Peck, Gavin, Buck, Stuart, Johnson, Brian, and O'Reagain, Joe (2017) Improving productivity of rundown sown grass pastures. Volume 1: Project overview, key findings and recommendations. Report. Meat and Livestock Australia Limited, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

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Abstract

Sown pasture rundown in grass-only pastures reduces production by approximately 50% and will cost beef producers in northern Australia >$17 billion at the farm gate over the next 30 years. This project aimed to increase the productivity of ageing sown grass pastures (primarily in southern and central Queensland) through an extension program to support landholders to assess and implement on-farm options to improve pasture productivity; and a coordinated research and development (R&D) program to improve the reliability and performance of legumes in grass pastures.

The extension program used a learning-based approach to assist graziers to understand the causes, costs and management options for improving productivity of rundown sown grass pastures and testing them on-farm. Workshops on understanding the causes of pasture rundown and management options to improve productivity of these pastures were attended by 418 graziers. Graziers documented 237 management plans and initiated 157 on-farm trials to test management options. Collectively these graziers manage 814,000ha of sown pastures; 286,000 head of cattle and 42,000 sheep.

Research conducted as part of this project has demonstrated that desmanthus and Caatinga stylo can be persistent and productive on clay soils over a large geographic area of Queensland. Both of these legumes have persisted at a greater percentage of old trial sites than other legume options such as leucaena, butterfly pea or Siratro. Results from grazing trials suggested that desmanthus and Caatinga stylo can improve long-term productivity by approximately 40-100% in live-weight gain per hectare compared to grass only pastures.

Despite the large production benefits demonstrated in trials, both desmanthus and Caatinga stylo have not been widely commercially successful over the last 20 years since they were released to industry. Poor establishment is the most common reason for failure of pasture legumes in existing sown grass pastures, however the methods most commonly used by graziers are low cost and low reliability. Plot trials in this project have shown that dramatically better and more reliable establishment of small seeded legume into existing sown grass pastures is achievable through using agronomic practices that are commonly used by the grains industry (and graziers when establishing leucaena). Industry needs to adopt more reliable establishment techniques when introducing legumes into competitive grass pastures for them to realise their potential to improve productivity and economic returns in the sub-tropics.

Item ID:	82844
Item Type:	Report (Report)
Copyright Information:	Reproduction in whole or in part of this publication is prohibited without prior written consent of MLA.
Funders:	Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA)
Date Deposited:	17 Jul 2024 23:25
FoR Codes:	30 AGRICULTURAL, VETERINARY AND FOOD SCIENCES > 3004 Crop and pasture production > 300405 Crop and pasture biomass and bioproducts @ 20% 30 AGRICULTURAL, VETERINARY AND FOOD SCIENCES > 3004 Crop and pasture production > 300403 Agronomy @ 45% 30 AGRICULTURAL, VETERINARY AND FOOD SCIENCES > 3004 Crop and pasture production > 300407 Crop and pasture nutrition @ 35%
SEO Codes:	10 ANIMAL PRODUCTION AND ANIMAL PRIMARY PRODUCTS > 1005 Pasture, browse and fodder crops > 100505 Sown pastures (excl. lucerne) @ 70% 10 ANIMAL PRODUCTION AND ANIMAL PRIMARY PRODUCTS > 1004 Livestock raising > 100401 Beef cattle @ 30%
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