Effectiveness of soil ameliorants for increasing pasture
Project: Effectiveness of soil ameliorants for increasing pasture
Location: n/a
Species: Pastures
Date: Mar 2011 - Feb 2014
Status: Ongoing
Topic: Grazing and pasture management
State: New South Wales
Objectives:
This PDS was established by a group who believe that soil fertility is limiting plant growth but responses to ad-hoc inorganic/organic nutrients have been variable and a structured design and monitoring program has been lacking.
The PDS group members want to determine the effectiveness of soil ameliorants and gain confidence in predicting the response from the most effective treatments.
The problem is displayed on farms through suboptimal soil fertility which may be restricting stocking rates by 3-5 DSE/ha and red meat production by 150 kg/ha per annum.
Benefits for sustainable red meat production would also increase if organic ameliorants were found to also deliver production benefits. These estimates are also likely to apply to other farms within the region.
The objectives of this PDS project are to:
- identify the most effective soil ameliorants for pasture and red meat production, and,
- increase red meat production from 130 to 280 kg/ha per annum where an effective soil ameliorant has been used
Progress:
The dry spring of 2012 on the Northern Tablelands of NSW was followed by a very generous summer with good rainfall recorded in the region. As a result of the favourable seasons, pasture growth rates during late summer have been 20-30% above average values.
Producers are continuing to collect pasture and grazing details for analysis of pasture growth rate, stocking rate and pasture utilisation.
The benefit of fertilizer and manure treatments have been observed at the plots and these trends appear to be supported by live weight gain data collected on participating properties.
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