8 March 2007

Pastures are yet another area where farmers should remember the wisdom of the old axiom "If it ain't broke, don't fix it", according to Wickepin farmer David White.

And he says, because it can be as hard to grow a good pasture as a good crop, and because pasture establishment is an expensive business anyway, farmers with a good pasture shouldn't try to improve it.

"Rather than spending money changing a good pasture, you would be better off targeting a poorer one", Mr White says.

Mr White and his wife Karen grow cereals and run a straight Merino flock on 1,400 hectare Ngaree, 37 kilometres east of Wickepin, and until recently operated the "one year in, one year out" wheat/pasture rotation common across the Avon Region.

But then they joined two other farm families in the region in research looking at the potential of longer pasture phases - in their case of two years - and better pasture management to increase stocking rates and improve livestock gross margins.

The project aim - to use a longer pasture phase in an annual/crop system to increase profitability and lift animal production without cutting crop gross margins - was carried out under the national Grain & Graze Program and with much local support.

That came from WA's Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia Farming Systems, Pasture Group, Lifetime Wool Production, Pastures from Space and the Facey Group.

Grain & Graze itself 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) aiming to help mixed farmers increase their profitability and simultaneously better manage natural resources.

Linda Leonard, Grain & Graze project manager for the Avon Region, said besides extending their pasture phases, collaborating farmers were also being encouraged to adopt other sheep management technologies like "hands-on" condition scoring, pasture monitoring, manipulation of sheep numbers when required and faecal egg counts to check worm populations.

"Before beginning the Grain & Graze research project, David White was visually monitoring his sheep and carrying out some hands-on monitoring when the sheep came in for shearing or crutching," Ms Leonard said.

"He carried out basic feed budgeting on the basis of grams/head/day, depending on what breed the sheep were and the time of the year.

"He cropped the worst of his pastures, utilised the better ones, used grass selective sprays and spray topping and used the TIMERITE® system, controlling pests in the spring to manage his pastures."

The TIMERITE® package provides a reliable and effective option for control of redlegged earth mite in Australian pastures. The redlegged earth mite is a major pest of pasture legumes in the winter rainfall regions of southern Australia. The optimum TIMERITE spray date is unique to each property.

"He wasn't focusing his management - like applying fertilizer for instance - to actually improve his pastures but he did plant small areas of biserrula, oats and clover. He set-stocked his pastures as this is how he managed his stock given the time he had."

Mr White says he will modify his farming practices after taking part in the Grain & Graze research, particularly trying to monitor animals on pasture as much as he can.

He said the project had taught him that condition scoring - assessing weight change and identifying how the sheep were being maintained under pasture management - was the most useful measurement.

Condition score was a quick and efficient way to monitor sheep every time they were in the yards. There still needed to be a hands-on approach and modern farming didn't mean farmers not getting dirty.

In the trial, if condition score dropped, sheep would be removed from the paddock so pastures could regenerate. If condition scores increased, more sheep would be introduced for better pasture utilisation.

Ms Leonard says the project has shown that managed pastures were able to carry more sheep during spring, and also carry sheep for longer periods because of the pasture mix.

"The common rotation in the area is a year in year out, to enhance the cropping component of the enterprise, as farmers generally accepted that wheat is the most profitable," Ms Leonard said.

"But farmers are now becoming aware that, to increase profits, good pasture management is likely to be the driver for productivity."

For pasture research results and more information about the Grain & Graze Program, contact Linda Leonard, Grain & Graze Project Manager for the Avon Region, on 08 9690 2129; 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