Offered Papers Theme A: Efficient Production from Grassland
Description
Growth rates of the 'traditional' perennial ryegrass pasture frequently fail to meet the seasonal feed requirements of herds in non-irrigated dairy systems in southern Australia, leading to a dependence upon additional feed at these times of the year. Farmers commonly purchase this feed off-farm, which can be costly. Growing extra feed on-farm may be more cost effective but will require additional inputs such as N fertiliser and alternative pastures/crops. The gross return to dairy farms of growing extra feed at certain times of the year can be estimated by connecting biophysical models of pasture growth to farm systems models and financial analysis tools (e.g. Chapman et al. 2005). Farmers can then measure additional costs incurred in growing this feed against the margin available to help decide on cost-effective feeding strategies. This paper reports such an analysis for non-irrigated dairy farms in southwest Victoria using different calving policies.
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Alternative Feedbase Systems for Southern Australia Dairy Farms. 3. Economic Returns from Extra Dry Matter Consumption
Growth rates of the 'traditional' perennial ryegrass pasture frequently fail to meet the seasonal feed requirements of herds in non-irrigated dairy systems in southern Australia, leading to a dependence upon additional feed at these times of the year. Farmers commonly purchase this feed off-farm, which can be costly. Growing extra feed on-farm may be more cost effective but will require additional inputs such as N fertiliser and alternative pastures/crops. The gross return to dairy farms of growing extra feed at certain times of the year can be estimated by connecting biophysical models of pasture growth to farm systems models and financial analysis tools (e.g. Chapman et al. 2005). Farmers can then measure additional costs incurred in growing this feed against the margin available to help decide on cost-effective feeding strategies. This paper reports such an analysis for non-irrigated dairy farms in southwest Victoria using different calving policies.
