Persistent, Productive Perennial Pastures for Euroa
| Project start date: | 14 August 2009 |
| Project end date: | 06 March 2013 |
| Project status: | Completed |
| Livestock species: | Grain-fed Cattle, Grass-fed Cattle |
| Relevant regions: | Victoria |
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Summary
From 2002-2008, livestock producers in the Euroa region of North Central Victoria had experienced several years of well below-average rainfall, which led to poor establishment and persistence of perennial pastures, significant decline in pasture legumes, dominance of annual weed species and poor ground cover levels.
In response to these issues, two Producer Demonstration Sites (PDS) (Longwood and Euroa) were set up in 2009 to gain a greater understanding of the place, purpose and management requirements of perennial species and a variety of options for their local environment.
The project demonstrated the value of perennials for increasing productivity through improvements to stocking rates and feed quality. The role of fast establishing annual grazing crops was important for weed control in preparation for sowing, and also to fill the winter feed gap while perennials are establishing on other areas of the farm.
Objectives
The overall objective was to provide evidence of the costs and benefits of perennial pastures, and to develop skills and knowledge among local producers to enable better decision-making. This included what species are best suited to the local area, steps to ensure successful establishment, and management requirements to ensure production and persistence.
Progress
A mixture of perennials across the farm with different summer and winter activity and maturity levels shows the potential for taking advantage of buying and selling opportunities with livestock, managing variable seasons and reducing supplementary feeding requirements particularly of growing stock requiring quality. The mixture also allowed for a flexible system that can cater for different livestock classes, managing variable seasons and reducing supplementary feeding requirements.
The preliminary economic analysis demonstrated that investment in perennials is a viable investment for this region.
