Grazing cereals demonstration, Gillams

2010
CC BY 4.0

Research organisaton
Funding sources

Trial details

Researcher(s) Richard Quinlan (Planfarm)
Year(s) 2010
Contributor West Midlands Group
Trial location(s) Mingenew, WA
Grazing cereals demonstration, Gillams locations
Aims

This Demonstration forms part of the Grain & Graze II project looking at the relative merits of grazing canola and cereal crops. This demonstration looks to assess whether the effects of grazing wheat with sheep during the growing season. Factors being assessed are Yield & quality, dry matter production and grazing value.

Key messages

This wheat crop provided significant grazing value, however the paddock was in late in the sowing program which reduced the ability to graze the crop early in the season. This may also have affected how well the crop recovered from grazing due to the delay in maturity of the crop.There was an 11% reduction in yield in this demonstration. Sheep grazed the trial past the Z31 stage which would have meant grain heads would have been vulnerable to the damage from grazing. Smaller yield reductions would have been possible if sheep were removed from the paddock a few days earlier.When the grazing value of the sheep was taken into account there was a $29.74 reduction in profitability from grazing the paddock.Grazing cereal crops allows farmers to alter their stocking rate quickly and easily as they progress through the season. This practise will mean in better seasons a much smaller proportion of paddocks will need to be left for stock and more paddocks can be taken through to harvest which will result in a significant increase in farm profitability. In poor seasons there will be less paddocks taken though to harvest will result in a reduction in grain income, higher sheep grazing losses and lower farm profitability. The overall profitability of grazing cereal crops will depend on the frequency of dry years and good years,Don Nairn finds that grazing cereal crops takes the stress out of running sheep as there is always an option for the farmer when feed runs short (ie he can simply graze another crop). Hopefully this trial gives farmers a better appreciation of where the dollars fall when crops are grazed.

Lead research organisation N/A
Host research organisation N/A
Trial funding source GRDC
Trial funding source Caring for our Country
Related program N/A
Acknowledgments

Thanks to Joelene Hodges (Pioneer Seeds) for the seed and information during the year.Thanks to Chris and Christine Gillam for allowing the trial to take place on their property as well as the many hours involved in recording sheep movements and yield and quality data.Funding for this project is provided by GRDC, in partnership with the Federal Government’s Caring for our Country program as part of Grain & Graze II.


Other trial partners Grain & Graze II
Download the trial report to view additional trial information

Method

Crop type Cereal (Grain): Wheat
Treatment type(s)
  • Grazing: Application Method
Trial type Experimental
Trial design Replicated

Mingenew 2010

Sow date Not specified
Harvest date Not specified
Plot size Not specified
Plot replication Not specified
Psuedoreplication Not specified
Download the trial report to view additional method/treatment information

Download results

Trial results Table 1

# Variety
Treatment 1
Net margin ($/ha) Gross margin ($/ha)
1 Bonnie Rock Ungrazed 683.58 845.96
2 Bonnie Rock Grazed 653.84 754.97

Gross margin $/ha


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Net margin $/ha


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Observed trial site soil information
Trial site soil testing
Not specified
Soil conditions
Trial site Soil texture
Mingenew, WA Not specified
Derived trial site soil information
Australian Soil Classification Source: ASRIS
Trial site Soil order
Mingenew, WA Sodosol
Soil Moisture Source: BOM/ANU
Average amount of water stored in the soil profile during the year, estimated by the OzWALD model-data fusion system.
Year Mingenew WA
2010 134.2mm
2009 142.1mm
2008 152.6mm
2007 104.7mm
2006 124.9mm
2005 144.0mm
2004 123.2mm
2003 138.1mm
2002 113.7mm
2001 108.6mm
2000 147.3mm
National soil grid Source: CSIRO/TERN
NOTE: National Soil Grid data is aggregated information for background information on the wider area
Actual soil values can vary significantly in a small area and the trial soil tests are the most relevant data where available

Soil properties

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Climate

Derived climate information

No observed climate data available for this trial.
Derived climate data is determined from trial site location and national weather sources.

Mingenew WA

NOTE: Exact trial site locality unknown - Climate data may not be accurate
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Some data on this site is sourced from the Bureau of Meteorology

SILO weather estimates sourced from https://www.longpaddock.qld.gov.au/silo/
Jeffrey, S.J., Carter, J.O., Moodie, K.B. and Beswick, A.R. (2001). Using spatial interpolation to construct a comprehensive archive of Australian climate data , Environmental Modelling and Software, Vol 16/4, pp 309-330. DOI: 10.1016/S1364-8152(01)00008-1.

Trial report and links

2010 trial report



Trial last modified: 27-06-2019 13:35pm AEST