Effectiveness of Water Medication to Supplement Breeder Cattle in Spinifex Country
| Project start date: | 01 January 2001 |
| Project end date: | 01 January 2003 |
| Project status: | Completed |
| Livestock species: | Grass-fed Cattle |
| Relevant regions: | Northern Territory |
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Summary
Water medication has long been recognised as an alternative means of supplementing cattle. Technological improvements to the systems that deliver nutrient supplement through the water have greatly improved their safety and cost-effectiveness in recent years. Producer interest has been renewed in this method of supplementation after a long period of scepticism due to early safety problems. Central Australia is well suited to water medication due to the vast majority of stock watering points being troughs rather than uncontrolled surface water.
This Producer Demonstration Site (PDS) was set up to demonstrate to pastoralists, the safety aspects and cost-effectiveness of water medication in marginal country in the Alice Springs district of the Northern Territory. There were two parts to this PDS; part 1 (1998 to 1999) using 314 mixed-age breeder cows and the PDS part 2 (1999 to 2001) using 286 first calf heifers.
In both parts of the PDS, there was considerable productivity improvement in cattle receiving nutrient supplement through water medication systems, compared to unsupplemented cattle. This PDS demonstrated considerable benefits to breeder cattle production on spinifex grazing country from using water medication.
Objectives
The objectives of this PDS were to demonstrate:
• and record productivity improvement in breeders receiving nutrients by water medication systems, compared to unsupplemented breeders on similar country
• a reliable and cost-effective means of providing essential nutrients to cattle
• that marginal country can be utilised and productive all year round.
Progress
There was substantial productivity improvement in cattle receiving nutrient supplement through water medication systems, compared to unsupplemented cattle.
There was a net benefit to cost ratio of 9:1 in the PDS Part 1, with considerable differences favouring the Treatment group. This demonstrated that the installation and use of water medication was cost-effective within 12 months.
As a direct result of this PDS, beef producers in the district are beginning to accept water medication as a safe and reliable method of supplementing cattle. The relevance and implications of these results to commercial producers will mean production increases in a district that has not used nutrient supplement extensively.
