27 June 2007
What if farmers in the New South Wales Central West could change from spring to autumn lambing, buy some goats or plant more forage crops, with a guarantee of no adverse financial consequences?
And, even better, factor in all the necessary management changes - like pasture types, crop and pasture rotations, and labour availability - to find out beforehand what effect the changes would have on the farms' bottom line?
Soon they should be able to do all the above without any pain at all, thanks to a computer modelling tool that aims to better match livestock feed demands on mixed farms with forage resources.
Using the tool, producers will be able to see what combination of forages, including grazed crops, will best meet the energy demands of a particular livestock enterprise, or what mix of livestock enterprises will best utilise the combination of forages available.
Dr David Michalk, Mr Randall Jones and Mr Geoff Millar of the NSW Department of Primary Industries' Orange Agricultural Institute developed the model - called "mini-MIDAS" - under the national Grain & Graze program.
Grain & Graze is a collaborative partnership between Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), Australian Wool Innovation (AWI), the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and Land & Water Australia (LWA).
Its aim is to help mixed farmers increase their profitability and simultaneously better manage natural resources.
According to Dr Ron Hacker, Grain & Graze project supervisor for the Central West Lachlan Region, the challenge for pasture and animal managers in the region is to address seasonal feed gaps and the stability of the plane of nutrition from year to year, a challenge that requires different solutions as rainfall declines and variability increases along the east-west gradient within the region.
"This project will identify innovative mixed farming systems that can efficiently utilise the range of available forage within the high, medium and low rainfall zones," Dr Hacker said.
"The model includes a wide range of farm activities such as the choice of crop/pasture rotations, crop type and area, pasture type and area, livestock systems and species, stocking rates, hay/silage making and supplementary feeding that can be incorporated as alternative management options to be investigated.
"Then it uses linear programming to maximise income received from a wide range of alternative crop and livestock activities for any particular mixed farm over a single year,"
Importantly, it can do these analyses for a range of seasonal conditions - not just average years."
Dr Hacker says NSW DPI research staff have evaluated the model with advisory officers in recent months, with favourable results.
The next step is to use it with producer groups across the region, to determine any need for fine tuning and to stimulate discussion around the 'what if' scenarios practical farmers will suggest.
These groups will include:
� one from each of the region's three climatic zones,
� the regional producer group for the Central Tablelands Evergraze project, whose members were already familiar with the use of the model in the development of their project;
� the pasture cropping group at Wellington, NSW, to ensure the model will accommodate this management practice, and
� the saltbush group at Condobolin, to complete incorporation of saltbush-based systems into the model.
"In addition, David Marsh, a leading farmer from the southern part of the Lachlan catchment will make an independent assessment of the model and its scenario outputs," Dr Hacker said.
For information about the Mini-MIDAS computer modelling tool, please contact Dr Ron Hacker on
02 6880 8002 or email ron.hacker@dpi.nsw.gov.au. For more information about the Grain & Graze Program in the Central West Lachlan Region, contact Regional Coordinator, Jodie Dean on 02 6895 1015; Richard Price, National Coordinator, on 02 6295 6300, mobile 0409 624 297; Gillian Stewart on 02 6263 6042; Lynne Sealie on 02 6263 6021 or visit www.grainandgraze.com.au.
Grain & Graze Regional Coordinators
Avon Region - Linda Leonard - 08 9690 2191
Border Rivers Region - Rachel Charles - 07 4671 7900
Central West/Lachlan Region - Jodie Dean - 02 6895 1015
Corangamite/Glenelg-Hopkins Region - Cam Nicholson - 03 5258 3860
Eyre Peninsula Region - Alison Frischke - 08 8680 6223
Mallee Region - Zubair Shahzad - 03 50 219 103
Maranoa/Balonne Region - Stephen Ginns - 07 4620 8122
Murrumbidgee Region - Katrina Sait - 02 6924 4633
Northern Agricultural Region - Philip Barrett-Lennard - 08 94750753