Agdesign’s ability to maximise seasonal pasture growth and utilisation through careful management can provide massive gains in stock weight, as Bruce Wood of Locmaria Farms near Naracoorte in the South East of South Australia can testify.
Sitting directly on the SA-Victorian border provides many seasonal challenges for sheep farming.
Bruce engaged Agdesign to create a grazing strategy for his fledgling business and he can’t speak highly enough of the difference Agdesign has made to Locmaria’s success.
“We’ve got two critical grazing periods in the South East,” explains Bruce, “We’re grazing in late spring to set up for summer and in late summer/ autumn to set up for winter.” Careful planning by Agdesign has made all the difference.
“By using Agdesign’s expertise in pasture management, we have seen our business grow 25 per cent per year for the past four years. That’s phenomenal and we are planning for at least two years of similar growth still to come.”
Agdesign undertook the initial mapping of Locmaria farms using GPS and then designed the new layout using GPS. Since then Agdesign has advised them on the implementation of the new new grazing strategy so stock and pasture could be best managed for top production. Bruce is chuffed with the results.
The subdivision of the farm has allowed for more efficient harvesting of the grass. The ability to extend the growing season earlier and later means more grass grown overall. This has enabled Locmaria to increase ewe numbers without increasing the amount of supplement fed per ewe over the last four seasons. As more of the farm is developed ewe numbers have been increased.
Shortly 11,000 healthy Merino and Merino first cross ewes will meet eager rams and the prime focus is for fat happy lambs.
Managing pasture through the lambing season is especially critical so Locmaria is rolling out all phases of rotational grazing under Agdesign’s careful eye.
Planning for summer
Summer growth or a lack of it make it vital to get pastures under control.
Spring surplus can lead to areas of rank grass stock have avoided during a time of abundance. This is the right time to introduce “working” classes of stock on the farm to give these pastures a hard and timely graze. Weaned ewes or younger bulls in a two year system are obvious choices. By restricting their intake and using them as grass mowers the neglected clumps of grass can be cleaned up.
If they remain untouched, those clumps can become hot spots for rust and fungus and then remain uneaten over summer.
Quality pasture is paramount for summer fattening. Using mechanical mowing to keep grass in check is a costly exercise with its own issues so careful stock grazing is key.
An early loss of grass quality in spring could be an indication you are running rotations too slow or you simply don’t have enough stock on hand to deal with the spring flush. You may need to look at your grazing policy to see how well feed demand matches your pasture growth.
Some key points:
- Tidy up pasture in late spring to help summer weight gains
- Look at your grazing policy to make sure you maximise spring demand
No Growth Summer
If you experience a zero growth summer due to lack of rainfall and/or high temperatures, the pasture plants need to be protected. Having stock constantly grazing or in paddocks for too long will stress plants when they already have to endure climate stress.
By using long rotations and keeping the time per shift down to around two days you can maximise utilisation of spring surplus that retains much of its quality in dry conditions.
The short on-times reduce wastage and minimize the damage done by sheep walking in paddocks. The plant, while it gets eaten, is not subjected to repeat visits. That means any growth as a result of welcome rain will aid in replenishing the plant rather than having stock coming back every time it grows a green shoot.
When Autumn rains do come, maintaining rotations will allow the pastures to come away quickly and early growth to be maximized. Maintaining rotations at this time will ensure growth is increased going into and during winter.
Key points
- Use short on-time and long rotation to take pressure off plant
- Maintain rotation after the break to ensure maximum autumn growth.