Temperate forage systems
Background:
Feedbase management is critical to farm profitability. 95% of dairy businesses rely strongly on home grown feed, with pasture supplying 60–100% of total cow diet in these businesses.
Within this sector, there is a close, positive relationship between the amount of pasture consumed per hectare and return on assets. Yet there remains large variation among farms in the tonnage of pasture consumed.
Farms at the lower end of the range can improve profit by raising their pasture management performance. Farms at the upper end need to push their performance further to gain more profit – this means pushing beyond what is considered ‘best possible performance’ from the traditional pasture type. All this has to be achieved in the face of a more-variable climate.
Project objective:
Develop and deliver new R&D knowledge about the performance of integrated pasture/crop forage systems that creates options for farmers to grow profitability and manage risk.
Project scope:
This project objective necissitates deeper understanding of the true potential and upper performance limits of pasture species currently used in the industry, new knowledge of the agronomy and productivity of forage crop options, and new information about how to select and integrate the best forage options into the whole farm system to drive out higher profit with manageable risk.
This project delivers the research knowledge required to underpin capacity development in high-end pasture management and integrated crop pasture system development and management. It will work with leading farmers, advisors, consultants, and agribusiness (including milk companies) to embed the knowledge in their skills base.
Outcomes/benefits:
Improved feedbase management helps farmers improve profitability. Specific outcomes for the project are:
- Increased rates of consumption of home-grown forage and higher profitability
- Improved capacity of farmers to manage their forage system and reach their goals
- More biologically resilient farm systems (productivity and persistence of the feedbase)
- More economically resilient farm systems (increased capacity to maintain a financial margin, increased repeatability of profit)
- Improved extension programs that utilise best practice information.
This project will deliver the R&D knowledge required to underpin capacity development in high-end pasture management and integrated crop-pasture system development and management. It will package this information in a systems context, and work with leading farmers, advisors, consultants, and agribusiness (including milk companies) to embed the knowledge in their skills base.
More information:
For more information, contact Dave Henry, Dairy Australia Feedbase Program Manager.