The effect of a phosphorus supplement on the performance of steers grazing Townsville stylo-based pasture in north Queensland

1977 ◽  
Vol 17 (86) ◽  
pp. 357 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Winks ◽  
FC Lamberth ◽  
PK O'Rourke
Keyword(s):  
Dry Season ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Dry Tropics ◽  
Stylosanthes Humilis ◽  
Native Pasture ◽  
Weight Gains ◽  
Annual Grasses ◽  
Townsville Stylo

The effect of phosphorus supplementation on the performance of steeres grazing unfertilized native pasture and Townsville stylo (Stylosanthes humilis) with andwithout superphosphate fertilizer on the subcoastal spear grass region of the dry tropics of north Queensland was studied over a period of 40 months. Liveweight gains in the absence of supplementation on fertilized Townsville stylo pastures were greater than on unfertilized Townsville stylo, where performance was similar to that recorded on untreated native pasture. Phosphorus supplementation increased weight gains during the wet season on both unfertilized Townsville stylo and native pasture but had no significant effect on dry season performance or performance on fertilized Townsville stylo. Fertilized areas became dominated by annual grasses, Digitaria ciliaris and Brachiaria milliiformis, and legume yields were higher on unfertilized than on fertilized areas. Fertilizer improved the quality of available pastures.

Effect of pasture type and supplementary feeding on the reproductive performance of cattle in the dry tropics of north Queensland

1977 ◽  
Vol 17 (85) ◽  
pp. 197 ◽  
Author(s):  
RG Holroyd ◽  
PJ Allan ◽  
PK O'Rourke
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Performance ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Conception Rate ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Lactating Cows ◽  
Dry Tropics ◽  
Stylosanthes Humilis ◽  
Native Pasture ◽  
Conception Rates ◽  
Townsville Stylo

A study was made over a four year period ( 1970-1 973) on the reproductive performance of cows grazing either native pasture stocked at 1 breeder 4.9 ha-1 or native pasture oversown with Townsville stylo (Stylosanthes humilis) and fertilized with superphosphate, stocked at 1 breeder 2.4 ha-1. Animals were supplemented on each pasture type with combinations of molasses, urea and phosphorus at various times of the year. Mating from September 1 to January 31 resulted in animals lactating during the dry season. At double the stocking rate, lactating cows on fertilized pastures had similar conception rates to those on native pasture. During a prolonged dry season, lactating cows on fertilized pasture had twice the conception rate and fewer required survival feeding. Urea compared with non-urea based supplements produced significant increases in conception rates of cows grazing native pasture especially during a dry year. Calves were born earlier, had shorter intercalving intervals and fewer cows had to be fed a survival ration when urea was available. On fertilized pasture, urea based supplements caused only a marginal increase in conception rate except in a dry year, when there was a significant increase. Over the four years, there was a diminishing response in the conception rate of lactating cows grazing native pasture and supplemented with phosphorus during the wet season compared with the control. On fertilized pasture, there was a variable but non-significant response. The addition of phosphorus either as a wet or dry season supplement to urea caused variable responses on each pasture type, but none differed significantly from that of urea.

Influence of pasture type and supplement on fertility and liveweight of cows, and progeny growth rate in the dry tropics of northern Queensland

1983 ◽  
Vol 23 (120) ◽  
pp. 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
RG Holroyd ◽  
PK O'Rourke ◽  
MR Clarke ◽  
ID Loxton
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Reproductive Performance ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Calf Growth ◽  
Dry Tropics ◽  
Stylosanthes Humilis ◽  
Native Pasture ◽  
One Year

The reproductive performance of cows and growth rate of their calves to weaning was examined over a four-year period (1973-1977). Cows grazed either native pasture stocked at 1cowl4 ha, or native pasture oversown with Townsville stylo (Stylosanthes humilis) and fertilized with superphosphate stocked at 1 cow/2 ha. Animals were supplemented on each pasture type with urea-molasses in the dry season, phosphorus all year round plus urea-molasses in the dry season, or were unsupplemented. Mating was for three months from mid-January. Calving began towards the end of the dry season and cows lactated through the following wet season. Cows grazing fertilized legume pasture had significantly higher conception rates and earlier calving dates in one year only. In all years, foetal and calf losses between pregnancy diagnosis and weaning were lower on native pasture than on fertilized legume pasture. Cows grazing fertilized legume pasture were generally in better body condition and heavier throughout and their calves grew faster to weaning than on native pasture. Fertilized legume pasture produced a 2.4 fold increase over that of native pasture in cow and calf liveweight per unit area (382.7 kg/ha vs 159.8 kg/ha) over the four years. Supplementation did not influence liveweight or reproductive performance of cows or calf growth rate except during the final dry season when non-supplemented cows lost significantly more weight than those supplemented with phosphorus and urea.

Effect of stocking rate and fertilizer on the performance of steers grazing Townsville stylo-based pasture in north Queensland

1974 ◽  
Vol 14 (67) ◽  
pp. 146 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Winks ◽  
FC Lamberth ◽  
KW Moir ◽  
PM Pepper
Keyword(s):  
Grass Species ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Native Grass ◽  
Dry Tropics ◽  
Yield And Quality ◽  
Stylosanthes Humilis ◽  
Native Pasture ◽  
Townsville Stylo ◽  
Stocking Rates

The performance of steers grazing Townsville stylo (Stylosanthes humilis)-native grass pasture, with and without superphosphate fertilizer, was studied at two stocking rate (0.41 and 0.82 beasts ha-1) on the sub-coastal spear grass region of the dry tropics of north Queensland over a period of three and a half years. Fertilizer increased yield and quality of pasture, but invasion of the fertilized areas by annual grass species was occurring by the end of the study. Liveweight gains on fertilized Townsville stylo pastures were greater than on unfertilized Townsville stylo, where performance was similar to that recorded on untreated native pasture at stocking rates of 0.25 and 0.41 beasts ha-1. Liveweight gains at the lighter stocking rate were greater than at the higher level on the Townsville stylo-native grass pasture, but at the stocking rates applied to native pasture there was no significant effect of stocking rate. A stocking rate of 0.41 beast ha-1 on fertilized Townsville stylo was safe in all years. Wastage of material was high owing to mould development on the Townsville stylo which remained as standing hay during the winter.

Improvement of native pasture with Townsville stylo in the dry tropics of sub-coastal northern Queensland

1979 ◽  
Vol 19 (98) ◽  
pp. 325 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Gillard
Keyword(s):  
Dry Season ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Heteropogon Contortus ◽  
Pasture Quality ◽  
Native Pasture ◽  
Annual Grasses ◽  
Townsville Stylo ◽  
Pasture Yield

The results of a grazing experiment in which Townsville stylo was oversown into native pasture in sub-coastal northern Queensland are reported. The region receives 650 mm average annual rainfall compared with >850 mm at other experimental sites where Townsville stylo has been tested under grazing. The experiment included three treatments in a factorial combination: timber clearing or not, application of 125 kg ha-1 superphosphate or not and stocking rates of 0.4 and 0.2 beasts ha-1. The yield of Townsville stylo depended on treatments and annual rainfall but was generally low in this environment. Over the ten year period of the experiment the pastures remained dominated by Heteropogon contortus and Bothriochloa bladhii, and there was no invasion of annual grasses. Clearing of the timber increased the pasture yield by 77%. There was no regrowth of trees after clearing. Within each year cattle gained weight in the wet season, when pasture quality was high, and lost weight in the dry season, when pasture quality declined. Mean liveweight gain over all treatments was correlated (r = 0.97) with the length of the growing season. A significant response in liveweight gain to fertilizer occurred only in years of average or above rainfall when there was also a response in Townsville stylo yield. The effect was due to increased gains during the wet season; there were no differences in liveweight gain during the dry season, when Townsville stylo became decomposed. Significantly greater liveweight losses occurred on the heavily stocked treatments during the dry season of drought years. The yield of Townsville stylo in the early years of the experiment was significantly higher on the cleared treatments and there was a corresponding response in liveweight gains in the wet season during this period. Liveweight losses in the dry season were also significantly higher on the timbered treatments in years of drought. The powerful influence of climatic variation on the treatments places reservations on their practical application. The increased pasture yield from tree clearing is likely to be a benefit to cattle only in years of drought. The responses to superphosphate fertilizer only in years of high rainfall suggests that its use is unlikely to be profitable on Townsville stylo based pastures in this environment.

Seasonal diet preferences of chital deer in the northern Queensland dry tropics, Australia

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 211
Author(s):  
Kurt Watter ◽  
Greg Baxter ◽  
Michael Brennan ◽  
Tony Pople ◽  
Peter Murray
Keyword(s):  
Dry Season ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Variable Environment ◽  
Dry Tropics ◽  
Plant Groups ◽  
Axis Axis ◽  
Plant Group ◽  
Diet Preference ◽  
Dry Seasons

Chital deer (Axis axis) were introduced to the Burdekin dry tropics of north Queensland, Australia, in the late 1800s. Here rainfall and plant growth are highly seasonal and a nutritional bottleneck for grazing animals occurs annually before the wet season. This study describes the seasonal changes in diet and diet preference of chital in this seasonally-variable environment. Rumen samples were taken from 162 deer from two sites over the wet and dry seasons of two consecutive years and sorted macroscopically for identification. Relative seasonal availability of plant groups was estimated using step point sampling of areas grazed by chital. Chital alter their diet seasonally according to availability and plant phenology. Chital utilised 42 plant genera including grasses, forbs, subshrubs, shrubs, trees and litter. Grass consumption ranged from 53% of biomass intake during the dry season to 95% during the wet season. The predominance of grass in the wet season diet exceeded relative availability, indicating a strong preference. Although grass contributed more than half of the dry season diet it was the least preferred plant group, given availability, and the least actively growing. Shrubs were the preferred plant type in the dry season, and least subject to seasonal senescence. Composition and quantity of seasonal pastures vary markedly in north Queensland, and chital alter their diet by consuming those plants most actively growing. The increased dry season intake of non-grass forage appears to be a strategy to limit the detriment resulting from the progressive deterioration in the quality of grass.

Effect of pasture type and supplementary feeding on the milk yield of Shorthorn and Brahman cross cows and the growth rate of their progeny in the dry tropics of north Queensland

1979 ◽  
Vol 19 (99) ◽  
pp. 389 ◽  
Author(s):  
RG Holroyd ◽  
PK O'Rourke ◽  
PJ Allan
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Birth Weight ◽  
Milk Yield ◽  
Average Daily Gain ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Variable Effect ◽  
Dry Tropics ◽  
Stylosanthes Humilis ◽  
Native Pasture ◽  
Daily Gain

The milk yields of Brahman cross (Bx) or Shorthorn (Sh) cows and the birth weight and growth rate of their progeny to weaning were recorded over the four years 1970-73. Animals grazed either native pasture stocked at 1 breeder 4.9 ha-1 (NP) or native pasture oversown with Townsville stylo (Stylosanthes humilis) and fertilized with superphosphate and stocked at 1 breeder 2.4 ha-1 (TS). The animals on both pasture types were offered supplements of molasses, urea and phosphorus at various times of the year. Mating from September 1 to January 31 resulted in the cows commencing lactation during the dry season. Bx cows bore heavier calves than the Sh cows and had higher average daily milk yields. Bx calves grew faster from birth to weaning and were heavier at 180 days (P < 0.05 in both cases). Pasture type had a variable effect on milk yield in the two genotypes. Sh cows produced more milk on TS than on NP in all years (P < 0.05 for years 1 and 3). However, milk yields from the Bx were higher on NP than on TS in years 1 and 2 (P < 0.05 for year 1). Pasture type had little effect on birth weight but calves on TS generally grew faster and had higher weaning weights than those on NP. Supplements only increased milk yields in year 1 (P < 0.05 for urea and phosphorus fed during the dry season). Supplements caused no significant increases in birth weight, average daily gain (ADG), or weaning weight. In all years there were significant (P < 0.01) correlations of ADG with milk yield, birth weight and weaning weights. Male calves weighed more at birth and grew faster than female calves (P< 0.05)

scholarly journals Seasonal changes in water quality and macrophytes and the impact of cattle on tropical floodplain waterholes

2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (9) ◽  
pp. 788 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. E. Pettit ◽  
T. D. Jardine ◽  
S. K. Hamilton ◽  
V. Sinnamon ◽  
D. Valdez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Aquatic Macrophyte ◽  
Plant Cover ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Dry Tropics ◽  
The Impact

The present study indicates the critical role of hydrologic connectivity in floodplain waterholes in the wet–dry tropics of northern Australia. These waterbodies provide dry-season refugia for plants and animals, are a hotspot of productivity, and are a critical part in the subsistence economy of many remote Aboriginal communities. We examined seasonal changes in water quality and aquatic plant cover of floodplain waterholes, and related changes to variation of waterhole depth and visitation by livestock. The waterholes showed declining water quality through the dry season, which was exacerbated by more frequent cattle usage as conditions became progressively drier, which also increased turbidity and nutrient concentrations. Aquatic macrophyte biomass was highest in the early dry season, and declined as the dry season progressed. Remaining macrophytes were flushed out by the first wet-season flows, although they quickly re-establish later during the wet season. Waterholes of greater depth were more resistant to the effects of cattle disturbance, and seasonal flushing of the waterholes with wet-season flooding homogenised the water quality and increased plant cover of previously disparate waterholes. Therefore, maintaining high levels of connectivity between the river and its floodplain is vital for the persistence of these waterholes.

The comparative performance of tropical crossbred and local shorthorn beef cattle on native pasture at Katherine, NT

1967 ◽  
Vol 7 (26) ◽  
pp. 217 ◽  
Author(s):  
MJT Norman
Keyword(s):  
Heat Stress ◽  
Body Temperature ◽  
Peanut Meal ◽  
Average Weight ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Comparative Performance ◽  
Native Pasture ◽  
Weight Gains ◽  
Adaptation To Heat ◽  
Dressing Percentage

The liveweight performance and carcase characteristics of Brahman x Hereford, Africander x Hereford and Africander x Shorthorn F, crossbred spayed heifers were compared with those of local Shorthorn spayed heifers on native pasture at Katherine, N.T., between 1962 and 1965. The breed groups were divided for planes of winter nutrition, viz., with and without 2 lb a day of peanut meal from early June until the start of the wet season. Without supplement, the average weight gains of B x H, A x H, A x S, and Shorthorn cattle between June 1962 and May 1965 were 0.49, 0.37, 0.36, and 0.23 lb a day respectively. With supplement, cattle reached slaughter weight a year earlier ; the average weight gains of B x H, A x H, and Shorthorn cattle between June 1962 and May 1964 were 0.61, 0.63, and 0.50 lb a day respectively. (There was no A x S supplemented group). Without supplement, the dressing percentage and estimated proportion of fat of B x H cattle was higher and the estimated proportion of muscle and bone lower than those of other breeds. With supplement, there were no significant differences in dressing percentage or carcase composition between breeds. Measurements made of thermoregulatory attributes indicated that the local Shorthorn cattle, through body temperature control, showed adaptation to heat stress.

Effect of time of cessation of wet season grazing on Townsville stylo-annual grass pasture at Katherine, N.T

1973 ◽  
Vol 13 (64) ◽  
pp. 544 ◽  
Author(s):  
MJT Norman ◽  
LJ Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Dry Matter ◽  
Recovery Period ◽  
Dry Matter Yield ◽  
Annual Grass ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Active Growth ◽  
Heavy Grazing ◽  
Stylosanthes Humilis ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Townsville Stylo

A Townsville stylo (Stylosanthes humilis)-annual grass pasture at Katherine, N.T., was subjected to a series of treatments in 1969-70 and 1970-71 under which plots were grazed heavily from the beginning of the wet season for a period and then allowed to recover undefoliated for the remainder of the season. The dates at which heavy grazing ceased were spaced at 2-week intervals from November 24 to March 16. At the end of the wet season, total dry matter yield was linearly related to length of recovery period. Townsville stylo yield declined as recovery period was reduced from 18 to 8 weeks, but showed little response to a further reduction to 4 weeks. In contrast, annual grass yield showed little change as recovery period was reduced from 18 to 8 weeks, but fell with a further reduction to 4 weeks. As a result, the proportion of Townsville stylo in the pasture at the end of the season was high with long and short recovery periods but reached a minimum with an 8 - 10 week recovery period. Dry conditions prevailed in the first half of both seasons. The evidence suggests that young Townsville stylo is sensitive to heavy grazing when under water stress, and that early grazing for grass control should be imposed only during periods of active growth.

Herbicides for weed control in grain sorghum crops in the Northern Territory

1970 ◽  
Vol 10 (46) ◽  
pp. 588
Author(s):  
IMW Wood
Keyword(s):  
Good Control ◽  
Dry Weight ◽  
Grain Sorghum ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Research Station ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Grain Yields ◽  
Stylosanthes Humilis ◽  
Townsville Stylo ◽  
Grass Weed

In experiments conducted in the 1968-69 wet season at the Katherine Research Station, Northern Territory, a number of herbicides gave good control of the grass weed Pennisetum polystachyon in grain sorghum crops. Linuron at 3 lb a.i. an acre and PCP at 20 lb a.i. an acre as pre-emergence applications effectively controlled grasses with no apparent adverse affects on the crop. With both there were significantly higher grain yields than on unweeded control plots containing an average of 1378 lb dry weight of P. polystachyon an acre. Fluometuron at 3 lb a.i. an acre late pre-emergence and early post-emergence and chlorthal at 7 lb a.i. an acre pre-emergence controlled grasses but did not increase grain yields. Further investigations are warranted with these herbicides, as banded applications to the interrow may overcome the apparent problem of crop phytotoxicity. Chlorthal at rates that gave good grass control had no adverse effect on Townsville stylo (Stylosanthes humilis). This could be an important advantage when sorghum is sown in rotation with Townsville stylo pasture or where the crop is undersown with Townsville stylo.

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