EverCrop - Charles Sturt University•Lucerne plus sub clover in any combination produced more fixed...

EverCrop Examining the impact of perennial pastures on

profitability

Graeme Sandral, Richard Hayes, Guangdi Li NSW Department of Primary Industries and E H Graham Centre

Tony Swan and Mark Peoples CSIRO

Shawn McGrath Fred Morley Unit and E H Graham Centre

Jim Virgona

Graminus Consulting

Aims

• Grow more pasture

• Fix more Nitrogen

Sites

Sites Average Rainfall (mm)

April to Oct Rainfall (mm)

% April to October (mm)

Mirrool 471 288 61

Burrumbuttock 580 384 66

Eurongilly 535 329 62

Wagga Wagga 530 331 63

Lockhart 484 308 64

Treatments

Species and species

combination

Pasture description and sowing rate (kg/ha)

Sub clover Monoculture Sub clover only (4 kg/ha)

Lucerne Monoculture Lucerne only (3 kg/ha)

Lucerne Sub clover Mix Lucerne (3 kg/ha) and Sub clover (4 kg/ha) in the same row

Lucerne Sub clover 1:1 Lucerne (3 kg/ha) and Sub clover (4 kg/ha) in alternate rows

Lucerne Biserrula 1:1 Lucerne (3 kg/ha) and Biserrula (1kg/ha) in alternate rows

Lucerne annual Medic 1:1 Lucerne (3 kg/ha) and annual Medic (3 kg/ha) in alternate rows

Lucerne Sub clover 1:2 Lucerne (3 kg/ha) sown in one row and Sub clover (4 kg/ha) sown in two rows

Phalaris Lucerne Sub clover

Mix

Phalaris (1.5 kg/ha), Lucerne (1.5 kg/ha) and Sub clover (4 kg/ha) sown in every row

Phalaris Lucerne 1:1 Sub

clover

Phalaris (1.5 kg/ha) sown in one row, Lucerne (1.5 kg/ha) sown in the other row with

Sub clover (4 kg/ha) sown in all rows.

Phalaris Lucerne 1:2 Sub

clover

Phalaris (1.5 kg/ha) sown in one row, Lucerne (1.5 kg/ha) sown in the next two rows

with Sub clover (4 kg/ha) sown in all rows.

Phalaris Sub clover 1:1 Phalaris (3 kg/ha) and Sub clover (4 kg/ha) in alternate rows

Phalaris Sub clover Mix Phalaris (3 kg/ha) and Sub clover (4 kg/ha) in the same row

1 Lucerne : 2 sub clover

Sub clover only

1 Phalaris : 1 sub clover

Phalaris & sub clover mix

Wagga Wagga 4th Sept 2013

Mirrool 14th Nov 2013

Lockhart 11th March 2014

Burrumbuttock 10th Dec 2013

Details

• Sown: Autumn 2012 – Measurements

• Seedling counts (annuals + perennials year 1)

• Basal frequency (perennials)

• Dry matter and botanical composition (4 times a year)

• Seed bank of annual legume (summer)

• N-fix and OMD (potentially 4 times a year)

• Soil nitrogen (pre-cropping)

• Estimated N-fix

• Estimated livestock performance

The Nitrogen Story

Relationship between sub clover dry matter and

amount of atmospheric nitrogen fixed

For every 1000 kg/ha of

legume shoot dry matter

you gain approximately

20 kg/ha of fixed N.

(Unkovich et al 2010)

2 4 6 8 10 12 14

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Legume dry matter accumulated over 3 years (kg/ha)

Min

era

l N

in M

ay p

rior

to c

roppin

g

to 1

m (

kg/h

a)

N = 130 + 0.0148 x legume DM

R2 = 0.66

Relationship between legume dry matter and

amount of nitrogen available prior to cropping

For every 1000 kg/ha of

legume shoot dry matter

you gain approximately

15 kg/ha of mineral N.

N-fix estimation & valuation

• To estimate the value of the N contribution by the pastures (in N fixed kg/ha) we have assumed 15 kg N /ha for every 1000 kg/ha of legume.

• The estimated dollar value of the N was provided by assuming Urea cost was $550/t with an N concentration of 46%.

• The estimated value to crops assumes 15% of the N fixed by the pasture is utilised by the following crop.

Scenario 1 Cumulative Cumulative % Cumulative Estimated Value to

DM Legume DM Legume N-fix Value of N crop Ranking

Species & species combination (kg/ha) (kg/ha) (kg N/ha) $/ha $/ha

Sub clover mono 28595 26034 91.0 391 988 148 3

Lucerne mono 22839 18268 80.0 274 693 104 8

Lucerne + Sub clover mix 27993 26951 96.3 404 1,023 153 2

Lucerne + Sub clover 1:1 27109 25480 94.0 382 967 145 4

Lucerne + Biserrula 1:1 17376 15264 87.8 229 579 87 9

Lucerne + Medic 1:1 16314 13807 84.6 207 524 79 11

Lucerne + Sub clover 1:2 28762 27614 96.0 414 1,048 157 1

Phalaris + Lucerne + Sub 38611 18390 47.6 276 698 105 7

Phalaris + Lucerne 1:1 + Sub 35472 19061 53.7 286 723 109 5

Phalaris + Lucerne 1:2 + Sub 32736 18836 57.5 283 715 107 6

Phalaris + Sub clover 1:1 35385 14339 40.5 215 544 82 10

Phalaris + Sub clover mix 38045 8727 22.9 131 331 50 12

LSD 5792 4142

N-fix estimations Wagga Wagga assuming 15 N kg per

1000 kg/ha of legume

Scenario 2 Cumulative Cumulative % Cumulative Estimated Value to

DM (kg/ha) Legume DM Legume N-fix Value of N crop Ranking

Species & species combination (kg/ha) (kg N/ha) $/ha $/ha

Sub clover mono 28595 26034 91.0 781 1,976 296 1

Lucerne mono 22839 18268 80.0 373 944 142 10

Lucerne + Sub clover mix 27993 26951 96.3 689 1,743 261 3


Lucerne + Biserrula 1:1 17376 15264 87.8 374 946 142 9

Lucerne + Medic 1:1 16314 13807 84.6 332 840 126 11


Phalaris + Lucerne + Sub 38611 18390 47.6 475 1,202 180 7

Phalaris + Lucerne 1:1 + Sub 35472 19061 53.7 477 1,207 181 6

Phalaris + Lucerne 1:2 + Sub 32736 18836 57.5 489 1,237 186 5

Phalaris + Sub clover 1:1 35385 14339 40.5 421 1,065 160 8

Phalaris + Sub clover mix 38045 8727 22.9 261 660 99 12

LSD 5792 4142

N-fix estimations Wagga Wagga measured

30 N kg per 1000 kg/ha of sub clover and

20.4 N kg per 1000 kg/ha of Lucerne

Scenario 1 Scenario 2

Estimated Value to Estimated

Value of N crop Ranking Value of N crop Ranking

Species & species combination $/ha $/ha $/ha $/ha

Sub clover mono 988 148 3 1,976 296 1

Lucerne mono 693 104 8 944 142 10

Lucerne + Sub clover mix 1023 153 2 1,743 261 3

Lucerne + Sub clover 1:1 967 145 4 1,617 243 4

Lucerne + Biserrula 1:1 579 87 9 946 142 9

Lucerne + Medic 1:1 524 79 11 840 126 11

Lucerne + Sub clover 1:2 1048 157 1 1,819 273 2

Phalaris + Lucerne + Sub 698 105 7 1,202 180 7

Phalaris + Lucerne 1:1 + Sub 723 109 5 1,207 181 6

Phalaris + Lucerne 1:2 + Sub 715 107 6 1,237 186 5

Phalaris + Sub clover 1:1 544 82 10 1,065 160 8

Phalaris + Sub clover mix 331 50 12 660 99 12

N-fix estimations Wagga Wagga methods compared

Nitrogen fixation (N-fix)

Wagga Wagga results • Adding phalaris to the mix increased dry matter yield but

decreased N-fixation.

• Lucerne plus sub clover in any combination produced more fixed N than lucerne plus medic or lucerne plus biserrula.

• The sub clover monoculture performed as well as sub clover plus lucerne combinations as determined by N-fix

The Livestock Story

Livestock modelling details

• An estimate of the value/ranking of each of the treatments on livestock production was calculated using GrazFeed®. Dry matter available for grazing was calculated by assuming an efficiency of utilisation of 40% above a minimum amount of 1800 kg/ha of available pasture.

• The daily intake rate and growth rates of 30 kg merino wether lambs, were calculated for each of the treatments based on the legume composition achieved and assuming digestibility of 80 % and 45% for green and dead pasture respectively. Total weight gain was then calculated based on the dry matter available for grazing, the daily intake rates and the daily growth rates predicted. Each of the treatments was then ranked according to estimated weight gain (per ha).

Livestock estimations Model 1

Model 1 Cumulative % DM grazed Est intake Est live

DM Legume kg/ha g/hd/day wt gain Ranking

Species & species combination (kg/ha) 1800 Kg/ha

Sub clover mono 7149 91.0 2140 1.64 405 7

Lucerne mono 5710 80.0 1564 1.61 285 10

Lucerne + Sub clover mix 6998 96.3 2079 1.65 401 8

Lucerne + Sub clover 1:1 6777 94.0 1991 1.64 381 9

Lucerne + Biserrula 1:1 4344 87.8 1018 1.63 191 11

Lucerne + Medic 1:1 4079 84.6 911 1.62 169 12

Lucerne + Sub clover 1:2 7191 96.0 2156 1.65 415 6

Phalaris + Lucerne + Sub 9653 47.6 3141 1.54 509 1

Phalaris + Lucerne 1:1 + Sub 8868 53.7 2827 1.55 469 2

Phalaris + Lucerne 1:2 + Sub 8184 57.5 2554 1.56 429 5

Phalaris + Sub clover 1:1 8846 40.5 2819 1.52 445 4

Phalaris + Sub clover mix 9511 22.9 3085 1.48 455 3

LSD 1448

Livestock modelling details

• An estimate of the value/ranking of each of the treatments on livestock production was calculated using GrazFeed®. Dry matter available for grazing was calculated by assuming an efficiency of utilisation of 40% above a minimum amount of 1800 kg/ha of available pasture.

• Model run using 4 month old wether XB lamb, 35 kg LW. Legume pastures were assumed to have a OMD of 75% and phalaris based pastures were assumed at 70% OMD.

• The dry matter available for grazing was divided by the predicted dry matter intake and then multiplied by the predicted liveweight gains to produce an estimate (“index”) of lamb production.

Livestock estimations Model 2

Model 2 Est live KG of

DM Grazed Digestability Protein Est intake wt gain lamb Ranking

Species & species combination (kg/ha) % DM % DM kg/hd g/hd/day /ha/yr

Sub clover mono 10718 75 28.1 1.80 382 758 7

Lucerne mono 8416 75 27.3 1.77 360 571 10

Lucerne + Sub clover mix 10477 75 28.5 1.82 391 750 8

Lucerne + Sub clover 1:1 10124 75 28.3 1.81 388 723 9

Lucerne + Biserrula 1:1 6230 75 27.9 1.78 367 428 11

Lucerne + Medic 1:1 5806 75 27.7 1.77 360 394 12

Lucerne + Sub clover 1:2 10785 75 28.5 1.82 392 774 5

Phalaris + Lucerne + Sub 14724 70 21.3 1.68 305 891 1

Phalaris + Lucerne 1:1 + Sub 13469 70 21.6 1.69 313 832 2

Phalaris + Lucerne 1:2 + Sub 12374 70 21.9 1.70 317 769 6

Phalaris + Sub clover 1:1 13434 70 20.8 1.66 292 788 4

Phalaris + Sub clover mix 14498 70 19.7 1.62 267 796 3

Model 2 Model 2

KG of Est intake Est live

DM Grazed Est intake lamb Ranking g/hd/day wt gain Ranking

Species & species combination (kg/ha) kg/hd /ha/yr kg/ha

Sub clover mono 10718 1.80 758 7 1.64 405 7

Lucerne mono 8416 1.77 571 10 1.61 285 10

Lucerne + Sub clover mix 10477 1.82 750 8 1.65 401 8

Lucerne + Sub clover 1:1 10124 1.81 723 9 1.64 381 9

Lucerne + Biserrula 1:1 6230 1.78 428 11 1.63 191 11

Lucerne + Medic 1:1 5806 1.77 394 12 1.62 169 12

Lucerne + Sub clover 1:2 10785 1.82 774 5 1.65 415 6

Phalaris + Lucerne + Sub 14724 1.68 891 1 1.54 509 1

Phalaris + Lucerne 1:1 + Sub 13469 1.69 832 2 1.55 469 2

Phalaris + Lucerne 1:2 + Sub 12374 1.70 769 6 1.56 429 5

Phalaris + Sub clover 1:1 13434 1.66 788 4 1.52 445 4

Phalaris + Sub clover mix 14498 1.62 796 3 1.48 455 3

Livestock estimations Methods compared

Livestock performance

Wagga Wagga results • Adding phalaris to the pasture mix increased dry matter

and is likely to increase animal performance even when a lower OMD is assigned to phalaris in the modeling process.

• Lucerne plus biserrula and lucerne plus annual medic under performed.

• The lucerne monoculture under performed and required the addition of sub clover to boost production.

Livestock Livestock N-fix N-fix Overall

Model 1 Model 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2 mean

Species & species combination ranking ranking ranking ranking rank

Sub clover mono 7 7 1 3 5

Lucerne mono 10 10 10 8 10

Lucerne + Sub clover mix 8 8 3 2 5

Lucerne + Sub clover 1:1 9 9 4 4 7

Lucerne + Biserrula 1:1 11 11 9 9 10

Lucerne + Medic 1:1 12 12 11 11 12


Phalaris + Lucerne + Sub mix 1 1 7 7 4

Phalaris + Lucerne 1:1 + Sub 2 2 6 5 4


Phalaris + Sub clover 1:1 4 4 8 10 7

Phalaris + Sub clover mix 3 3 12 12 8

Overall performance Wagga Wagga

Wagga Wagga results • Best performing phalaris treatments had two legumes

species included (lucerne and sub clover either mixed or 1:1 sowing arrangement).

• The best performing pasture in the absence of phalaris was lucerne plus sub clover 1:2 sowing arrangement.

Overall performance

Overall performance Mirrool

Livestock Livestock N-fix N-fix Overall

Model 1 Model 2 Scenario 1 Scenario 2 mean

Species & species combination ranking ranking ranking ranking rank

Sub clover mono 7 6 1 6 5

Lucerne mono 9 9 8 3 7

Lucerne + Sub clover mix 8 8 3 2 5


Lucerne + Biserrula 1:1 6 7 2 1 4

Lucerne + Medic 1:1 12 12 7 7 10


Phalaris + Lucerne + Sub mix 3 2 9 9 6



Phalaris + Sub clover 1:1 5 5 11 11 8

Phalaris + Sub clover mix 1 3 12 12 7

Results in a wider context

Livestock Farm Monitor Project in Victoria – result shown are for Northern Victoria

• Running since 1971 • Compares average farm result to top 20% of farms as determined by on-

farm profitability

• The result highlight some important points.

Average Top 20% Difference

Gross income ($/ha) 433 607 174

Variable costs ($/ha) 151 146 -5

Overhead costs ($/ha) 104 112 8

EBIT ($/ha) 102 312 210

Net farm income ($/ha) 51 265 214

Return on assets (%) 2.0% 6.0% 0.04

Return on equity (%) 0.90% 6.80% 0.059

Northern Victoria whole farm financial summary

Average Top 20% Difference

Avg. Rainfall (mm) 659 657 -2

Stocking rate (DSE/ha) 9.8 11.4 1.6

DSE/ha/100 mm 1.5 1.6 0.1

July stocking rate (DSE/ha) 9.3 8.9 -0.4

Kg P/ha 6 9 3

Kg P/ha/100 mm 0.9 1.2 0.3

Pasture costs 32 52 20

Sup feeding kg/DSE (grain) 12.3 14.2 1.9

Northern Victoria livestock and pasture summary

Take home messages • Look at ways to grow more pasture and maintain adequate legume

content (species selection and sowing arrangement). This allows you to have a higher stocking rate (DSE/ha).

• Target soil Colwell P (phosphorus) at 30 to 35 mg/kg or Olsen P at 15 to 17 mg/kg for maximum pasture growth.

• Ensure your utilization of pasture is high (e.g. 40% plus) and increased stocking rate will help achieve this.

• Match livestock demand as best as possible with pasture supply by manipulating lambing/caving. This will help minimize additional feeding costs.

Thank you

Livestock Farm Monitor Project in Victoria – result shown are for Northern Victoria • Running since 1971 • Compares average farm result to top 20% as determined by profitability

http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/farm-monitor-project

Findings include – the most profitable farms had: • More income per ha = higher profits

• More red meat and/or wool per ha but at a lower cost per ha • Grow more pasture • Have higher utilisation efficiencies and achieve this with higher stocking rates • Match livestock demands with feed supply (lambing / calving timing)

Average Top 20%

Sheep (head) 5,473 7,485

Cattle (head) 727 1,333

Labour efficiency (ha/person) 601 724 Labour efficiency (DSE/person) 5,782 8,146

Effective hectares 1,103 1,415

Northern Victorian livestock farm in 2013/14.

Average Top 20%

Wool 45% 11%

Lamb 23% 41%

Beef 28% 46%

Hay / cropping 4% 2%

Northern Victoria enterprise mix

EverCrop - Charles Sturt University•Lucerne plus sub clover in any combination produced more fixed...

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