Feeding Grain on Grass
| Project start date: | 01 January 2022 |
| Project end date: | 20 November 2024 |
| Project status: | In progress |
| Livestock species: | Grass-fed Cattle, Sheep, Lamb |
| Relevant regions: | NSW, Temperate, Temperate sub-humid |
| Site location: | Central West and Northern NSW: Binnaway, Bugaldie, Coonabarabran, & Purlewaugh |
Summary
The Grain on Grass PDS was developed to increase the skills and knowledge of producers in the Warrumbungles area of NSW to increase liveweight gain and carrying capacity through supplementary feeding of grain to livestock grazing tropical pasture and cereal grazing crops.
It was identified that there was a lack of current knowledge and research around the potential liveweight gains and increased profit from supplementary feeding livestock on forage crops. Animals were selected for the demonstration and split into two groups, a supplementary fed group and a control group.
Average daily gains from supplementation increased by between 0.02kg/day and 0.88kg/day. Supplementing grain resulted in negative returns ranging from -$2.59/head/day to -$0.33/head/day with grain price having the greatest influence on returns.
Awareness and skills around using feed tests was increased by 100% in the core producer group. The results from the project indicate that supplementary feeding can be a useful tool during the right seasonal conditions; however, returns are heavily dependent on market prices and seasonal conditions, and this project demonstrated that it is important producers do their own calculations before implementing supplementary feeding in their enterprise.
The project also reinforced the importance and value of producers within an area regularly connecting to share their knowledge and experiences.
Objectives
By November 2024, in the Warrumbungle shire in Central West NSW:
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Demonstrate the use of supplementing grain while grazing forage crops to increase:
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Live weight gain/head/day by 20%
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Carrying capacity due to faster stock turnoff by 3.5%
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Demonstrate the use of supplementing grain while grazing forage crops to maintain carcass quality and market specification while decreasing grazing days by 13%
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Increased awareness of the use of feed tests to determine feed quality by 100 percent of core producers and 25% of observers
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Increased awareness of the use of carcass feedback to ensure adherence to target market specifications, by 100 percent of core producers
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Increased skill of 75% of core producers to formulate a supplementary feeding ration by using a feed test.
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Conduct eight cost benefit analysis to determine the economic impact of supplementing grain and evaluate at what crop growth stage feeding grain is of economic benefit.
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Produce 4 producer case studies documenting producers experiences supplementing grain on forage crops
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Conduct an annual field day (3 in total) to showcase the demonstration sites and encourage the use of feed tests and grain supplementation on forage crops with 50 observer producers attending one or more of the sites
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70% of core producers and 20% of observers indicate they intend to take up grain supplementation
Key findings
Demonstrate the use of supplementing grain while grazing forage crops to increase live weight gain/head/day by 20%
‘Tiona’, Elliot Shannon
The treatment group had an average daily gain (ADG) of 0.79kg/day and the control had an ADG of 0.77kg/day. This was a difference of 0.02kg and equated to only a 3% increase in ADG of the supplemented animals. This difference in weight gain was not significant (P>0.05).
‘Fairfield’ Nic Baker
The control group had an ADG of 0.54kg/day, while the treatment group had an ADG of 0.88 kg/day – an increase of 63%. This was a statistically significant difference (P<0.05), and well above the 20% increase in ADG target.
The ADG of the dairy animals was 0.79kg/day, while the ADG of the beef animals was 0.53kg/day.
‘Colain’ Callen Thompson
The treatment group had an average daily gain (ADG) of 1.18kg/day and the control group had an ADG of 1.16kg/day, showing only 0.02kg difference between the two groups. This was not significant (P>0.05) as this difference equated to only a 2% increase in ADG of the supplemented cattle.
‘Cheriton’ Craig McGlashan
The treatment group had an average daily gain (ADG) of 1.6kg/day and the control group had an ADG of 1.0kg/day. This was a 48% increase in ADG over the 60-day period. However, the large difference in starting weights makes it difficult to compare weight gain on a statistical basis.
Increased awareness of the use of feed tests to determine feed quality by 100 percent of core producers and 25% of observers
All four core producers as well as one observer producer indicated they are already utilising, or intend to utilise feed tests to assess feed quality as a result of the learnings from this PDS as indicated in the post survey results.
Increased skill of 75% of core producers to formulate a supplementary feeding ration by using a feed test
Once the demonstration was initiated, it became evident that this metric would need to be adjusted to an increased awareness of formulating a supplementary feeding ration using a feed test rather than an increased ability as it became evident that formulating rations requires the skills of someone specialised in this area such as those of a nutritionist. The initial expectation that the producers would be able to formulate and implement a ration independently was unrealistic and it was evident that they required ongoing support around the implementation side of things. The post-project survey results indicated that awareness around formulating a supplementary feeding ration using a feed test was increased.
Benefits to industry
This demonstration provided valuable learnings for the industry on the importance of regular feed testing to match feed quality to animal performance. It also highlighted the importance of considering seasonal conditions, commodity prices and the enterprise’s goals when considering incorporating supplementary feeding.
MLA action
MLA continues to deliver the Producer Demonstration Site (PDS) program, supporting livestock producers working in peer-to-peer groups to pursue new skills, knowledge and management practices applicable to their own commercial livestock production systems.
Future research
Recommendations from the group indicate that future research should look at supplementary feeding on forage crops and tropical pastures in different seasonal conditions to determine if the benefit increases as pasture quality decreases. More sites across different geographical areas would also be useful to determine the viability of supplementary feeding on a variety of forage crops.
