FAR North Queensland’s Wet Coast and Atherton Tablelands area is very fortunate with the wide selection of pasture species available for planting for beef and milk production.
Several production options have been available to the producer in this high rainfall area with pure grass pastures that can be highly productive with the regular addition of nitrogen fertiliser, or using a mixture of legumes and grass, which is also very productive and doesn’t require the extra cost of nitrogen fertiliser but needs specific rotational grazing management.
Since dairy deregulation, the departure of many expert pasture managers, and the conversion of numerous dairy properties into beef production facilities, many pastures have lost their legume content through lack of basic fertiliser applications and or poor rotational or over grazing practises.
DAFF Senior Extension Officer (Beef) Bernie English said Legumes in a beef pasture offer numerous benefits to the grazing animal with their higher protein, energy and digestibility compared to grasses; which in turn creates extra daily weight gain. “Legumes also convey atmospheric nitrogen into the soil in a form usable by the legume itself and the grasses nearby which also boosts animal performance,” Mr English said.
“Legumes with their deep tap roots also have the ability to grow well into the dry season,” he said.
The Malanda Beef Plan Group in conjunction with DAFF officers from Mareeba (Rolfe Pisani English) have been evaluating several planting options to re-introduce legumes back into pure grass swards. All project work has been subsidised by the Government’s “Reef Safe Grazing” project led by Carla Wegscheidl.
As well as the obvious benefits to Beef Plan Group members such as pasture productivity and reduced fertiliser costs, the group is also keen to improve water quality leaving their properties to tie in with Terrain and Government targets to improve the condition of the Great Barrier Reef.
“The more traditional methodology to establishing a grass-legume pasture is to cultivate your paddock to remove all living plants in the dry season from October-November.
“Then when the storms and wet season breaks, in December-January the idea is to recultivate to remove any weeds and prepare a fine firm seed bed and plant a mixture of grasses and legume seed, and also cover and roll the paddock.
“This system is well proven and has been used for many years but is expensive, the paddock is out of production for many months, numerous weeds will also germinate and your field is bare of all cover during the time when heavy rain is most likely, which can easily result in serious soil loss and impact on downstream water quality.
“Local crop farmers have been using minimum till equipment for many years and we have adapted this technology to plant tropical legume seeds back into pure grass pasture swards.
Mr English said the process involves the pasture being grazed down low after the wet season has begun in December to January so the soil is soft and moist. Before which soil nutrients should be tested to ensure adequate levels are present.
“The Paddock is then mulched to just above ground level (if there is a lot of vegetation on the surface you may have to mulch twice about a week apart).
“A suitable minimum till machine is then used to direct drill legume seed into pasture, (it’s imperative that you select correct legumes for your soil type and district and apply innoculant to legume seed).
“The final step is to manage grass height with slashing and or light grazing to avoid shading of establishing seedling legumes.
He said the costs per hectare of this new system is basically half that of the more traditional methodology, plus your paddock is back ready for grazing in half the time and there is no flush of new weeds.
“An added bonus is that there is no risk of soil loss if heavy rainfall is experienced as good ground cover is maintained at all times”.
