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Perennial pastures help farmers grain and graze
A trend has emerged in the vast Northern Agricultural Region of Western Australia with farmers starting to use a range of perennials - and it's catching on.
It's being dubbed 'Grain and Graze' and results from a project coordinated by the Northern Agricultural Catchments Council aimed at introducing perennial pastures into broadacre farming systems.
The benefits are two-fold. For farmers, the introduction of summer active perennial grasses increases livestock carrying capacity on a wide range of soil types and environments and subsequently offers better-balanced whole-farm feed mixes.
For the environment, these pastures potentially offer solutions to the issues of rising groundwater, salinity, erosion and nutrient leaching; along with providing positive impacts for biodiversity.
Funding
The project is supported by the Australian and State Governments, with the State Government also providing in-kind contributions.
Activities
Project Manager Gary Patterson, from the Department of Agriculture, said work would help maximise farm profitability.
"We want to utilise the whole farm and whole year feed resource such as perennial and annual pasture, stubble and grain," Gary said. "We want to change the farming system so the natural resource base is significantly improved while at the same time increasing production."
So far 20 farmers are participating in the project with all striving for increased livestock carrying capacities, improved water usage and ultimately, more sustainable profit. Many are also hoping for benefits to crop rotations, improved soil condition, increased farm biodiversity and more targeted livestock production.
Just six months in, Gary said the rate of adoption of new perennial species was encouraging, given the limited hard data on the performance of perennial pastures in Western Australia available to date - with the exception of lucerne and tagasaste, which are relatively well-understood.
"We're attempting to provide some scientifically-sound information on these species as well as equip farmers to successfully change their farming system," he said. "We'll also try to quantify the benefits of perennials to the farm as well as measuring the real environmental impacts on the landscape."
The 20 holdings participating act as trial farms to demonstrate what's involved in adopting perennials, the benefits and any negative issues. Once results are collected and determined, seminars and training will be held.
Even while results were yet to flow, Gary said the project had generated a huge amount of interest in the community.
More information
- Gary Patterson, Department of Agriculture Project manager: (08) 9956 8513 or gpatterson@agric.wa.gov.au
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