfoot
• sowed more perennials
• ability to make a more informed decision in regards to perennial pastures.

According to the trial site hosts, they by far got the most out of the project as they “are able to recognise their mistakes, understand the timing of stock movements, pasture measurements and how to cope with problems”.  They also realised that “we started off the trial with a few questions and the list is a lot longer now”.

A very clear message that emerged was that a cropping phase is important to achieve a clean paddock.  The group observed that preparation of the site in the lead up to the establishment of the perennials plays a major role in the success of the perennials.

Another important observation that the group made was the ongoing management requirements needed to ensure production and persistence, two key factors that the group were striving to achieve through the use of perennials. The ongoing weed and fertiliser management demonstrated the importance of keeping of top of weeds and ensuring that adequate soil nutrient levels are maintained.

The group also observed the impact regular monitoring of livestock performance can make in the overall performance of livestock.

Some of the project key learnings were:

• Significant stocking rate and pasture quality improvements can be achieved with perennials.
• It is important to get the establishment right.
• Phalaris is a proven performer – high stocking rates and tolerant of water logging.
• Fescue fills the winter feed gap but requires management to maintain quality.
• A range of different species across the farm can provide benefits.
• Fast establishing annuals play a role in the establishment phase for clean up and winter feed.
• Sub clover has the capacity to return with the right management and seasonal conditions.
• Importance of having a whole of farm approach when designing and implementing a pasture system.
• On-farm trials offer evidence based results that mimic real life challenges.

More information on this PDS is available on the EverGraze website.

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