Which set up? Implementing confinement feeding

Summary

The purpose of this Producer Demonstration Site (PDS) is to define and demonstrate the financial outcomes, set up design and overall management required by those adopting confinement feeding while maximizing animal welfare, supporting producers interested in and implementing confinement feeding, with attention to:  

• Site selection criteria 

• Optimum mob sizes  

• Joining and management of pregnant ewes and cows  

• Monitoring and management of animal health and nutritional status  

• Decision making on when confinement feeding is justified (under drought conditions; extreme weather events; other) 

• Mineral supplementation 

Objectives

By July 2024 in Western Australia, across at least three demonstration sites:

1. Demonstrate the potential of confinement feeding sheep at the break of the pasture growing season in two different confinement systems (including pen and small paddock), compared to a traditional paddock feeding regime:
   • To increase quality and quantity of pasture available due to being deferred (FOO)
   • To impact potential stocking rate and carrying capacity of pasture (DSE/ha)
2. Conduct a cost benefit analysis to determine the relative economic performance of confinement feeding compared to regular paddock feeding as demonstrated in Objective 1. This will include:
   • Feed costs
   • Labour efficiency and cost
   • Condition score advantage (measure by CS at start and end of confinement period)
   • Ability to increase stocking rate through higher carrying capacity
3. Conduct a series of extension activities to showcase the demonstration sites, and increase knowledge, skills and confidence of 60% of core producers and 30% of observer producers and wider community producers in confinement feeding techniques:
   • Condition score
   • Feed budgeting
   • Pasture assessment of deferred pastures
   • Health and welfare management
   • Best practice management of confinement feeding (stocking density, pen design as well as the above measurements such as condition scoring)
4. By the end of the project, 50% of core producers will have adopted confinement feeding and 30% of observers intend to.

Progress

The PDS project, Which set up? Implementing Confinement Feeding, managed by AgPro Management, commenced in February 2022 with a core producer group formed in the Northern Agriculture region of WA. The project aims to identify WHY producers are wanting to confinement feed, and WHEN confinement feeding should be implemented. At this point the core producer group have identified that with summer rainfall they are able to utilise stubbles for a longer period by grazing the germinated volunteer crops, therefore enabling them to rest pastures at the break of the season. This limits the need of a confinement feeding system in these periods. Producers with established confinement feeding pens have also been able to use them to increase weight gain of lambs or sheep prior to sale and if placed close to shearing sheds/yards as holding pens may be used prior to shearing, crutching or lamb marking. The project is now heading into its final year. With lower-than-average rainfall over the winter period of 2023, stubbles and pastures are starting to have limited feed on offer, and producers will be looking at ways to increase this as we go into the 2024 autumn-winter period.