Exploring Pasture Livestock Systems with FEED365 - Technical Project Update

By Kate Parker, WMG Project Officer

The FEED365 project is underway for the third year in WA and seeks to develop pasture management strategies that lead to year-round feed availability to reduce the amount of supplementary feeding. This project is gathering significant momentum at the Katanning focus site (DPIRD Research Station) where there has been an unprecedented run of 334 days without the need for supplementary feeding of sheep. There are a range of demonstration sites across WA, and WMG is working with two producers in the West Midlands region to explore options for improving year-round feed on their properties. The goal is to address the early winter and late spring/summer feed gaps identified on these properties.

This report covers the latest results from the FEED365 project in our region to see if we can achieve an annual increase in pasture production for both our annual and perennial pasture systems.

Gillingarra – Perennial grasses and cover cropping to increase feed production

Pasture Production

Groundcover and plant growth were visually higher in the perennials with cover crop at both the July and September sampling events compared to the perennials without a cover crop and the annual pasture. This was supported in the dry matter cuts completed at the end of September which found that perennials with cover crop had 42% more dry matter production than the annual pasture. The perennials with no cover crop had only an 8% increase in dry matter production compared to annual pasture but this is expected in the winter period when perennial growth is slow.

Visually at the July sampling, the most dominant species in the perennials with cover crop was Rhodes grass, blue lupins and brome grass whilst the perennial without cover crop and annual pasture paddocks were dominated by brome grass. The perennials with cover crop had a broad range of species present but there was a lot of variation across the paddock. For example, perennials were better in one section and serradella or cereal better in another, but overall there appeared to be more food on offer. Some barley had already come to head and some lupin was already flowering; clover, vetch and serradella were present from being sown in previous years.

The perennials with no cover crop treatment was looking great at September sampling with the largest panic plants being recorded as 60cm tall and 120cm in diameter. Groundcover on this paddock visually seemed higher than the other two treatments with large patches of clover up on hills, however, this paddock has not been grazed in the July to September period.

The perennials with cover crop treatment was recovering nicely from its last graze (2 weeks prior) with plenty of regrowth on the perennials. The majority of the cover crop had been grazed out with mostly narrow-leaf lupin and some triticale and barley left behind. Blue lupins were dominating the paddock with some ryegrass throughout as well. The annual pasture at September was visually dominated by ryegrass, blue lupins and radish and had not been grazed in the July to September period.

Grazing

The perennials with cover crop treatment was grazed with 400 cattle for 22 days, concluding in mid-September; the other paddocks have not been grazed in the July to September period. The pre-grazing biomass for this treatment was 2481 kg/ha, equating a growth rate of 76 kg/day during the period. The post-grazing biomass recorded had reduced to 1710 kg/ha, meaning that 771 kg/ha dry matter had been eaten (31% feed utilised). During this period, the cattle had an average daily gain (ADG) of 1.22 kg/hd/day.

Interestingly, the data indicated slight variations in ADGs among different cattle breeds different breeding lines appeared to have slightly higher ADG (~0.35 kg/hd/day difference). While this initial data wasn’t statistically significant, it could have potential implications for the economic analysis to be completed at the end of the season. For instance, if high performing breeding lines are grazed only on the perennials with cover crop then this could affect the net financial benefit compared to the annual pasture paddock. As the season progresses, we will gather more data to understand if there are any further trends on average daily gain.

Warradarge – Grazing cereal crops to increase annual pasture production

Pasture Production

The serradella/barley paddock was doing visually well at the July sampling with good barley growth and was mostly clean of weeds. The serradella at this time was noted to have patchy establishment with high variability across the paddock. September sampling of this treatment occurred roughly 6 weeks after a grazing event and the barley was visually recovering well although it appeared the serradella had been severely impacted by grazing and was hard to find. It was estimated this paddock had a 95% increase in dry matter potential compared to the annual pasture.

The triticale showed signs of variable establishment at July sampling with some parts growing faster than others; areas of light sands had poorer establishment whilst areas near dead trees with high organic matter were doing better. There was evidence of kangaroo predation and significant weeds, mostly capeweed radish and couch grass. At September sampling the triticale paddock was still variable however had grown well and reached about waist height. It was estimated this paddock had a 161% increase in dry matter potential compared to the annual pasture, however, this paddock has not been grazed this season.

The annual pasture is a typical sub clover pasture with good and consistent groundcover for the season at July sampling and was mostly dominated by clover and capeweed. September sampling of this treatment occurred roughly 8 weeks after a grazing event and visually had a lot less in the paddock compared to the other two treatments as supported in the above table, there was more regrowth noted on higher levels of the paddock.

Grazing

The annual pasture and serradella/barley paddock was grazed in August for 6 days each by 1000 sheep between sampling periods. Pre-grazing, the annual pasture was recorded to have 976kg/ha in biomass and be growing at a rate of 53kg/day. It was estimated that 300kg/ha was eaten out of this paddock during the grazing period. The serradella/barley paddock was grazed by the same mob of sheep immediately after they had finished in the annual pasture. It was estimated that 477kg/ha was eaten out of this paddock during the grazing period. Due to the short season, the Triticale treatment ran to head quickly and as such has not been able to be grazed this year.

Summary

Both sites have shown that the use of sown pasture species can significantly boost the production of pasture in the West Midlands region to provide more feed for livestock. This could be in a sole stand (such as serradella/barley) or used as a cover crop to be sown over perennial grass pastures. The repeated sowing of pastures has shown some evidence that annual species are starting to regenerate from previous years and this may mean that cover crops (or the species contained in them) may not have to be sown every year in the medium to long term. The use of cover crops over perennial grass pastures can have the dual benefit of increasing groundcover to decrease wind and water erosion on the paddock and also to increase feed on offer. The use of planning grazing management, such as rotational grazing, has allowed each trial site to be grazed and rested and this has also helped to preserve soil ground cover and likely optimise feed production.

This project will continue to follow these sites for the 2024 season and will develop an economic analysis to help assess whether this increase in production is able to offset initial input costs and be profitable in the long term.