Have you considered using a standing crop to fill the late spring and summer feed gaps? Feeding sheep can be time consuming and often requires extra resources and double handling of feed – especially when you could be taking a break. A ‘Standing Crop’ refers to a cereal crop that has been sown and grown […]
Generally, if a farmer were to graze their cereal crops it would be prior to stem elongation (GS31) to avoid penalties to grain yield, or they would use the crop as pasture and graze two or three times until biomass was exhausted. However, the project ‘Using standing crops to finish lambs and improve summer groundcover […]
Sheep held in containment are beginning to, or soon will be, released to paddocks now pastures have emerged and are soaking up the sun and rains. The change in feed from containment rations to paddock can be quite sudden and cause digestive issues, so care must be taken in making the transition. You can lose […]
2017 was a generally good year on the ground for livestock. Pastures established well after soaking rains in April and green feed remained in good supply despite variable rainfall over the following months. Coming after the wet spring in 2016, this also meant that growers achieved sound lambing percentages. Prices were also very positive. The […]
Take home messages Sheep production and profitability can be improved through individual animal management (IAM). Only measure things you will use to select animals from or make management decisions, and integrate data collection with the animal management calendar to ensure it is time efficient. Investing in eID technology doesn’t need to be expensive. Introduction of […]
Take home messages Adding canola to vetch pasture increases biomass production without affecting feed quality, and substantially reduces seed costs and storage requirements. Oats in monoculture produce the greatest amount and best quality feed early in the season. Whole-farm forage production over the growing season could be optimised by growing both a of monoculture oats […]
Take home messages Current knowledge about the effects of gibberellic acid application to oats is limited. In 2016 gibberellic acid had no impact on biomass or feed quality of oats. Exceptional growing conditions and a mild winter may have reduced effects of gibberellic acid. Background Gibberellic acid (GA) is a naturally occurring plant hormone. Plants […]