Satellites, stocking rates and sustainability

2007

Research organisaton
Funding source

Trial details

Researcher(s) Greg Johnsson (Agvet Services Pty Ltd)
Year(s) 2007
Contributor Agriculture Kangaroo Island Incorporated
Trial location(s) Parndana, SA
Satellites, stocking rates and sustainability locations
Aims
  • To demonstrate how Pastures from Space technologies can be used to increase grazier’s skills in sustainably increasing stocking rates.
Key messages
  • The application of Pastures from Space technologies allowed wethers to be carried at a stocking rate 50% above the district average.
  • There were no significant differences in animal health or parasite burden between the two groups.
  • The per head wool production was reduced by approximately 5% in the PFS mob; however, the per hectare performance was 42% above the Control mob for CFW and 44% above the Control mob for wool income per hectare. This outstanding result demonstrates the ability of merino sheep to grow wool at close to maximum rates on 800 – 1000 kgs DM per hectare of good quality feed
  • Forward feed budgeting using the Feed Budget program was able to predict when it would be necessary to initiate supplementary feeding in the PFS wethers and when it would be necessary to remove sheep from the paddock altogether. This allowed forward planning to maintain adequate ground cover and hence preserve topsoil in the more heavily grazed paddock
  • The net benefit in the PFS wether group was $73.83 per hectare after allowing for the higher direct costs per hectare associated with the higher stocking rate and the extra supplementary feed required in the PFS wethers. Due to the extraordinarily high prices for supplementary feed in early 2008, the extra supplementary feed cost
  • $63.11 per hectare. This obviously had a large influence on the magnitude of the net benefit, with a benefit of $97.00 per hectare being achieved using long-term average supplementary feed prices
Lead research organisation N/A
Host research organisation N/A
Trial funding source NLP
Related program National Landcare Programme
Acknowledgments

Many thanks to the sponsors:

  • National Landcare Program through Agriculture Kangaroo Island,
  • J & J Symons, and 
  • Greg Johnsson Agvet Services Pty Ltd.

Other trial partners Not specified
Download the trial report to view additional trial information

Method

Crop type Pasture: Mixed species
Treatment type(s)
  • Farm operations: Economics
  • Grazing: Rate
  • Technology: Modelling
Trial type Demonstration
Trial design Unreplicated

Parndana 2007

Sow date Not specified
Harvest date Not specified
Plot size Not specified
Plot replication Not specified
Download the trial report to view additional method/treatment information
Trial source data and summary not available
Check the trial report PDF for trial results.
Observed trial site soil information
Trial site soil testing
Not specified
Soil conditions
Trial site Soil texture
Parndana, SA Not specified
Derived trial site soil information
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 Parndana SA
2007 477.3mm
2006 520.8mm
2005 534.6mm
2004 542.9mm
2003 558.0mm
2002 529.3mm
2001 532.0mm
2000 526.1mm
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.

Parndana SA

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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

2007 trial report



Trial last modified: 15-12-2021 09:41am AEST