L.PDS.2006 - Alternative fodder crops for turning off weaner lambs/hoggets

Summary

This Producer Demonstration Site project aimed to demonstrate an economical alternative fodder crop system to increase weight gain in weaner lambs/hoggets to reduce reliance on live shipping and to provide alternative livestock management systems to increase profitability by targeting markets.

The Great Southern area is the core sheep production area of Western Australia with this industry integral to grower’s production systems. Growers are reliant on the live export shipping industry being one of their key markets for wethers and cull ewes.
The current lamb production system in the Great Southern entails lambs being born in July/August, weaned onto an oat fodder crop, run through winter and sold into live shipping market over late spring/summer as a hogget.

The benefits of this system are it is simple to manage lambs over summer, a lower summer stocking rate across the rest of the farm and wethers can be used as a release valve if there is a poor start to the growing season. The negatives of this system are slow lamb growth rates and now the uncertainty of the live export market.

The objectives of the project were to demonstrate and assess the benefits via an increase in hogget live weight gain of alternative fodder crops to the traditional oat fodder crop, deliver clear performance metrics from the alternative fodder crop to assist uptake by producers. A wide range of fodder crops were demonstrated including lupins, ryegrasses and clover, barley, oats, vetch and turnips.

Productivity for all growers is always a primary objective and was a key outcome of the project and measured in each PDS. The two primary productivity measurements were production efficiency measured in kg red meat produced/ha/day and carrying capacity measured as stocking rate as DSE/ha.

The outcome from the project has the ability to save producers who are looking to start finishing lambs on fodder crops two to three years of on farm practice learning to determine the best practice option.

Objectives

The projects objectives were to determine benefits via an increase in hogget live weight gain of alternative fodder crops to the traditional oat fodder crop. To provide alternative livestock management systems potentially leading to increased profitability by allowing diversified marketing strategies and improve the economic resilience of producers by increasing access to and the performance of existing and new markets.

Key findings

Fourteen fodder crops were demonstrated across seven sites over the three seasons the PDS was conducted. A wide range of fodder crops were demonstrated including lupins, ryegrasses and clover, barley, oats, vetch and turnips.

Productivity for all growers is always a primary objective and was a key outcome of the project and measured in each PDS. The two primary productivity measurements were Production efficiency measured in kg red meat produced/ha/day and carrying capacity measured as stocking rate as DSE/ha.

Stocking rates were monitored across each site. Production efficiency (kg of red meat /DSE) was measured on a starting stocking rate. The range of DSE stocking rates across the project were from 6.7 to 43.6 DSE/ha.

A wide range of stocking rates were used throughout the project varying from 13 to 54 head/ha or DSE stocking rates from between seven to 42 DSE/ha. Different seasonal grazing periods were explored outside of the standard late spring through to Autumn. Short-term spring grazing and late Autumn through to mid spring grazing options were also examined. As the ‘normal’ market structure is changing helping producers understand different grazing options will be important in future seasons as they are forced to adapt to the new market structure.

Cost structures between different operations are very different and can make the comparison difficult. For this reason, the primary driver for profitability has been measured in terms of production efficiency with the majority of growers understanding their own operation costs and structures.

Benefits to industry

The project has delivered strong practical applications to producers in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia and beyond as it has produced a diverse range of strategies for grazing a wide range of alternative fodder crops and the best practice results that can be expected for lamb fattening over summer.

Producers who already use fodder crops for finishing lambs over summer or are looking at different strategies to hold lambs over summer can work through the different producer demonstration sites conducted within the project and determine the best fit for their operation.

The project's outcomes can save producers looking to start finishing lambs on fodder crops two to three years of on farm practice learning to determine the best practice option.

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

The producer group identified that future investment is primarily required around helping producers in the transition away from the live export market into the domestic market and how this will impact grower’s sheep production operation.

This project has demonstrated alternative fodder crops for growing out lambs over summer however, there is a need for more detailed information for growers about how the change in the market pathways will change their lamb sales objectives.