2005/S02 Extended Quality Grazing

Summary

This Producer Initiated Research and Development site investigated developing fodder production systems that can offer both early and extended quality pasture growth and thereby increasing livestock carrying capacity and meat production per hectare. The focus was on plants which have the ability to utilise summer rainfall to extend the pasture growing season and therefore increasing overall carrying capacity of farm.
There were three areas of focus: summer forage crops, fodder crops to fill feed gaps, and the use of Grazfeed to better determine supplementary feed rations.  The group also initiated production benchmarking.
​The group concluded that while fodder crops do not replace good pastures they do provide high quality feed that can be targeted to fill feed gaps and specific nutrition requirements.  Species selection, agronomic practices and grazing management require adjustment to fit the particular situation.  Grazfeed was a useful computer program to help graziers establish initial rations for supplementary feeding livestock.