Grazing Cereal Crops in a Mallee Farming System | 2014

Summary

The Nullawil Producer Demonstration Site (PDS) was set up to investigate the potential to refine and improve systems and practices developed in the B.PDS.1002 to enhance prime lamb production in Mallee farming systems.  The objectives of the PDS were to;
To refine and enhance the rotational grazing practices developed in stage one of the PDS (1002) to better manage the nutritional requirements of prime lambs and their dams and increase production (kg/ha) of meat produced from 770kg/ha to 850kg/ha in the rotational grazing system.

To determine the suitability of other fodder varieties for Mallee grain farming systems to fill the identified feed gap from September until the availability of the first stubble for grazing (December).

To quantify the financial implications of rotational grazing cereal crops and specialist fodder crops in a Mallee farming system and determine the cost of production of a kilogram of meat per hectare in these systems and compare these costs with previous practices.

To investigate grazing management practices which decrease the turn off times and increase growth rate from 230g/h/d to 350/g/h/d of lamb produced in Mallee farming systems.

To investigate the role of walk over weighing (WOW) and pedigree matchmaker (PMM) systems in an extensive environment to identify underperforming animals and their parents.

To investigate the benefit-cost of the systems and the relative payback period for these systems.

The PDS introduced the producers of the Mallee to the concept of precision sheep management using RFID to monitor and manage prime lamb production.   The Nullawil Rotational Grazing Cereal Crops in a Mallee Farming System 2 PDS assisted to refine the processes developed in B. PDS. 1002 and provided Mallee lamb producers with a viable alternative to current grazing practices which enables the more efficient management of both sheep and fodder to finish lambs to market specifications. The PDS has also introduced producers to the concepts of value chain systems, sheep meat marketing and precision sheep management.