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Ground Cover Supplement : GC Supplement - Integration of livestock cropping
Contents
2 Issue 129 | July -- August 2017 | GRDC GROUNDCOVERTM SUPPLEMENT GROUNDCOVER INTRODUCTION COVER PHOTO: JESSICA CRETTENDEN GroundCoverTM Supplement edited by Katherine Hollaway GroundCoverTM is brought to you by growers and the Australian Government through the publisher, the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC). GRDC: 02 6166 4500, fax 02 6166 4599 Write to: The Editor -- GroundCoverTM, PO Box 5367, Kingston ACT 2604 Publishing manager: Ms Maureen Cribb, GRDC, 02 6166 4500 Coretext: 03 9670 1168, fax 03 9670 1127, editor@coretext.com.au, www.coretext.com.au Managing editor: Brad Collis Production editor: Andrew Cooke Advertising sales: Max Hyde, Hyde Media Pty Ltd, 03 5659 5292, max@hydemedia.com.au Advertising is subject to terms and conditions published on the rate card, available from Hyde Media and on the website www.coretext.com.au Circulation: Ms Maureen Cribb, 02 6166 4500 Printing: Cadillac Printing, Adelaide ISSN 1039-6217 Registered by Australia Post Publication No. NAD 3994 Disclaimer: This publication has been prepared in good faith by the GRDC on the basis of the information available to us at the date of publication, without any independent verification. Neither the GRDC and its editors nor any contributor to this publication represent that the contents of this publication are accurate or complete; nor do we accept any responsibility for any errors or omissions in the contents, however they may arise. Readers who act on information from GroundCoverTM Supplement do so at their own risk. The GRDC and contributors to GroundCoverTM Supplement may identify products by proprietary or trade names to help readers identify particular types of products. We do not endorse or recommend the products of any manufacturer referred to. Other products may perform as well as or better than those specifically referred to. CAUTION: RESEARCH ON UNREGISTERED AGRICULTURAL CHEMICAL USE Any research with unregistered agricultural chemicals or of unregistered products reported in this document does not constitute a recommendation for that particular use by the authors or the authors' organisations. Copyright: © All material published in the GroundCoverTM Supplement series is copyright protected and may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the GRDC. All agricultural chemical applications must accord with the currently registered label for that particular agricultural chemical, crop, pest and region. HOW GRAIN & GRAZE TRANSFORMED MIXED FARMING By Cam Nicholson n Grain & Graze was the first national collaboration on mixed farming in Australia. The first phase of the program (from 2003) was supported by the GRDC, Meat and Livestock Australia, Australian Wool Innovation and the now-defunct Land and Water Australia. Much was learnt from that five-year phase, including the opportunities from grazing crops and the potential of various fodders to benefit a crop rotation as well as increase fodders for livestock. The complexity of integrating crops and livestock in a mixed farming system also came to the fore and it was realised the Grain & Graze program was successful in providing information on single topics, but needed to start building decision-making skills and conveying information about risk. The second phase of Grain & Graze (2009--13) was led by the GRDC in partnership with the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (now the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources). It continued refining the grazing of winter cereals, canola and legume fodder rotations. This phase demonstrated there were greater potential grain yield losses due to grazing than had been identified in the first phase of the program, reinforcing the need to maximise the benefit to livestock while minimising the impact on crops. However, the availability of canola with strong winter habit opened up the possibility of spring sowing and growing the crop over 15 months -- first for grazing, before removing the stock in late autumn and taking it through for grain. Emphasis was placed on learning the best ways to transition from the crop phase to a pasture phase and then removing the pasture to go back into crop. Marginal cropping land was identified and trials were conducted into options for the establishment of permanent pasture, perennial fodders and shrubs. DECISION MAKING AND RISK The challenge of tackling decision-making and risk also took a leap forward in the second phase, culminating in the Farm Decision Making (www.grainandgraze3.com.au) booklet, which explores the interaction between personality, farm business and risk. The booklet explains decision-making, what influences a person's choices, and provides tips and tools to help make good decisions and hard decisions easier. The booklet also helps growers to understand the odds of certain outcomes and to quantify financial risk. Understanding price variability -- another risk in farming -- was aided by the creation of a historic price guide. The free online guide enables a grower or adviser to examine the historic prices of grains, meat, livestock, wool and hay commodities at different locations. Price volatility, decile ranges and comparisons between commodities can be determined over a chosen time period and compared with today. The final three-year phase of Grain & Graze was supported solely by the GRDC. It focused on extending the findings of the previous 10 years' work and enabled the knowledge and insights to be clustered under three broad themes: n smarter grazing of crops and stubbles; n better management of crops and pastures within a rotation; and n growers making more-informed decisions. All the reports, research results, case studies, tools and calculators from the program can be found on the Grain & Graze website (www. grainandgraze3.com.au). In this GroundCoverTM Supplement, we bring you a selection of the Grain & Graze work across three main areas: grazing crops (pages 3 to 10), fodder rotations (pages 11 to 13), and decision-making and risk (pages 14 to 21). We have also included some highlights from the EverCrop project, which aims to bring a new approach to mixed farming (pages 22 to 23). o More information: Cam Nicholson, Nicon Rural Services, 03 5258 3860, cam@niconrural.com.au; www.grainandgraze3.com.au
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