As part of their Drought Node role with the SW WA Hub, South West NRM has been awarded a small grant to perform feed tests on six farms over the next five months. The tests will compare feed quality (e.g. energy, protein) of perennial pasture versus annual pasture in late spring, mid-summer and early autumn.
Sustainable Agriculture Manager, Peter Clifton, says he hopes the results from the feed tests will help growers better understand the value of perennials as a feed source in drier months.
“Establishing perennial pastures is challenging, so for farmers to commit, they need to understand the rewards to incentivise overcoming those challenges,” Mr Clifton explained.
“Demonstrating the feed value of perennials on the shoulders of the growing season, or after summer rain events, may encourage producers to look harder at how they can be incorporated into their system.”
Pasture samples will be taken from farms participating in South West NRM’s FEaST 2030 perennial pasture demonstration, which is measuring the establishment and persistence of perennials over the next two and a half years. Those demonstrations will also document best practice establishment and management of perennials.
“The demonstration farms all have a slightly different mix of perennials. The energy, protein and fibre of each mix will be compared to a neighbouring paddock of annual pastures, which will vary in its composition depending on weediness,” Mr Clifton said.
Results from feed tests will be incorporated into the Rumen8 software program to help producers refine supplementary feeding and meet production targets cost-effectively.
To learn how to feed cattle over summer cost-effectively, come along to our Rumen8 workshop on the 15th of December, in collaboration with Western Beef Association, for an introduction to the software.
South West NRM is the Bunbury Node of the South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub and receives funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund.
