WITH the annual rainfall for the past two years more than 40 per cent above average, managing pasture so it doesn’t run to head and lose quality before it can be grazed has been a challenge for one of Australia’s oldest and best-known Charolais beef cattle seedstock producers.
Established more than 40 years ago, Palgrove Charolais Stud has the largest registered herd of Charolais cattle in Australia, with more than 1300 registered females and an embryo transfer (ET) program producing about 300 embryo calves a year.
While the stud has its headquarters at Dalveen in southern Queensland, most of the heifers and young stock are grown out in the high country of the New England Tablelands at Ben Lomond, near Glen Innes, NSW, about 200 kilometres to the south.
The Ben Lomond operation covers about 1250 hectares spread over what was originally three separate farms, supplemented by another 250ha of leased ground.
Most paddocks have been sown with tall fescue over the past 10 years or so but last year, on advice from his agronomist, manager David Smith decided to introduce a different mix based around two new varieties of soft-leaf cocksfoot – SF Greenly and SF Lazuly.
The idea was to spread feed production over a longer period by using an alternative species that peaks at a different time to tall fescue, helping to drive liveweight gains over the challenging winter period as well as during the warmer summer months when the property receives most of its annual 1000-millimetre rainfall.
In particular, Mr Smith was looking for an option to help push along the heifers so they were fully mature and in peak condition for joining in spring.
“The Palgrove female herd is managed under a strictly commercial operating system, with cows expected to calve unassisted by two years of age and continue to produce a calf every year,” he said.
“We need high-production pastures to grow the heifers out so we can join them.
“They go onto the pasture when they are weaned at about 7-10 months of age and we keep them there until joining time.
“We artificially inseminate (AI) in October.
“We do two cycles with AI, then we put the bull in for three weeks.”
Ideally, the cows and heifers are run in mobs of 50 for single joining, but that brings some challenges in the warmer months when it comes to maintaining quality.
“With mobs of 50, it’s hard to keep the grass down at this time of the year,” Mr Smith said.
Part of the longer-term approach to managing the issue is gradually dividing the property up into smaller paddocks of 12.5-15ha.
Diversifying pasture species is another.
Mr Smith started last year with a 33ha paddock sown on basalt soils, with six kilograms/ha each of SF Greenly and SF Lazuly,
as well as Matua prairie grass (4kg/ha), red
and white clovers, and herbs such as chicory and plantain.
The paddock was sprayed out in November 2010 and again in late January 2011.
It was sown at a total rate of 25kg/ha in early February using a sod seeder, with about 95kg/ha of starter fertiliser.
Another 100kg/ha of urea was applied in May, followed by a naturally occurring plant growth regulator to further boost pasture growth.
Seed Force Australia NSW pasture specialist James Brady worked with Richardson’s Hardware and Agriculture at Guyra, NSW, to devise the pasture mix as a cost-effective alternative to fescue that didn’t sacrifice quality thanks to a breakthrough in plant breeding that has transformed cocksfoot compared with older varieties.
“Historically, cocksfoot has been a lower-quality grass option and the older varieties have traditionally gone to seed and slowed down just when you want them to perform in summer rainfall areas,” Mr Brady said.
“It was useful on poor country with low fertility or high acidity but was not very palatable and delivered low animal production rates.
“But these new soft-leaf cocksfoots have much higher palatability; in fact, animals have chosen them ahead of tall fescue and perennial ryegrass in research trials.”
Mr Smith said the results from the first 12 months of the new pasture had convinced him the new cocksfoots had a role to play on the property and he was likely to sow more.
“The feed quality is better, too,” he said.
Palgrove culls any heifers that require assistance during the calving season, as well as their progeny, as part of the stud’s commitment to delivering superior genetics for Australian and overseas buyers.
The stud aims to produce efficient, productive cows with the ability to rebreed in a short joining period under prevailing nutritional levels, adapt to fluctuating seasonal conditions and convert feed efficiently.
Email a friend