In this section:
Shrub based forage systems
Adding native forage shrubs to the farm’s feed resources
NLP074415: Resilient shrub based forage systems to improve farming system returns and durability
The Coorong District Council Local Action Planning Committee has initiated a project to explore grazing and management methods of native forage shrubs in order to increase both the quality and quantity of forage supplies to local livestock enterprises, particularly during seasonal shortages and drought.
• The primary task has been is to understand and extend the practical skills and knowledge necessary to use forage shrubs successfully.
• The second task is to identify innovations and knowledge in shrub systems that are already used by exist in experienced local managers, and to draw on these skills to foster broader community adoption of shrub systems.
Work completed so far…
1. A study was initiated to capture the experiences of local farmers who had grown saltbush and tagasaste in the Coorong District Council Area with the support of the CDC LAP committee during the previous 15 years.
2. The establishment of a reference committee of local farmers deepened the project team’s understanding of local forage and grazing systems, and grounded the project’s aims and activities more soundly in local conditions.
3. The design and development of a 16 ha community demonstration site at the ‘Booderoo’ property near Coomandook in the Upper South East, and the extension of the project into a second phase.
The study found that local farmers had been motivated to plant shrubs by the prospects of both increased forage production and stocking rates, as well as arresting erosion, recharge and the spread of saline lands. These forage shrubs did meet those expectations, increasing the stability of dunes, and the productivity of saline lands and providing feed during the autumn deficits, although not increasing stocking rates consistently. Findings of the study implied that different livestock systems had evolved around the two shrub species. Farmers indicated that there were secondary benefits from forage shrubs when bolstering of feed supplies. They help to buffer the livestock enterprise against business risks, and reduced supplementation costs.
This compilation of the local experience revealed not only the benefits of forage shrubs to livestock enterprises but also opportunities to improve the value of shrubs by moderating their nutritional shortcomings, better matching of livestock classes, and timing of their reproductive stages to the forage shrub use, and managing the shrubs and their companion forage plants in the inter-rows.
These activities provided a firmer base for the design and development of a 16 ha community demonstration site at the ‘Booderoo’ property near Coomandook in the Upper South East, and the extension of the project into a second phase. The development of the site was a significant undertaking, and required fresh approaches and more flexible methods to meet farmer expectations. In the coming years, the site will host demonstrations that explore the effects of different grazing options, combinations of shrub species, and companion inter-row forage species on animal productivity.
The project has been promoted through radio interviews, newspaper articles and field days. The first field day, was conducted at DWLBC Monarto Field Station in late September 2008 to promote the project’s activities, and introduce farmers to the prospects for managing the nutritional strengths and shortcomings, and the future of forages shrub-based grazing systems. 20 farmers attended the morning at Monarto.
Field day handout with detailed information on experiments (PDF 386KB)
Support and funding from Murray Darling Basin Natural Resources Management Board, the Federal Government’s LANDCARE and ‘Caring for Our Country’ Programs has been greatly appreciated.
