Increasing Adoption of Phosphorus Supplementation in Northern Australia (Queensland)
| Project start date: | 01 March 2021 |
| Project end date: | 30 January 2026 |
| Project status: | In progress |
| Livestock species: | Grass-fed Cattle |
| Relevant regions: | Queensland |
| Site location: | Northern QLD |
Summary
The purpose of this integrated R&D PDS project is to increase adoption of phosphorus (P) supplementation in northern Australia, in particular supporting producers with challenges faced by the wet season. The project aims to increase the productivity, profitability and sustainability of many cattle properties in northern Australia. The project will do this through a collaborative research in conjunction with several demonstration sites located across northern Australia involving the NT, QLD and WA.
Objectives
Outcomes for the Queensland sites will be:
1. Demonstration of the production and economic benefits of wet season P supplementation at two Queensland sites. As well as demonstrating the benefits of P supplementation the sites will provide detailed contemporary data on cattle performance, nutritional status, and supplementation in Queensland production systems. As well as enabling economic analysis of the trial results this data will be valuable for wider herd modelling and economic analysis work. The importance of this is highlighted by Kidman Springs being the only Australian trial that has demonstrated at the paddock scale, improved pregnancy and weaning rates due to phosphorus supplementation.
2. Demonstration of cost-effective implementation and management of supplement feeding systems. Because achieving target supplement intakes is a major challenge and lack of data on intakes is often a factor in poor V.1 112020 Page 6 of 29 supplement management the project provides an excellent opportunity to demonstrate pro-active management of supplement intakes, record keeping and use of records.
3. The sites will provide opportunities for trialling of new diagnostic approaches to assessing P status that may arise from earlier P studies.
4. Through collaboration with the NT and WA sites the QLD sites will contribute to the effectiveness of the Easy P project designed to develop improved supplementation strategies, demonstrate the benefits of P supplementation, and increase adoption across north Australia.
5. Conduct wider adoption activities promoting the benefits of P supplementation by building a broader program to facilitate wider practice change through extension programs, the MLA P Challenge and the P PGS platform when available.
Progress
The benefits of phosphorus (P) supplementation for breeding herds in northern Australia are well researched and widely known, with P being essential for livestock growth, fertility and milk production. However, across northern Australia only a portion of cattle grazing on P deficient pastures are being managed with supplementation. This is due in part to perceived difficulties in implementing wet season supplementation on extensive properties.
The goal of this project is to validate and demonstrate an "Easy P" supplementation program to overcome difficulties of supplying and distributing supplements to stock during the wet season, and subsequently increase the adoption of P supplementation across the northern beef industry. Early results from the project indicate that providing bulk P to stock at the beginning of the wet season in addition to usual supplements in the dry, a key strategy of the Easy P method, is as effective as more traditional and labour-intensive methods.
The project will involve producer demonstration sites in northern WA, Queensland and the NT to test the Easy P supplementation method within commercial systems. These sites have been identified and testing is now underway to determine the P status of the properties and herds.
