The paired-paddock model as an agent for change on grazing properties across south-east Australia

2000 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 547 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Trompf ◽  
P. W. G. Sale
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Management Skills ◽  
Pasture Management ◽  
South Wales ◽  
P Application ◽  
Fertiliser Use ◽  
Gross Margins

A detailed study was undertaken on the pasture management practices of 146 producers across south-east Australia who participated in the Grassland’s Productivity Program (GPP) for 3 years between 1993 and 1997. The GPP was an extension program to assist wool producers to develop skills and gain confidence in their ability to manage more productive pastures on their farms. The program consisted of 50 farmer groups (200 farmers participating) spread across the 4 states of South Australia, southern New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Each farmer established paired-paddocks on their own property to compare productive pastures with existing pastures. Productive pastures involve increased rates of fertiliser on pastures containing productive species, with stocking rate adjusted to consume available pasture. After 3 years of involvement in the GPP, there was a whole-farm increase in P fertiliser use by 6.3 kg P/ha, stocking rates by 2.6 dse/ha and annual pasture resowing by 0.9% of the farm, when averaged across the 146 participants. The participants were applying the productive pasture technology to almost a third of their properties in 1997 and the intention was to increase this to over half of their properties by 2000. The participants also changed farm management practices as the program effectively developed management skills. There were increases in the ability to assess pasture quality and quantity, livestock by weighing or physical assessment, and the ability to calculate per hectare production and per hectare gross margins. A high proportion of GPP participants were soil testing (0.92) and spring lambing (0.72) at the completion of the program. The results indicated that the adoption of productive pastures was generally consistent across south-east Australia for pastoral producers who participated in this program, although south-west Victorian and south-east South Australian GPP participants did increase whole-farm P application by more than GPP participants from outside that region. The widespread change in farming practice was attributed to the additive and interactive effect of the paired-paddock comparison, the guidance provided by the facilitator, the group interaction and the skills training. Each of these components of the paired-paddock model combined to form an effective agent for change to increase pasture productivity on these grazing properties.

Survey of farm management practices of the northern wheat belt of New South Wales

1988 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 499 ◽  
Author(s):  
RJ Martin ◽  
MG McMillan ◽  
JB Cook
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Sowing Date ◽  
Grain Protein Content ◽  
Wheat Grain ◽  
Gross Margin ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Fertiliser Use

A survey of management practices on wheat farms in northern New South Wales was carried out on 50 farms between 1983 and 1985 and was supplemented by a questionnaire mailed to 750 growers in 1985. Information was collected on crop rotation, tillage practice, fertiliser use and weed control practices. Data were collected from 1 paddock on each farm and included: wheat grain yield and quality, available soil water and nutrients at sowing, wild oat density, and incidence of soil-borne diseases. The 3-year average grain yield in survey paddocks was 2.2 t/ha. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify factors affecting grain yield and protein in 1985. Of the variation in wheat grain yield, 74% was explained by variation in available soil water at sowing, available soil nitrate at sowing, sowing date and wild oat density. Grain protein content declined with increasing available soil water and phosphate at sowing and with earlier sowing, but increased with available nitrate at sowing. Agronomic practices aimed at maximising wheat grain yield, in the presence of a deficiency ofavailable soil nitrate, are likely to result in a reduction of grain protein content. Likewise, responses to application of nitrogenous fertiliser are likely to be inversely related to available soil water at sowing. The mean gross margin for 1984 and 1985, based on $100/t of wheat grain, was $128. The mean gross margin for the least profitable 20% of paddocks was $37, and $253 for the top 20%. New varieties of wheat and herbicides were readily adopted by farmers. On the other hand, adoption of nitrogenous fertiliser use was slow, considering the widespread and long-standing deficiencies of nitrogen in cropping soils of the region. Crop rotation and tillage practices have changed only marginally since the late 1940s. The results of this survey indicate that the usefulness of soil testing for predicting fertiliser requirements could be improved by taking into account levels of available soil water, weed competition and sowing date and by using multiple regression analysis.

Turning knowledge into practical benefit: a producer case-study increasing the return on investment in science

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 744 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. H. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Current Practice ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Subterranean Clover ◽  
Management Scenarios ◽  
Pasture Management ◽  
Systems Model ◽  
Spreadsheet Model ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Grazing Systems

The present paper addresses turning knowledge into practical benefit; acknowledging a critical emphasis of the career of John L. Black. Average efficiency of pasture use by beef enterprises in southern Australia is historically ~35%. Two projects established in 2002 showed that the efficiency of pasture use could approach 90% and the conservative rates observed were due to a low adoption of existing knowledge and the perceived risks from intensification. A risk-control management system, ‘More Beef from Pastures’, was developed from these projects, to identify management practices that had the largest impacts on productivity and profitability, the variables that needed to be measured and the upper and lower limits for those measurements to optimise enterprise performance. The principles from that system were incorporated into a productivity and economic spreadsheet model for a beef enterprise near Blayney on the Central Tablelands of New South Wales. The present paper reports the effects on productivity and profitability of several management scenarios, including current practice with 180 breeding cows and progeny sold in the second year after birth; buying and selling steers; making silage; or combinations of steers and silage, to maintain pasture availability between 1200 and 2600 kg DM/ha. Simulations were conducted for rainfall and growth of a phalaris–subterranean clover pasture predicted for the Blayney climate by the Sustainable Grazing Systems model for the Years 2000–2011. The simulations covered eight consecutive years from 2002 to 2009, when mean pasture growth was only 70% of the average. Results from the simulations for current practice were similar to those observed for the enterprise. The simulations showed the importance on profitability of utilising excess pasture in years of high pasture growth. The highest average profitability across years resulted from the scenario involving purchase and sale of steers, but year-to-year fluctuations were large and significant capital was required. The silage and steer-silage scenarios were intermediate in profitability, and depended on initial silage reserves and numbers of breeding cows. The exercise demonstrated that a simple spreadsheet model based on principles of animal nutrition, pasture management and economics was needed to fully evaluate alternative management strategies for practical benefit on existing beef enterprises.

scholarly journals Working with dairy farmers to improve their pasture management skills through better understanding the principles of ryegrass growth

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Clarke ◽  
Danny Donaghy ◽  
Marie Casey
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Grazing Management ◽  
Management Technique ◽  
Management Skills ◽  
Pasture Management ◽  
Pasture Production ◽  
Rotation Length ◽  
Supplement Use ◽  
Ryegrass Growth

The relationships between leaf regrowth stage, pre- and post-grazing pasture covers, and grazing rotation length are complex. Despite the existence of well-documented grazing guidelines for managing these relationships, implementation on-farm is highly variable indicating that skill levels are often inadequate and/or farmers are not convinced of the benefits. Twenty dairy farm managers and assistant managers from the Hopkins Farming Group in the lower North Island engaged in structured observation and discussion with experts to test the potential of the 3-leaf grazing technique for increasing pasture production and reducing imported supplement use from mid-spring to mid-autumn. The farmer members of the study group initially had little knowledge of the principles of ryegrass growth at the plant level, and how their management influences pasture production and persistence. Grazing management skills developed by group members during the process included: identification of pasture species within the sward, including perennial ryegrass; identification of leaf morphology, tillers, tiller buds and daughter tillers; pasture health checks to understand when new tillers appeared and their grazing and nutrient needs; and the importance of grazing residuals for future pasture quality. Pasture productivity, as measured by the amount of silage conserved, increased by approximately 0.45 t DM/ha during the 6 months of study through the application of this grazing management technique. Managing grazing using the 3-leaf technique requires a greater depth of knowledge than previous, simple, rotation length-based systems. Many farmers are concerned about the lack of persistence of new ryegrass cultivars, whereas it may be their management practices that have a greater influence.

In A Fix: Fixed-Term Parliaments in the Australian States

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-298
Author(s):  
Peter Congdon
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Constitutional Amendments ◽  
South Wales

Constitutional systems of Westminster heritage are increasingly moving towards fixed-term parliaments to, amongst other things, prevent the Premier or Prime Minister opportunistically calling a ‘snap election’. Amongst the Australian states, qualified fixed-term parliaments currently exist in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria. Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia have also deliberated over whether to establish similar fixed-term parliaments. However, manner and form provisions in those states' constitutions entrench the Parliament's duration, Governor's Office and dissolution power. In Western Australia and Queensland, unlike Tasmania, such provisions are doubly entrenched. This article considers whether these entrenching provisions present legal obstacles to constitutional amendments establishing fixed-term parliaments in those two states. This involves examining whether laws fixing parliamentary terms fall within section 6 of the Australia Acts 1986 (Cth) & (UK). The article concludes by examining recent amendments to the Electoral Act 1907 (WA) designed to enable fixed election dates in Western Australia without requiring a successful referendum.

scholarly journals Surgical Crisis Management Skills Training and Assessment

2006 ◽  
Vol 244 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krishna Moorthy ◽  
Yaron Munz ◽  
Damien Forrest ◽  
Vikas Pandey ◽  
Shabnam Undre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crisis Management ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Management Skills

The Relation Between the Food of the Australian Barracouta, Thyrsites atun (Euphrasen), and Recent Fluctuations in the Fisheries

1957 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Blackburn
Keyword(s):  
Population Distribution ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Downward Trend ◽  
Small Fish ◽  
Fish Diet ◽  
Upward Trend ◽  
Independent Evidence ◽  
South Wales

The diet of surface-swimming Australian barracouta was studied from over 10,000 stomachs. The principal prey organisms in Bass Strait are the euphausiid Nyctiphanes australis Sars, the anchovy Engraulis australis (White), and young barracouta, in that order; and in eastern Tasmania Nyctiphanes, Engraulis, and the sprat Clupea bassensis McCulloch, in that order. The pilchard Sardinops neopilchardus (Steindachner) is not an important item of the diet in these regions although it is so in New South Wales, South Australia, and Western Australia. The jack mackerel Trachurus declivis Jenyns is a significant item in eastern Tasmania and New South Wales but not in Bass Strait. These and other features of the fish diet of the barracouta reflect actual availability of the various small fish species in the waters. Barracouta eat Nyctiphanes by herding them into dense masses (or finding them already concentrated) and swallowing them. The movements of the anchovy make it unavailable to Bass Strait and eastern Tasmanian barracouta for much of the summer and autumn period, when the barracouta are thus dependent upon Nyctiphanes for the bulk of their food. A close positive relationship between the availability of barracouta and Nyctiphanes might therefore be expected at those seasons. There is evidence of such a relationship between mean availability (catch per boat-month) of barracouta and mean percentage of barracouta stomachs containing Nyctiphanes, at those seasons, from year to year. For southern Victorian coastal waters both show a downward trend from 1948-49 to 1950-51 and then an upward trend to 1953-54; for eastern Tasmania both show a downward trend (for autumn only) from 1949-50 through 1952-53. The records of catch per boat-month furnish independent evidence that the main variations in this index were effects of availability (population distribution or behaviour) rather than abundance (population size), at least for southern Victoria. It is therefore considered that when scarcity of barracouta occurs in summer and autumn in the coastal fishing areas it may be due to scarcity of Nyctiphanes, forcing the fish to go offshore for this food which is known to be available there. This would take the fish out of range of the fishermen.

Mycosphaerella linicola. [Distribution map].

1996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
South Dakota ◽  
Linum Usitatissimum ◽  
New South ◽  
Russian Far East ◽  
Far East ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Rio Grande Do Sul ◽  
Distribution Map ◽  
South Wales ◽  
New Distribution

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Mycosphaerella linicola Naumov. Hosts: Flax (Linum usitatissimum) and other (Linum) spp. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Argentina, Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, Bulgaria, Canada, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Russia (European), Russian Far East, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, UK, Scotland, USA, Arizona, California, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wisconsin, Ukraine, Uruguay, Yugoslavia (former).

Monilochaetes infuscans. [Distribution map].

1990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
North America ◽  
South America ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Ipomoea Batatas ◽  
New South ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Distribution Map ◽  
South Wales ◽  
New Distribution

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Monilochaetes infuscans Halsted ex Harter. Hosts: Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas). Information is given on the geographical distribution in Africa, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Asia, China, Israel, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Australasia & Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Hawaii, New Zealand, US Trust Terr., Europe, Portugal, Azores, North America, USA, South America, Argentina, Brazil.

Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi. [Distribution map].

1993 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New York ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Pisum Sativum ◽  
Pseudomonas Syringae ◽  
New South ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Distribution Map ◽  
South Wales ◽  
New Distribution

Abstract A new distribution map is provided for Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi (Sackett) Young, Dye & Wilkie. Hosts: Pea (Pisum sativum) and other Apiaceae. Information is given on the geographical distribution in Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, South Africa, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Asia, India, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Lebanon, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Armenia, Kirghizistan, Australasia & Oceania, Australia, New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, New Zealand, Europe, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Voronezh, Moldavia, Switzerland, UK, England, Yugoslavia, North America, Bermuda, Canada, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Mexico, USA, New York, South America, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay.

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