Hall, Trevor J.

McIvor, John G.

English

University of Kentucky

University of Kentucky UKnowledge International Grassland Congress Proceedings 21st International Grassland Congress / 8th International Rangeland Congress Rangeland Responses to Cattle Grazing Systems in Northern Australia Trevor J. Hall Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Australia John G. McIvor CSIRO, Australia Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc  Part of the Plant Sciences Commons, and the Soil Science Commons This document is available at https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/21/9-4/8 The 21st International Grassland Congress / 8th International Rangeland Congress took place in Hohhot, China from June 29 through July 5, 2008. Proceedings edited by Organizing Committee of 2008 IGC/IRC Conference Published by Guangdong People's Publishing House This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Plant and Soil Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Grassland Congress Proceedings by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact UKnowledge@lsv.uky.edu. 　 Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World 　 Volume Ⅱ 　 瞯 ]175　 瞯Grasslands/Rangelands Production Systems——— Livestock Production SystemsRangeland responses to cattle grazing systems in northern AustraliaT .J . H all1 and J .G . McIvor 21 Dep t o f Primary Industries and Fisheries , PO Box 102 , Toowoomba , Qld 4350 , A ustralia . 2 CS IRO SustainableEcosystems , 306 Carmody Road , St Lucia , Qld 4068 , A ustralia . E‐mail : trevor .hall＠ dp i .qld .gov .auKey words : grazing systems , rangeland , set‐stocked , rotational grazing , cellsIntroduction Beef cattle producers are searching for management systems that will improve their pasture resource and increaseproduction and profitability in the rangelands of northern Australia where increasing costs and a highly variable climate impacton their business . Producers are using a range of grazing systems to achieve these goals : including set‐stocked or continuousgrazing , rotational grazing , and intensive cell systems . However , these systems have varying inputs , benefits and costs whichare not readily identifiable ( McIvor & Hall ２００６) . This paper reports preliminary results from a producer co‐funded ( via Meatand Livestock Australia ) research project investigating the rangeland responses of commercial grazing systems in northernAustralia .Materials and methods Beef producers , industry consultants and researchers developed a ４‐year project ( ２００６ and ２００９ ) tomonitor ７４ paddocks on ９ commercial properties with ２ or ３ grazing systems each ( a total of ２１ systems) located in differentenvironments of north and south Queensland . The sites include fertile heavy clay soils with cleared A cacia forest and lightertextured , less fertile soils supporting Eucalyp t woodlands . The grazing systems have been operating from １ to more than １０years . Three to １１ paddocks are being monitored at each site , not whole properties . Cattle breeding , steer growing andfinishing properties are included . The aim is to record grazing system inputs , and environmental and production outcomes . Thedata sets ( Table １ ) measure the impacts of the producers�management on pastures , soils , cattle performance and costs .Environmental factors are also recorded to assist with interpretation of the results .Table 1 A ttributes and data sets measured in 21 graz ing systems on 9 commercial bee f p roperties .Attributes Data setsPastures Yield , botanical composition , grass basal area , cover ( litter , organic , total) , utilisation , patchiness , treeregrow thSoils Surface condition , indices of infiltration , stability and nutrient cycling ( by LFA , Tongway & Hindley２００４) ; land condition score ( range １ good stable condition to ４ bare and degraded)Cattle Classes , density , grazing pressure , stocking rate , diet quality ( by near infrared reflectance spectroscopy[ NIRS] )Costs Infrastructure , capital , labour , operating costs , break‐even analysisEnvironment Rainfall , soils , landtypes , vegetation communitiesResults and discussion The three types of grazing system operate effectively by maintaining desirable pasture composition andgood soil surface conditions , on both light and heavy soils in A cacia and Eucaly p t communities . However , the more intensivecell grazing systems tend to be located on introduced pastures with a high proportion ( ９４％ ) of sown perennial grass ,predominantly buffel ( Cenchrus ciliaris ) and on the more fertile soils . Measurements over the drought period ２００６‐０７ ( rainfall２４％ below long‐term average) , show grazing system mean ranges were : pasture yield １５９０‐２５８０ kg / ha , ground cover ５１‐６２％ , land condition score ２ .１‐２ .４ , and soil surface condition ( LFA indices ) stability ５８‐６１ , infiltration ３７‐４０ and nutrientcycling ２８‐３１ . These parameters varied more between properties and seasons than between the grazing systems . Cows withcalves and growing cattle can all be managed effectively in all systems . NIRS analysis of faecal samples suggests diet quality( crude protein and digestibility ) is higher in set‐stocked (８ .７３％ CP ; ５８％ DMD) and rotation systems than in cell systems ( ７ .３４％ CP ; ５６％ DMD) during the summer pasture growing season .Conclusion The first １２ months of data recording indicate that there are no large differences in pastures or soil surface conditionsbetween the two or three grazing systems on any of the nine properties . However , serious drought conditions prevailed at mostsites and may have prevented differences occurring .ReferenceMcIvor , J .G . , Hall , T .J . , ２００６ . Role of grazing systems in pastoral intensification . Proceedings of the Australian RangelandSociety １４th Biennial Conference , Renmark , ２００６ . ( Editor P . Erkelenz) pp . ２６８‐２７１ .Tongway , D .J . , Hindley , N .L . , ２００４ . Landscape Function A nalysis Manual . Ver . ３ .１ . CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems .

Rangeland Responses to Cattle Grazing Systems in Northern Australia

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Rangeland Responses to Cattle Grazing Systems in Northern Australia

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