Tamworth Proof Site

Key Results

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On-farm monitoring of livestock and pastures

• On-farm monitoring showed all native perennial grass pastures had available green herbage mass levels below the minimum level in the critical June to September period for spring lambing ewes.
• Weaning percentage increased from ~70 to >110%, where forage oats and/or lucerne were included in the feedbase.
• Raising ewe fat score to meet target fat score at joining resulted in higher weaning percentage.
• Pasture herbage mass was easily and accurately assessed by estimating pasture height and density.
• A simple spreadsheet-based feed calculator that utilised the livestock months (LSM) concept enabled changes in pasture types/areas and sheep numbers to be rapidly computed, providing a visual output of the likely match between feed supply and animal requirements for a whole farm.

Lucerne-grass mixtures

• Lucerne established and persisted (over three years) when grown with tropical grass (digit grass).
• Herbage production of digit grass was similar irrespective of the lucerne sowing rate, indicating that total production increased with lucerne sowing rate (0.5 to 2.0 kg/ha).
• Row configuration (either alternate 1:1 or 1:2 rows) did not affect either herbage production or persistence.
• Sowing lucerne in spring resulted in poor establishment, and sowing digit grass in autumn resulted in low plant density.
• When species in a mixture were sown in split sowings at different times, lucerne dominated autumn sowings and digit grass dominated spring sowings.
• A lucerne-grass mixture grew similar herbage mass to pure lucerne over three years and more than grasses alone.
• Herbage mass of digit grass was similar in mixture with lucerne irrespective of the lucerne sowing rates tested.
• Two different lucerne-grass mixtures developed patterns of soil water extraction over time that were similar to pure lucerne alone.
• Two lucerne-grass mixtures had higher ground cover throughout the year compared to lucerne alone, which did not meet the benchmark minimum of 70% ground cover most of the time.
• Two lucerne-grass mixtures substantially reduced runoff rate and eroded sediment compared to lucerne alone. A mixture with tropical grass offered greater protection than did a mixture with temperate grass.

On-farm conservation

• Studies conducted on-farm showed that parts of the farm that are not grazed by livestock are important for creating habitat variety, and are best targeted for protection, restoration and regeneration.
• Woodland vegetation that was not grazed by livestock made a large contribution to regional plant diversity, despite its very limited extent in the landscape.
• Native pastures regenerating after cultivation re-established total species densities comparable with those of uncultivated native pastures 10–25 years after the last cultivation, and comparable native species densities 15–30 years after the last cultivation.
• Data collected on-farm showed that the composition of grazed native pastures was quite uniform, with species comprised of a limited suite of grazing-tolerant, native and exotic grasses and forbs.
• Our data also suggest that the relationship between livestock grazing and plant conservation is antagonistic.