P.PSH.1045 - LPP Dual purpose crops for lamb production in southern QLD and norther NSW

Summary

The project aimed to understand the financial and animal health benefits of an alternative autumn lambing time and of dual purpose crops for prime lamb production in the summer rainfall zone.

The project had a modelling component considering multiple locations and a field trial component based in Armidale NSW. Although limited by circumstances (drought and Covid19), producer engagement was sought throughout the project.

The research showed advantages of autumn lambing for profit and animal health, especially reducing the need for drenching lambs, though an increased number of feed deficit grazing events was also seen. The project also illustrated the complexity of feedbase system changes across years and the need to have multiple approaches to filling feed gaps.

Dual purpose crops offered significant advantages in some years and in most, but not all locations. We demonstrated autumn-lambing as a strategy for responding to the looming issue of drench resistance.

We uncovered a need for further education of producers about the options available for optimising sheep reproduction. We also identified a need for further research on feedbase optimisation considering year to year variation in an increasingly unpredictable climate and the financial realities of attempting a cropping enterprise.

Objectives

• Model the outcomes of providing DPC grazing and of changing lambing time for financial and animal health outcomes.
• Demonstrate through communications and a field trial the potential effects of providing DPC grazing and of changing lambing time on a prime lamb production enterprise.
• Recruit and train a postdoctoral scientist capable of farm systems modelling research.

Key findings

The research showed advantages of autumn lambing for profit and animal health, especially reducing the need for drenching lambs, though an increased number of feed deficit grazing events was also seen.

The project also illustrated the complexity of feedbase system changes across years and the need to have multiple approaches to filling feed gaps. Dual purpose crops offered significant advantages in some years and in most, but not all locations.

Benefits to industry

The future holds uncertainty for lamb production. This work has provided insights into the possible outcomes of adopting feedbase provision through DPC in future climate scenarios relative to enterprise profitability.

The research has also shown a methodology for reducing reliance on drenches in a future where many drench product actives will be rendered ineffective due to drench resistance.

MLA action

MLA is using the outcomes of this project to inform new investments and create new opportunities for industry.

Future research

Drench resistance is a national issue not limited to summer rainfall environments. Further research to establish optimal systems to avoid GIN and therefore drenching across environments is needed.

The interaction of livestock system optimisation (e.g. autumn lambing) with other strategies to reduce GIN such as the use of vaccines or breeding for worm resistance is not yet understood. Given the uncertain future for GIN control via anthelmintics, researching these optimal strategies should be a high priority.

Current climate variability and future continuation of climate changes will make feedbase optimisation for prime lamb and grass-fed beef production a significant problem for producers. We explored the provision of DPC to help fill feed gaps and this had varying effects across years and (via modelling) in different regions of NSW. We observed spring and summer feed gaps in addition to winter feed gaps during the research. A far greater effort is needed to research appropriate feed gap provisions for producers.