A webinar on Tuesday September 22 will detail recent research into growing quality crops for forage and how using break crops in a continuous fodder growing system can benefit farmers.
Research and innovation coordinator with Murray Dairy, Yvette Williams, will outline findings from two research projects into forage agronomy and crop rotation during the Grassland Society of Southern Australia webinar.
The Break Crops and Forage Production: Practical Insights for Farmers meeting starts at 7pm on September 22.
Register in advance for this meeting at
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/_8AFNn4zQgakxmI1YVzV3g.
Ms Williams said the research aimed to develop information that helps farmers transitioning from a perennial pasture base to more annual and cereal crops to maintain a sustainable forage production system.
“Farmers in northern Victoria are looking at feeding cows differently and we’re trying to find ways to support them,” she said.
There are a number of reasons farmers change from perennials to annuals, including climate change, seasonal volatility, and changes to water availability in the region.
“Some dairy farmers are transitioning to more intensive, contained dairy systems, including keeping cows in sheds full time which means they feed them differently. The cows don’t have to graze so farmers can grow different types of crops to use for mixed rations.
“Changes are happening and we’ve got to support farmers as they change.”
The first project, which started in 2020, brought together research expertise and farmer networks across the Murray region to answer practical questions such as which crops give the best yield and quality, what management practices make the most impact on end result and how farmers can reduce risk when seasonal conditions turn.
The project was a collaboration between Murray Dairy, Agriculture Victoria, Birchip Cropping Group (BCG), Irrigated Cropping Council (ICC), The University of Melbourne, Riverine Plains and Southern Growers, funded by the Australian Government through the Murray–Darling Basin Economic Development Program.
Ms Williams will focus on winter cereal trials and outline what the results say about levers farmers have for impacting forge quality.
The second project is investigating the importance of break crops in continuous dairy fodder growing systems. Ms Williams said farmers moving to annual cropping usually chose crops good for dairy cow nutrition and producing high amounts of high-quality feed.
“The problem is it usually ends up being heavy on cereals, wheats, barley and maize with not much from other plant families included, such as legumes and brassicas. We want to make sure farms are going to be sustainable into the future and not be susceptible to a build-up of disease or pests and to understand the changes from nutrition and soil health points of view.”
Crop rotation trials are being conducted at two sites near Kerang, one under irrigation and one on a dryland system. “Most farmers in the region have irrigation but dryland blocks are an important asset on dairy farms for growing fodder,” Ms Williams said.
The webinar will focus on the results over the past two years from break crop treatments applied on the dryland site.
Ms Williams said break crops, usually using non-cereals such as legumes and canola, were an important option for farmers.
“The evidence from the grain industry is that you can’t continuously grow the same high-value cereal crops because you will end up with issues such as nutrient depletion, disease, pests and weeds.
“Adding a completely different crop and completely different plant family can benefit your overall grain-growing system.”
The research aims to understand if the benefits are the same in forage growing systems where crops are harvested earlier and not taken through to grain.
“So far, we have seen differences in soil nitrogen with the break crops, in line with what would be expected with legume-type break crops, while the yields are quite variable and maybe not as expected.”
The research will continue for a further two years.
The webinar is the first in a series of four planned over the next 12 months by the Grassland Society of Southern Australia.
People interested in joining the GSSA can visit https://www.grasslands.org.au. Students can become members for free. GSSA has successfully promoted the business of grass, science and farming since 1959 and has branches in Victoria, South Australia and southern NSW.