Wool production, ground cover and botanical composition of pastures grazed by Merino wethers in central western New South Wales. 2. Barrel medic pasture

1973 ◽  
Vol 13 (64) ◽  
pp. 510 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Brownlee
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Research ◽  
New South ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Additional Treatment ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Botanical Composition ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Barrel Medic ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Pasture Area

Two grazing experiments were performed between 1965 and 1969 at the Agricultural Research Station, Condobolin, to determine the carrying capacity of Jemalong barrel medic (Medicago truncatula) pasture. In each experiment the pasture was set stocked with Merino wethers at 3.1, 4.1 and 6.2 ha-1. An additional treatment stocked at 6.2 ha-1 was included in which two-thirds of the pasture area was saved during autumn or periods of feed shortage while stock were confined to the other one-third. In both experiments the pasture supported 3.1 wethers ha-1 under set stocking for three years with little supplementary feeding and regenerated successfully each year. No major changes in botanical composition were recorded, and Jemalong medic remained the major component of the pasture. Autumn saving at 6.2 ha-1 mitigated the effects of the high stocking rate on both animal and pasture, but did not result in worthwhile animal production increases.

The value to Merino ewes and lambs of continued superphosphate topdressing on a subterranean clover pasture ley

1976 ◽  
Vol 16 (79) ◽  
pp. 197 ◽  
Author(s):  
OR Southwood ◽  
DG Saville ◽  
AR Gilmour
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Subterranean Clover ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Wool Production ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Clover Pasture

In an experiment at the Agricultural Research Station, Temora, New South Wales, Merino breeding ewes with their lambs grazed continuously from 1966 to 1970 at three stocking rates, 5, 7.5 and 10 ewes ha-1, on annual Trifolium subterraneum clover pasture topdressed every autumn with superphosphate fertilizer at nil, 94 or 188 kg ha-1. Stocking rate had an effect on ewe body weight in autumn each year and in winter and spring of the last year but it had no effect no wool production per ewe. Apart from the dry year, stocking rate had no effect on lamb performance. Superphosphate had little effect on ewe body weight and none on wool production but there were more lambs on the fertilized treatments than on the unfertilized pastures in 1967 when rainfall was low. Fertilizer encouraged barley grass dominance whereas the pasture not topdressed grew more clover and produced more burr. With no topdressing, available soil phosphate declined steadily over the five years to less than half the initial level. The results indicate that in a spring lambing, Merino ewe enterprise in the southern New South Wales wheat belt, where clover-ley farming is the general practice, annual pasture topdressing is no longer necessary after approximately 1000 kg ha-1 superphosphate has been applied to the soil and the fertilizer is continued through the cropping phase.

Wool production, ground cover and botanical composition of pastures grazed by Merino wethers in central western New South Wales. 1. Natural pasture

1973 ◽  
Vol 13 (64) ◽  
pp. 502 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Brownlee
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Supplementary Feeding ◽  
Botanical Composition ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Wool Production ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Natural Pasture ◽  
Annual Medics

A natural pasture consisting predominantly of Aristida, Stipa, Danthonia and Chloris was grazed by Merino wethers set-stocked at 2.04, 1.36 and 1.02 ha-1 at Condobolin in central western New South Wales. Throughout the four years 1965 to 1969, the pasture supported 1.36 wethers ha-1 without supplementary feeding. Wool production per ha increased with increase in stocking rate but wool production per head and liveweight decreased. Although there was a greater percentage of annual medics at the high compared with the low stocking rate, the high stocking rate reduced total ground cover and the density of Aristida.

Lucerne persistence and the productivity of ewes and lambs grazed at two stocking rates within different management systems

1975 ◽  
Vol 15 (77) ◽  
pp. 747 ◽  
Author(s):  
OR Southwood ◽  
GE Robards
Keyword(s):  
Plant Density ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
New South ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Continuous Grazing ◽  
Rotational Systems ◽  
Stocking Rates ◽  
Lamb Growth

From 1967 to 1971 a grazing experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Research Station, Temora, New South Wales with Merino ewes and first cross spring lambs on lucerne pastures. Set stocking was compared with a number of rotational systems at twice replicated stocking rates of five and ten ewes ha-1. The rotational systems consisted of either five or seven paddocks each grazed to give a constant pasture recovery time of 36 days year round, or 36 days mid-summer to mid-winter and 24 days when lambs were present. Stocking rate was the only variable affecting ewe wool production and body weight. During the driest year the constant rotation was the best treatment, whereas in the wetter year ewes managed in a variable rotation grew most wool. The number of lambs born and their birth weight did not vary among treatments. Growth rate was slower at the higher stocking rate but the management treatments had no effect on lamb growth. Lucerne plant density decreased by half during the first three years of the experiment. Thereafter plant density was maintained in the rotationally grazed systems. Under continuous grazing at the high stocking rate no lucerne survived after four months but at the low stocking rate most remaining plants died after a spring drought in 1971.

Seasonal variation in the fertility and fecundity of Bungaree and Peppin Merinos in central-western New South Wales

1969 ◽  
Vol 9 (37) ◽  
pp. 151 ◽  
Author(s):  
JR Giles ◽  
JP Drinan
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Ovulation Rate ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Agricultural Research Station ◽  
South Wales

The seasonal variation in fertility and fecundity of Bungaree and Peppin Merinos was compared at the Agricultural Research Station, Trangie, New South Wales. Ewes of both strains were joined to rams of both strains for 32 days on nine occasions ; each joining being separated from adjacent periods by an interval of 10 days. For six weeks after joining the ewes were run with vasectomized rams and were then slaughtered over the following six weeks. Incidence of oestrus and ovulation rate of the two strains were similar at all times. More Bungaree than Peppin ewes returned to service, particularly during the autumn, irrespective of the strain of rams to which they were joined. There was no difference between ram strains in percentage of ewes returning to service or percentage of ewes pregnant, but a significantly higher proportion of ova were lost in pregnant ewes with multiple ovulations after joining to Bungaree rams in winter and spring.

Skin folds and Merino breeding. 8. Fertility of individual rams in flocks selected for high and low skin fold

1969 ◽  
Vol 9 (37) ◽  
pp. 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
BJ McGuirk
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Insemination ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Research Station ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Skin Fold ◽  
Single Character ◽  
Lower Fertility ◽  
Selection For

Single character selection flocks-Folds Plus (selection for high fold score) and Folds Minus (selection for low fold score) were established in 1951 from a Peppin Merino flock at Trangie Agricultural Research Station, New South Wales. For the period 1951 to 1966, 25 per cent of rams selected for the Folds Plus flock were rejected following semen examination before joining, compared to only three per cent of Folds Minus rams (P<0.05). The fertility of individual rams in the two flocks has been estimated from the lambing performance of the ewes to which they were mated in the period 1951 to 1963. Averaged over the twelve joinings, a higher proportion of ewes mated to Folds Minus rams lambed following both artificial insemination (53 v. 45 per cent) and paddock joinings (57 v. 47 per cent). The lower fertility of the Folds Plus rams was not due to a higher proportion of completely infertile rams.

Evaluation of natural annual pastures of Trangie in central western New South Wales, 2. Botanical composition changes with particular reference to Hordeum leporinum

1973 ◽  
Vol 13 (65) ◽  
pp. 662
Author(s):  
RJ Campbell ◽  
JA Beale
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Grazing Pressure ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Botanical Composition ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Hordeum Leporinum ◽  
Germination And Growth ◽  
Composition Changes ◽  
Total Soil Nitrogen

The botanical composition of natural pastures stocked at 2.5, 3.7, and 4.9 Merino wethers per hectare was examined over a number of years. Several experiments were conducted in conjunction with the main grazing experiment to determine the relative importance of factors that might be influencing the composition of the pastures. In particular, the importance of nitrogen and sulphur, grazing pressure, and surface mulch were studied. Increased grazing pressure throughout the growing season reduced the proportion of Hordeum leporinum (barley grass) in the pasture. Total soil nitrogen, as affected by stocking rate, did not appear to be important in determining the percentage of barley grass in the pasture. A layer of surface mulch stimulated the germination and growth of barley grass, but not the germination of Erodium crinitum (crowfoot), one of the major broadleaf components of this pasture type.

Grazing studies of a Hyparrhenia hirta (Coolatai grass) pasture in northern New South Wales

2005 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 1603 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. M. Lodge ◽  
L. H. McCormick ◽  
S. Harden
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Experimental Period ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Basal Cover ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Heavy Grazing ◽  
Stocking Rates

Hyparrhenia hirta (L.) Stapf (Coolatai grass) has invaded large areas of grazed native grasslands on the North-West Slopes of New South Wales (NSW) and is widespread along roadsides and travelling stock routes. It is commonly regarded as an invasive, weedy species with low forage value when it is tall and rank, but may be more palatable when kept short, green and leafy. A study (1990–2001) of a naturalised stand of Coolatai grass in the Manilla district of northern NSW examined its herbage mass (kg DM/ha), persistence (basal cover %), and grazing value under 2 contrasting grazing treatments: pastures that had either large amounts of dry, unpalatable herbage [light grazing at 5 dry sheep equivalents (DSE)/ha] or were short, green and leafy (strategic heavy grazing at a stocking rate of 37 DSE/ha). Effects of pre-grazing treatments (slashing, burning, and no defoliation) were also examined and data (litter mass, plant basal area, ground cover, and soil and litter microbial carbon and nitrogen) collected to assess the long term sustainability of these grazing systems. Sheep grazed the light grazing treatment for about 34% of the experimental period, with the strategic heavy grazing treatment being grazed for about 7% of the time. Over the experimental period this equated to 6752 DSE grazing days/ha for the light grazing treatment compared with 10 120 DSE for the heavy grazing treatment. Herbage mass in the heavy grazing treatment declined to <1000 kg DM/ha within 6 months of the start of grazing and remained below this level until December 1998 when stocking rates were switched (i.e. plots previously grazed at low stocking rate were subjected to the heavier rate and vice versa). In contrast, mean herbage mass in the light grazing treatment was generally >3000 kg DM/ha from November 1990–98, but a high proportion of this was dead standing material that carried over from season to season. Mean Coolatai grass basal cover was 9.5% in November 1990, increasing over time to about 25% in both grazing treatments by December 2000. Coolatai grass herbage accumulation was highly seasonal, ranging from as high as 70 kg DM/ha.day in summer to 0 in winter. In both grazing treatments, forage quality was low for both green and dead material, with mean crude protein being 6.0 (green) and 3.4% (dead). Digestible dry matter values ranged from 41 to 62% (green) and 32 to 51% (dead) and mean metabolisable energy values were 7 (green) and 5.3 MJ/kg DM (dead). After 8 years, the heavy grazing treatment had lower (P<0.05) litter mass, ground cover, plant basal area and soil microbial C and N levels than the light grazing treatment, but switching of the stocking rates restored most indicators, except the soil microbial values.

Effectiveness of grazing and herbicide treatments for lucerne removal before cropping in southern New South Wales

2005 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 1147 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. L. Davies ◽  
J. M. Virgona ◽  
M. H. McCallum ◽  
A. D. Swan ◽  
M. B. Peoples
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Physiological Status ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Main Study ◽  
Experimental Station ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Continuous Grazing

The difficulty of reliably removing an established lucerne pasture before cropping has been identified as a major problem with phase-farming systems on mixed farms. A series of experiments were undertaken on established lucerne stands at the Ginninderra Experimental Station in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and at the Temora Research Station in southern New South Wales (NSW) to compare the ability of grazing, either alone or in combination with herbicides, to remove a lucerne pasture. A pilot study at the Ginninderra Experimental Station in 1998–99 utilised a high stocking rate (30 dry sheep equivalents [dse]/ha), while the main study at the Ginninderra Experimental Station and the Temora Research Station in 1999–2000 used a lower stocking rate (10–12 dse/ha) considered to be closer to farmer practice in the region. Continuous grazing at the high stocking rate removed 73% of the lucerne stand over 3 months. In contrast, the stocking rates applied in the main study proved too low to substantially impact on lucerne survival at both the ACT and NSW sites (13–23% removal) under the good seasonal conditions experienced in 1999–2000 even though the pastures were continuously grazed for 8–9 months. The use of herbicides both alone or in conjunction with grazing greatly improved lucerne removal in both studies. However, herbicide efficacy was variable (53–100% removal), and seemed to be related to the time of year it was applied, the period of lucerne regrowth or the amount of rainfall before herbicide application. An additional on-farm study was undertaken near Junee Reefs in southern NSW between 2001 and 2003 that compared the survival of a range of lucerne cultivars under simulated hay-cutting (mown) and commercial grazing regimes. Dry conditions during 2002–03 resulted in a decline in lucerne frequency at about 50% in mown control plots. Grazing increased the stand decline, particularly for many winter-active cultivars where lucerne frequency was reduced by up to 70–93%. It was concluded that: (i) continuous grazing for prolonged periods can be effective at removing lucerne, but the rate of lucerne loss will be influenced by both stocking rate and rainfall; (ii) the application of herbicides can improve lucerne removal either in association with, or in the absence of grazing; however, herbicide efficacy appeared to be dependent upon the physiological status of the lucerne plants and/or the environmental conditions before application; and (iii) cultivar responses indicated that lucerne types could potentially be developed for phase-farming systems with increased susceptibility to grazing mismanagement.

The influence of climate, soil, and management on the composition of native grass pastures on the central, southern, and Monaro tablelands of New South Wales

2001 ◽  
Vol 52 (9) ◽  
pp. 925 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Garden ◽  
P. M . Dowling ◽  
D. A. Eddy ◽  
H. I. Nicol
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
Common Species ◽  
Perennial Grasses ◽  
Native Grasses ◽  
Botanical Composition ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Stock Management ◽  
Native Grass ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Stock Type

Pastures on 126 properties on the central, southern, and Monaro tablelands were surveyed to determine their botanical composition. Data on climate, soils, pasture sowing, fertiliser history, and stock management were collected to relate current composition to environmental factors and previous management. Native grass-based pastures were found to be widespread, and in many cases, pastures were dominated by native grasses, despite many decades of pasture improvement. Seventeen genera of native perennial grasses comprising over 35 species were identified. The most common species on the central tablelands were Austrodanthonia spp., Bothriochloa macra, and Microlaena stipoides; on the southern tablelands, Austrodanthoniaspp. and M. stipoides; and on the Monaro, Poa spp., Austrodanthonia spp., Themeda australis, and Austrostipa spp. Soil type was the most important factor affecting species distribution, and other soil attributes such as texture, pH, P, and N were also important. Environmental (rainfall) and management (superphosphate application, stock type, stocking rate) factors also influenced distribution. The significant areas of native grass pastures that were found suggest a decline in sown species and a recolonisation of sown pastures with native grasses. The potential for manipulation of botanical composition of these grasslands is discussed, together with their value for production and sustainability.

Skin folds and Merino breeding. 4. The susceptibility of rams selected for a high degree of skin wrinkle to heat induced infertility

1966 ◽  
Vol 6 (21) ◽  
pp. 121 ◽  
Author(s):  
DG Fowler ◽  
RB Dun
Keyword(s):  
Heat Treatment ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
New South ◽  
Conception Rate ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Merino Sheep ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Selection Experiments ◽  
High Degree

Three experiments were done to establish whether differences in ram fertility could explain some of the differences in reproductive performance observed between two flocks of Merino sheep, one flock of which had been bred for a high (Folds Plus) and the other for a low (Folds Minus) degree of skin wrinkle at the Trangie Agricultural Research Station. In the first experiment the quality of semen collected from Folds Plus and Folds Minus rams at Glenfield, New South Wales, was examined during the period December 1962 until March 1963. From late January until early March 1963, Folds Plus rams had low quality semen which gave a conception rate of 38.6 per cent. Over the same period, Folds Minus rams had higher quality semen which gave a conception rate of 58.6 per cent. Folds Plus and Folds Minus rams were then subjected to a severe heat treatment in mid winter 1963 (experiment 2) which produced severe seminal degeneration in both Folds Plus and Folds Minus rams. Folds Plus rams were more susceptible to heat than Folds Minus rams since the semen of Folds Plus rams remained degenerate for a longer period than the semen of Folds Minus rams and, in a test mating program, fewer pregnancies were observed in ewes artificially inseminated with the semen of Folds Plus rams than in ewes inseminated with the semen of Folds Minus rams. In a third experiment Folds Plus and Folds Minus rams from two independently established selection experiments at Trangie and at Cunnamulla were subjected to a heat treatment. The heated Folds Plus rams from both selection experiments exhibited marked seminal degeneration, but heated Folds Minus rams from both selection experiments maintained high quality semen throughout the experiment. The heated Folds Plus rams from Cunnamulla were more severely affected than the heated Folds Plus rams from Trangie.

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