Offered Papers Theme A: Efficient Production from Grassland

Description

Traditional perennial ryegrass-based pastures have significant limitations for efficient feeding of dairy cattle in dryland dairy regions of southern Australia. These include strong seasonality of growth, with 50 - 60% of total annual dry matter arriving in spring and little or no growth during summer. There is clear potential for improving total forage production and the seasonality of forage supply in these regions through the use of alternative pastures (Nie et al. 2004) and fodder crops. This series of papers applies a modelling approach to investigate the potential improvements in farm productivity and profitability resulting from their use.

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Alternative Feedbase Systems for Southern Australia Dairy Farms: 1. Predicted Pasture/Crop Consumption and Farm Financial Performance

Traditional perennial ryegrass-based pastures have significant limitations for efficient feeding of dairy cattle in dryland dairy regions of southern Australia. These include strong seasonality of growth, with 50 - 60% of total annual dry matter arriving in spring and little or no growth during summer. There is clear potential for improving total forage production and the seasonality of forage supply in these regions through the use of alternative pastures (Nie et al. 2004) and fodder crops. This series of papers applies a modelling approach to investigate the potential improvements in farm productivity and profitability resulting from their use.