Forage management has impact
From the August 2007 edition of Agriculture Today.
Alter the type of forage grown on your farm and you could change your annual financial performance from a hefty loss to a healthy profit, according to NSW DPI researcher, James Neal.
However, recent analysis has shown that better forage management could do the job just as well and producers do not have to change forages to improve profitability.
"Maximum profit is achieved by growing a combination of perennial pasture grasses," Mr Neal said.
"Low profitability is associated with harvested forage crops."
The economic analysis was the next step in research that previously showed removing limitations to water and soil fertility and optimising management led to pasture yields three times greater than an average irrigated dairy farm.
Dairy Australia funded a three year project at the University of Sydney at Camden, evaluating 30 forages and collecting data on dry matter yield, water use efficiency and nutrients.
"Faced with the reality of declining terms of trade and increasing costs, farmers need to maximise profitability," said Mr Neal.
"The strongest factor linked to profitability has always been forage management.
"Since feed costs represent 25 to 30 per cent of farmers’ cash costs, it is crucial to get forage management right.
"Collecting this data allowed us to accurately simulate the relative profitability of different forage options."
The study achieved large dry matter yields of 27 to 31 tonnes per hectare for perennial ryegrass, fescue, prairie grass, kikuyu and maize.
Mr Neal said while good farmers are already achieving these high yields with crops like maize, they struggle with perennial pasture.
Maize was far superior to other forages in summer, not only in dry matter yield, but also water use efficiency.
Maize produced up to four tonnes dry matter per megalitre of water (t/ML), compared to only 1.5t/ML for perennial ryegrass.
However, during the winter the annual and perennial ryegrasses were two of the highest-yielding forages and also the most water use-efficient, producing 3.5t/ML.
Contact James Neal, Camden, (02) 4655 0713.
