Increasing production using containment areas

Summary

This producer demonstration site will demonstrate the use of containment areas to maintain annual stocking rates and increase the sheep production system via increased reproduction rates, maintaining condition scores through mid and late pregnancy and maintaining ground cover until the ‘break of the season’.

Objectives

By April 2022, in the Barossa and Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges region of SA:

1. Demonstrate and assess the use of on-farm ‘containment areas’ on 15 properties to:

a. maintain annual enterprise stocking rate
b. maintain ground cover at 70% on 90% of any single property
c. increase the reproductive rate (measured by pregnancy scanning) of ewes by 10%
d. maintain condition score of the ewe (CS 2.5 singles/ CS 3.0 twins) through mid and late pregnancy to increase lambing marking percentage by 10% and maintain wool cut (measured in Kg/head).

2. Conduct a cost benefit analysis on 15 properties to determine the economic performance of the use of containment compared to non-containment areas and associated management practices

3. Upskill at least 15 core producers to increase their confidence in the use of electronic identification, condition scoring, ground cover monitoring and feed budgeting to implement ewe management best practice.

4. Conduct extension activities including an annual field day, a bus tour, webinar series and video to highlight the results and encourage adoption of key practices by 400 producers.

5. Increase the number of producers adopting on-farm containment areas by 15.

Progress

With increasingly variable seasons, later autumn breaks and reduced rainfall, producers in the Barossa region of SA found that the seasons were having a detrimental impact on their pasture production. With larger feed gaps to fill, producers had recently adopted containment feeding of ewes as an alternative to de-stocking or supplementary feeding in dry paddocks. 

Throughout three consecutive seasons, three ‘major’ sites and eight ‘minor’ sites containment fed ewes and were monitored to determine the success and any cost or risk associated with the practice. Producers were wanting to maintain their stocking rate over the variable seasons rather than selling and buying stock back in. Removing a large proportion of ewes from the paddocks enabled improved ground cover and extra feed on offer to be available in lambing paddocks.  

Over the course of the project lamb marking percentage on the major sites improved by 12% compared to their long-term average prior to containment. This was associated with some improved feed on offer in the lambing paddocks but also improved ewe management while ewes were in containment. Ewe mortality increased on some sites at times, however with precise management ended up being similar to mortality averages on paddock run ewes.  The economic analysis showed an advantage of between $5.30 and $8 per ewe associated with the more precise management and containment feeding of ewes.