Prograze training builds on valuable drought lessons
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Tailor-designed pasture management and animal production training is set to build on vital lessons learned during the drought for Rural Lands Protection Boards (RLPBs) staff and directors across the State.
In a joint initiative of RLPBs and NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), one of the department's most successful extension courses, PROGRAZE, has been customised to suit the specific needs of RLPBs by building on their existing knowledge and experience.
The training was aimed at the improving the assessment of seasonal conditions which provide the basis for drought declarations - enabling RLPB staff and directors to play an even bigger role in the welfare of livestock.
It also involves grazing management strategies that will build on practices currently used by RLPBs and ensure that the grazing and biodiversity values of travelling stock reserves are maintained.
Eleven courses are being conducted in across the north coast, central and southern regions.
NSW DPI Prograze Coordinator, Alan Bell, said sessions are being delivered over a range of seasons.
"PROGRAZE examines tactical grazing management and how pasture species can be manipulated through grazing at different times of the year," Mr Bell said.
"It also examines the impact of pasture characteristics and supplementary feeding on livestock intake and helps managers to match pastures to livestock requirements as a means of meeting their production objectives."
RLPB Travelling Stock Reserves Manager, Michelle Smith, said people undertaking a PROGRAZE course gain the skills to predict the quantity of feed on offer, how long it is likely to last, and how good that feed is for livestock production.
"These are vital skills when it comes to assessing the welfare of livestock and pastoral conditions, particularly for RLPB staff involved in making recommendations for drought declarations," Ms Smith said.
Each workshop will be held in the field to build on the practical experience of participants in on-ground pasture assessment.
PROGRAZE was first delivered in 1994, with more than 5,000 producers having completed the course in NSW and 10,000 nationally. NSW DPI offers the eight session PROGRAZE course to landholders and other land managers at different times of the year.
Media contacts: Alan Bell, DPI State Prograze Coordinator Ph: 6763 1254 or Michelle Smith, Travelling Stock Reserves Manager PH 6391 3154.