To receive the benefits possible from integrating perennial pastures into the whole farm, various costs and management requirements need to be considered.
Benefits of perennial pastures include:
- an increase in farm profit
- an increase in the whole farm stocking
- shorter feed gaps and a more even feed supply
- reduced need for supplementary feeding
- deferred grazing of annual pastures at the break of season
- improved pasture growth and use due higher grazing pressure on annual pastures late winter and spring
- increased soil water use and reduced soil erosion
- reduced risk of erosion due to lower stocking rates on annual pastures during autumn.
The costs and management considerations perennial pastures include:
- higher establishment costs for perennial pastures with a time-lag until they can be grazed
- more intensive grazing management to ensure the pastures persist and their quality is maintained
- a possible need to change rotations on other soil types to achieve the best enterprise mix
- recognising that as the focus of the livestock enterprise shifts toward meat production then the value and optimal area of perennial pastures increase
- noting that the area of perennial pastures can often be increased above the optimum with minimal effect on profit.
This section discusses the integration of perennial pastures into a farming system. It outlines some principles that underlie the value and role of perennial pastures in a farming system and uses two case studies as illustrations.
Factors affecting the value of perennial pastures:
The characteristics of a farming system will affect the specific role and value of perennial pastures within that system. Farming systems, by their nature, are diverse and variable. The mix of soil types on a farm, the nature of the livestock enterprise, the balance between cropping and grazing all affect where perennial pastures can be grown and used profitably.
Perennial pastures are often a source of green feed at a time when other feed is limited. Carrying stock through periods of feed scarcity is difficult, expensive and limits profit from livestock production in southern Australia. Farmers typically manage this period by feeding supplements or running low stocking rates.
As a result, the value of additional pasture during this time is high compared with the value of additional pasture from late winter to the end of spring, when feed is plentiful. Growing perennial pastures can increase farm pro?t because there is an increase in whole-farm stocking rates due to an increase in out-of-season feed supply plus changes to grazing on other parts of the farm.
Grazing pressure on paddocks with annual pastures can be reduced during summer, autumn and early winter and increased during late winter and spring, leading to improved pasture growth and utilisation. The key questions to consider before growing perennial pastures are summarised in Table 1 and expanded below.
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