Grain & Graze Phase 1

You will need Acrobat Reader Version 8 or above to view the below publications. If you would prefer we can mail hardcopies to you. Please send your details to office@sfs.org.au with your request.

Download Grain & Graze full colour brochure with photos (388kb .pdf)

Items of interest

Date Item
June 2008 GRAZING WINTER CEREALS CALCULATOR - free download
March 2008 Grazing Winter Cereals Roadshow - free download
April 2007 Grain & Graze Trial Results 2006 (click to see index of trials) - free download
February 2007 Reduced Waterlogging of Pastures - free download
March 2006 Boosting Lamb Growth Rates From Lucerne Break Crops - free download
March 2006 Boosting Winter Production From Lucerne Break Crops - free download
9th September 2005 Pest Management and Native Grasses

For more information please visit www.grainandgraze.com.au

Contents

Grain & Graze In South-Western Victoria

Grain & Graze is a program aimed at finding local solutions to some of the major problems facing cropping and grazing farmers in South - Western Victoria. Grain & Graze has five integrated projects which aim to help mixed grazing and cropping farmers lift profits and enhance the environment.

The projects deal with the management of crop stubbles, using lucerne as a break crop in a cropping system, reducing waterlogging of pastures, integrated pest management and managing native grasses. The outcomes from each project combine to create an improved mixed farming system, with strong environmental and profitability benefits.

back to top

Practical on farm research

Grain & Graze is dedicated to practical on farm research. It invites farmers to take an active role in providing sites for research and demonstrations and to participate in discussion groups, seminars and field days.

Technical support is provided to help monitor farmer sites, facilitate local discussion groups and organise field days, bus trips and farm walks. Local discussion groups and large scale on-farm trials are a centrepiece of Grain & Graze.

Grain & Graze is managed locally by a farmer committee and administered through Southern Farming Systems, a farmer based group who have built a solid following through their promotion of raised bed cropping.

back to top

Who supports the Grain and Graze Program?

The Grain and Graze program is based on co-operation between industry, government and regional natural resource managers.

Grain & Graze represents a first for Australian agriculture as four of the country's top Research and Development Corporations have joined forces to help farmer groups to deliver research and development activities. The national partners are Meat & Livestock Australia, Australian Wool Innovation Limited, Grains Research & Development Corporation and Land & Water Australia. The Corangamite and Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authorities are also actively involved. The South-Western Victorian Grain & Graze region is one of eight G&G pilot zones throughout the grains/sheep/beef zone of Southern Australia. Southern Farming Systems and the Corangamite and Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authorities have worked together to develop the G&G project for South Western Victoria.

The Grain & Graze program will take partnerships to a new level by building on existing work in the region and involving local branches of the Grasslands Society of Southern Australia, rural merchandise, universities and research organisations.

www.grainandgraze.com.au
back to top

Integrated Pest Management for crops and pasture protection

Pests cost farmers money each year in lost production and expensive treatments. At present the cropping and grazing industries have limited options for pest control apart from the use of pesticides.

This project will explore an integrated approach to reducing the impact of a range of common pests on our cropping and grazing system.

The first step is to understand the links between the pests, the predators of these pests and the conditions which favour pest and predator populations.

Habitat is an integral part in influencing pest and predator numbers. By advancing our understanding of what habitat discourages the pests and which natural environment favours a build up of predators, we can create a natural regulation of pest populations.

Integrated pest management does not only rely on beneficial predators to solve the problem. Grain & Graze will also investigate the habitat where the pests multiply and develop practical ways of reducing the breeding grounds of these pests. It will also examine the more strategic use of insecticides to target pests when they are most vulnerable and to avoid spraying at times that may harm the beneficial predators. This in turn should result in greater farm profits and better environmental outcomes.

That’s why farmer involvement is needed. These solutions need to be developed in partnership with farmers so the treatments are practical to implement and easily understood.

This project has two parts. The first involves identifying what pests and beneficial species exist and their interactions. Once this is known, emphasis will be placed on using this knowledge to develop and demonstrate integrated pest management on farms. Farmer involvement will be critical for this part of the project.

To be part of the integrated pest management project contact:
Cam Nicholson
Grain & Graze regional co-ordinator
0417 311 098
nicon@pipeline.com.au
www.grainandgraze.com.au
back to top

Native grasslands

The area of native grassland in Western Victoria is declining.

Programs exist to encourage the protection, enhancement and restoration of the remaining grassland areas, but these programs are largely based on appealing to farmers to preserve areas that are often less productive than other parts of their farms. For many mixed farmers additional reasons are needed to maintain or re-instate native grasslands on their properties.

Early results from the integrated pest management work shows native grasslands play a valuable role in building up the population of the predators of common crop and pasture pests.

If Grain & Graze can show a link between grassland habitat and the productivity benefits through integrated pest management, then farmers will have an additional reason to voluntarily preserve and enhance these areas on their farms.

This project will promote the use of native grasslands and other native vegetation as part of an integrated pest management and strategic grazing program.

It requires a whole of farm approach and is why farmer involvement is needed. The inclusion of native grasslands and other vegetation on farms needs to be done so that it lifts overall productivity and profitability.

No two farms are the same. This project will not be promoting a solution but rather inviting innovative farmers to trial different approaches, with Grain & Graze support, and to share the results.

This project will build on the work being conducted throughout the integrated pest management project in Grain and Graze, as well as other initiatives being conducted by the Catchment Management Authorities and Department of Primary Industries.

To be part of the native grasslands project contact:
Cam Nicholson
Grain & Graze regional co-ordinator
0417 311 098
nicon@pipeline.com.au
www.grainandgraze.com.au

Lucerne in a cropping system

The development of raised bed and controlled traffic cropping systems has reduced the risk of waterlogging in winter crops and opened the way for continuous cropping.

Yet after several years of cropping, it has become obvious a break crop is needed to help manage the build up of pests, diseases and weeds.

Lucerne has not traditionally been considered a break crop because the plant requires well drained soils to persist. With the reduction in waterlogging through raised beds and controlled traffic cropping systems, an opportunity exists to revisit the use of lucerne.

This project will examine the role of lucerne as a break crop and develop practical ways of maximising the productivity benefits of lucerne through grazing and fodder conservation.

Lucerne provides an opportunity to control weeds and pests that would be difficult to control in other winter crops. However, the benefits of lucerne not just confined as a break phase of the cropping rotation. The plant also adds nitrogen to the soil, which can be used by subsequent crops. Lucerne’s strong taproot has potential to open up heavy textured sub soils that currently are not penetrated by the winter crops. The drying of the sub soils with lucerne may also have benefits for reducing or controlling salinity.

We need to quantify the effects of lucerne in a cropping systems and design practical ways of making the most of this high quality fodder. Methods need to be developed to reduce weeds and disease build up in a lucerne stand, design ways of harvesting and conserving the fodder, and grazing.

The Grain & Graze program team believe farmers are in the best position to come up with these new practices. We will be providing support in three ways to help develop lucerne as an alternative in a cropping system.

Firstly we will provide resources to help farmers monitor the productivity gains from incorporating lucerne in their crop rotation.

Secondly we will provide assistance to help share the results and ideas through facilitating discussion groups, information sessions, field days and bus trips. As new ideas emerge, Grain & Graze will provide some financial assistance to trial these new approaches.

Finally we will initiate research to understand the effects lucerne is having on nitrogen accumulation, modification to the soil structure and subsequent crop growth.

To be part of the lucerne project contact:
Cam Nicholson
Grain & Graze regional co-ordinator
0417 311 098
nicon@pipeline.com.au
www.grainandgraze.com.au

Management of crop stubbles

High yields are creating problems in managing crop aftermath using traditional minimum tillage techniques.

Large quantities of trash pose difficulties for conventional machinery and encourage the build up of some pests and diseases.

Burning is often used to remove excessive trash before sowing, however this practice may not be widely accepted in the future and alternatives need to be found.

Up until now grazing on beds or in controlled traffic systems has been discouraged because of the fear the introduction of livestock would degrade bed shape and damage soil structure.

This project will develop and implement stubble management approaches to maximise animal performance, reduce trash and minimise carryover pest and disease problems while avoiding any negative effects on bed and soil structure.

Stubble management is not new, so the Grain & Graze program wants to learn from past farmer experiences and use this knowledge to build new ways of tackling crop aftermath.

It is unlikely any single approach will suit all farming situations, so the program will examine three broad areas.

The first is stubble management without livestock, where the principles of the no till cropping system will be investigated in order to develop better machinery and other options to enable sowing into high volume cereal stubbles.

The second is stubble management with livestock. The livestock component will be based on grazing principles developed from the Sustainable Grazing Systems program using high density grazing for short periods. We hope to develop simple visual benchmarks that can be used to determine when to graze stubble and for how long.

The third is harvesting of stubble for use as a low quality fibre in a grazing system the following winter.

Farmer involvement will be critical for providing locations for on farm trials. Grain & Graze will help with management of on farm trials and help farmers share their results through facilitating discussion groups, information sessions, field days and bus trips.

To be part of the crop stubble project contact:
Cam Nicholson
Grain & Graze regional co-ordinator
0417 311 098
nicon@pipeline.com.au
www.grainandgraze.com.au
back to top

Reducing waterlogging in pastures

Reducing waterlogging on raised beds and controlled traffic systems has been shown by Southern Farming Systems and many producers to increase crop yields and profitability on farms throughout southern Victoria.

Preliminary investigations by the Sustainable Grazing Systems program suggests there may be productivity gains by shortening the period of winter waterlogging of pastures as well.

Winter pasture production greatly influences annual stocking rates, so an improvement in growth at this time of year provides the opportunity to lift stock numbers and make better use of the spring surplus.

This project will examine how various forms of surface drainage influences pasture growth, livestock performance, soil structure, vehicle access, and water flows. The work will endeavour to maximise nutrient use on the farm. It will also look at water flows across the rest of the farm, on neighbouring properties and at the catchment scale.

Grain and Graze is looking for farmers who are keen to compare enhanced surface drainage with their traditional grazing system in a ‘paired paddock’ approach. The type of drainage system is not critical.

Ideally participating farmers would already be keen to invest in surface drainage on pasture land.

Grain & Graze will help with livestock, pasture and water measurements. Grain & Graze would also help farmers share their results through facilitating discussion groups, information sessions, field days and bus trips.

To be part of the reduced waterlogging in pastures project contact:
Cam Nicholson
Grain & Graze regional co-ordinator
0417 311 098
nicon@pipeline.com.au
www.grainandgraze.com.au
back to top

Making the most of the crop and pasture mix

The five key projects in Grain & Graze work together to lift the profitability and sustainability of mixed farming in the South-West Victoria. Cropping can help solve fodder shortages in the grazing system and livestock provide a means of managing crop problems.

For example livestock can help overcome excessive crop stubbles, either through grazing directly after grain harvest or by conserving the straw and using this roughage to balance the high quality pasture grazed the next winter. This avoids the need for burning. Disease and pest problems are less and animal production is improved.

As a break crop, lucerne can grow high quality fodder at a time when pasture quality is poor, creating the possibility of finishing high value stock ‘out of season’, reducing supplementary feeding and providing substantial benefits to subsequent winter crops. A drier soil created by the lucerne is likely to help control salinity and retain nutrients on farm.

Integrated pest management in crop production is likely to rely on areas of native grassland across the farm. The persistence and productivity of these grasslands are strengthened if grazed for short periods in late summer and mid winter, two times when the growth of introduced pastures is slow. The result is better grasslands, improved pest management in crops and pasture and better fed livestock.

Reducing waterlogging of pastures will increase winter pasture growth, lifting stocking rate and reducing supplementary feeding. Increased productivity and lower costs are the result.

Grain & Graze offers an exciting opportunity to capitalise on the opportunities the crop and pasture enterprises provide. The result will be more profitable and sustainable farms and a healthier environment.

To be part of Grain & Graze contact:
Cam Nicholson
Grain & Graze regional co-ordinator
0417 311 098
nicon@pipeline.com.au
www.grainandgraze.com.au
back to top

gradient_bottom