Multispecies trial sites on nine dairy farms around Victoria are showing early promise that they could help to ease feed issues in tough times.
The project — Scaling out of successful multispecies pasture management in rain-fed dairy systems of southern Australia to increase drought resilience at landscape and catchment levels — has delivered preliminary results and the outlook looks hopeful.
The program was established to test if the same amount of feed, or even more, could be provided by using multispecies pastures compared to rye-grass dominant pastures.
The 10 comparison sites are at Barongarook West and Crossley in south-west Victoria; Nilma North, Lilico, Newmerella, Goon Nure and Waratah Bay in Gippsland; and Tallandoon, Corryong and Bruarong in north-east Victoria.
The project is using paired paddocks with similar soils and management conditions to compare multispecies pastures from multi-functional groups (plant forms) — grasses, legumes and herbs — to conventional rye-grass.
Each multispecies pasture paddock has at least one species from each of the three plant forms and most have a perennial rye-grass, a chicory, different types of clovers and plantain.
Each location has different mixes related to where they farm, their farming philosophy and their soil types.
The project started in April 2022 and will finish in June 2024. It is jointly funded through the Federal Government’s Future Drought Fund and Dairy Australia.
This project builds on an earlier Dairy Australia research engagement project with the University of Melbourne.
Preliminary results from Barongarook West based on data from April to October 2023 were presented by University of Melbourne Associate Professor of soil science Helen Suter, Associate Professor in pasture ecology Brendan Cullen, and other members of the University of Melbourne team along with Dairy Australia national soils and irrigation lead Cath Lescun, at a WestVic Dairy field day at Simon and Linda Scott’s farm at Barongarook West in south-west Victoria on November 22.
Prof Suter said the research was looking at different drought-resilient methodologies or land management practices in agricultural systems.
“We’re looking at strategies that could be upscaled to catchment scale to make systems more drought resilient,” she said.
While the current project doesn’t yet have a full year of results at all sites, the field sites have been using multispecies pastures for multiple years. Three of the participating farms were in the earlier project.
Prof Suter said while results were only preliminary, some positive early trends were emerging.
“In terms of pasture production, it seems they are performing equally well,” she said.
“We haven’t had the opportunity yet to push the multispecies because the climate over the past two years has been a bit unusual.
“However, we’ve noticed there are some differences in the pasture quality metrics with better pasture quality from the multispecies at some times of the year.
“This could be at times when the rye-grass isn’t traditionally able to provide that quality.
“The preliminary data shows there is a possibility that on the shoulders of seasons you can get a benefit from multispecies.”
However, Prof Suter said none of the sites had been able to provide a good indication of the possibility of increased production over the past summer.
“There are some indications that it could, but it will be interesting to see what happens after this summer which is going to be a tough one.
“The benefits of summer feed were probably undervalued due to the climate in 2022-23 summer.”
Some of the measures will be assessed over the long-term, with a follow-up project planned to continue research after June 2024.
“We haven’t noticed any differences in soil carbon and nitrogen levels at this stage, but that’s not unexpected, because they take a long time to change,” Prof Suter said.
“We’ve also looked at soil health but haven’t picked up any consistent trends.”
Prof Suter said there had been no negative implications from using multispecies pastures in terms of production and quality and there were potential quality benefits.
The project has emerged from a growing farmer focus on soils, improving soil health, regenerative agriculture, pasture persistence and reducing nitrogen inputs.
Many farmers asking about using multispecies crops as a solution to feed problems in dry years, to improve animal production and health, and to address any potential climate-related government regulations.
Some of the challenges being addressed include maintaining species diversity, and the need to balance cost and grazing management.
Prof Suter said the research was creating real-farm scenarios.
“It’s a project running on commercial farms and providing opportunities for farmers to come along and see and ask a lot of questions,” she said.
“There is a lot of uncertainty about multispecies pastures. There are a lot of reported benefits, but not much science to support those claims. This project is about trying to find that science.”