PDS: Demonstrating Dual Purpose wheat grazing benefits

Summary

A new on-farm demonstration project is kicking off across southern and central NSW to show how grazing dual-purpose wheat can boost productivity and profitability for mixed farming operations. Backed by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), GRDC, Charles Sturt University and the Cool Soil Initiative, the project will run six demonstration sites with local producers to put theory into practice.

The goal is simple: help farmers get more out of their crops and livestock. By comparing grazed and ungrazed wheat paddocks—both as a sole crop and mixed with other high-quality forage species—the project will measure feed quality, liveweight gains, crop yield, and soil health. It will also crunch the numbers on profitability and explore how these systems can strengthen farm resilience against seasonal variability.

Farmers will have plenty of chances to get involved through field days, soil pit sessions, webinars and case studies. These events will share practical tips on managing dual-purpose crops, improving nitrogen use, and making the most of grazing opportunities without compromising grain yield. Plus, the project will look at how to better account for greenhouse gas emissions in mixed systems—helping producers build strong sustainability credentials for the future.

If you’re keen to learn how dual-purpose wheat can fit into your system, reduce risk and add value, keep an eye out for upcoming events and updates. This is about real-world results, farmer-to-farmer learning, and making mixed farming more profitable and sustainable.

Objectives

The key objectives for this work are:

1. Demonstrate the relative value of grazing dual-purpose cereals (+/- intercropped plant species) on soil health, animal production and profitability.
2. Increase awareness of the potential benefits of grazing dual-purpose crops on farming systemresilience
3. Increase awareness and upskill producers in dual-purpose cropping and/or intercropping with 80% of core and observer producers indicating an increase in their knowledge, skills and confidence.
4. Increased adoption of grazing dual-purpose cereals, with 80% of core producers and 20+ observer producers.
5. Utilise the data collected through this program to build an understanding of how reportable emissions can be allocated through the Cool Soil Initiative across the grain and livestock enterprises (not to build the work, just to inform what work needs to be done).

By February 2029, the participant will establish six demonstration sites, engaging 6 core producers and 60 observer producers to achieve the above-noted objectives through the delivery of the following:

1. Demonstrate and assessthe value of grazing dual-purpose wheat and dual-purpose wheat with mixed species on:

(a) Liveweight gain and condition

(b) Grazing quality, crop biomass and yield

(c) Generalsoil health metricsincluding nitrogen management and fertility, and understanding compaction management implications

2. Undertake an analysis of the economic benefitsto assessthe profitability of each system and implications for sustainability and associated marketing options relative to ungrazed crops.
3. Compare these systems to ungrazed crops to assess the relative long-term profitability and soil health implications (with a focus on the intercropping sites, specifically N cycling no expectation of SOC increase in 3 years).
4. Conduct a soil pit field day at each site to increase the knowledge and awareness of a minimum of 60 farmers in introducing and/or expanding dual purpose cropping to improve the sustainability and resilience of farm operation
5. Achieve a 20% increase in farmers using dual purpose cropping and/or intercropping in their operation by 2027 (from within the Cool Soil Initiative-engaged farmers).
6. Build an understanding of the on-farm data collection and reporting required for farmers to be able to calculate emission intensities from dual-purpose systems, which will then inform how a scientific and market recognised allocation process of emissions in dual purpose wheat crops can be achieved, for use across all Australian mixed producers – as per the current Cool Soil Initiative framework of on-farm data entry and anonymised allocation of emissions across the supply chain, within existing MRV and subject to Scope 3 Guidance for allocation.
7. Conduct an annual webinarto promote the benefits of dual-purpose wheat and practical management considerations available to all farmers in temperate zones