scholarly journals Northern Australia Climate Program: supporting adaptation in rangeland grazing systems through more targeted climate forecasts, improved drought information and an innovative extension program

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Cobon ◽  
Chelsea Jarvis ◽  
Kate Reardon-Smith ◽  
Laura Guillory ◽  
Christa Pudmenzky ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Australia ◽  
Climate Forecasts ◽  
Grazing Systems ◽  
Extension Program

scholarly journals Establishment of leucaena in Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Buck ◽  
Joe Rolfe ◽  
Craig Lemin ◽  
Bernie English
Keyword(s):  
Leucaena Leucocephala ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Northern Australia ◽  
High Productivity ◽  
Keynote Paper ◽  
Significant Research ◽  
Grazing Systems ◽  
Perennial Legume

Keynote paper presented at the International Leucaena Conference, 1‒3 November 2018, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala ssp. glabrata) is a highly productive tropical perennial legume used primarily in extensive beef grazing systems across northern Australia. Its productivity provides substantial benefits to grazing businesses and economically significant areas of leucaena have been established in Queensland, with much smaller areas in both the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Specific environmental conditions (particularly soil type) and management practices are required to obtain reliable establishment and high productivity from leucaena-grass grazing systems. Significant research, development and extension have been undertaken in northern Australia, particularly in central Queensland, resulting in management packages which ensure establishment reliability and long-term productivity. However expansion into new areas can be constrained by regionally specific establishment issues. Adaptation of known establishment and management practices together with research and development are required for leucaena-grass grazing systems in new regions.

scholarly journals Valuing Seasonal Climate Forecasts in the Northern Australia Beef Industry

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. Cobon ◽  
R. Darbyshire ◽  
J. Crean ◽  
S. Kodur ◽  
M. Simpson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Value ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Environmental Drivers ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Northern Australia ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Seasonal Climate ◽  
Climate Forecasts ◽  
Stocking Rates ◽  
Seasonal Climate Forecasts

AbstractSeasonal climate forecasts (SCFs) provide opportunities for pastoralists to align production decisions to climatic conditions, as SCFs offer economic value by increasing certainty about future climatic states at decision-making time. Insufficient evidence about the economic value of SCFs was identified as a major factor limiting adoption of SCFs in Australia and abroad. This study examines the value of SCFs to beef production system management in northern Australia by adopting a theoretical probabilistic climate forecast system. Stocking rate decisions in October, before the onset of the wet season, were identified by industry as a key climate sensitive decision. The analysis considered SCF value across economic drivers (steer price in October) and environmental drivers (October pasture availability). A range in forecast value was found ($0–$14 per head) dependent on pasture availability, beef price, and SCF skill. Skillful forecasts of future climate conditions offered little value with medium or high pasture availability, as in these circumstances pastures were rarely overutilized. In contrast, low pasture availability provided conditions for alternative optimal stocking rates and for SCFs to be valuable. Optimal stocking rates under low pasture availability varied the most with climate state (i.e., wet or dry), indicating that producers have more to gain from a skillful SCF at these times. Although the level of pasture availability in October was the major determinant of stocking rate decisions, beef price settings were also found to be important. This analysis provides insights into the potential value of SCFs to extensive beef enterprises and can be used by pastoralists to evaluate the cost benefit of using a SCF in annual management.

Forage-Based Heifer Development Program for North Florida

EDIS ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose C.B. Dubeux ◽  
Nicolas DiLorenzo ◽  
Kalyn Waters ◽  
Jane C. Griffin
Keyword(s):  
Development Program ◽  
Warm Season ◽  
Beef Cows ◽  
Good News ◽  
Cool Season ◽  
Beef Industry ◽  
Performance Targets ◽  
Grazing Systems ◽  
Heifer Development ◽  
Reducing Costs

Florida has 915,000 beef cows and 125,000 replacement heifers (USDA, 2016). Developing these heifers so that they can become productive females in the cow herd is a tremendous investment in a cow/calf operation, an investment that takes several years to make a return. The good news is that there are options to develop heifers on forage-based programs with the possibility of reducing costs while simultaneously meeting performance targets required by the beef industry. Mild winters in Florida allows utilization of cool-season forages that can significantly enhance the performance of grazing heifers. During the warm-season, integration of forage legumes into grazing systems will provide additional nutrients to meet the performance required to develop a replacement heifer to become pregnant and enter the mature cow herd. In this document, we will propose a model for replacement heifer development, based on forage research performed in trials at the NFREC Marianna.   

Distribution, seasonal movements and habitat utilisation of an endangered shark, Glyphis glyphis, from northern Australia

2017 ◽  
Vol 573 ◽  
pp. 203-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
BJ Lyon ◽  
RG Dwyer ◽  
RD Pillans ◽  
HA Campbell ◽  
CE Franklin
Keyword(s):  
Northern Australia ◽  
Seasonal Movements

Management of grazing systems

1989 ◽  
pp. 117-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Hodgson
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Management Control ◽  
Grazing Management ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Pastoral Systems ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Alternative Means ◽  
Grazing Systems ◽  
Stocking Rates

Recent assessments of the relative importance of stocking rate. stocking policy and grazing management on the output from pastoral systems are used as a starting point to argue the need for objective pasture assessments to aid control of livestock enterprises to meet production targets. Variations in stocking rates, stocking policy and other management practices all provide alternative means of control of pasture conditions which are the major determinants of pasture and animal performance. Understanding of the influence of pasture conditions on systems performance should provide a better basis for management control and for Communication between farmers, extension officers and researchers. Keywords: Stocking rate, pasture condition, pasture cover

Automatic Milking Systems: an option to address the labour shortage on New Zealand dairy farms?

2002 ◽  
pp. 39-43
Author(s):  
J.G. Jago ◽  
M.W. Woolford
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Dairy Industry ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Labour Shortage ◽  
Commercial Farms ◽  
Grazing Systems ◽  
Automatic Milking Systems

There is a growing shortage of labour within the dairy industry. To address this the industry needs to attract more people and/or reduce the labour requirements on dairy farms. Current milk harvesting techniques contribute to both the labour requirements and the current labour shortage within the industry as the process is labour-intensive and necessitates long and unsociable working hours. Automated milking systems (AMS) have been in operation, albeit on a small scale, on commercial farms in Europe for a decade and may have the potential to address labour issues within the New Zealand dairy industry. A research programme has been established (The Greenfield Project) which aims to determine the feasibility of automated milking under New Zealand dairying conditions. A Fullwoods MERLIN AMS has been installed on a protoype farmlet and is successfully milking a small herd of 41 cows. Progress from the prototype Greenfields system offers considerable potential for implementing AMS in extensive grazing systems. Keywords: automated milking systems, dairy cattle, grazing, labour

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