One of the critical drivers of success in an agriculture business is production levels. Naturally, this makes improving production a common discussion within our community.
From increasing and improving crop yield to matching Stocking Rate to Carrying Capacity (SR:CC), here we dive into the questions we get asked most frequently at RCS around improving production.
When grass budgeting, remember you are estimating how much pasture there is available for the stock to eat, rather than how much standing dry matter you have in total. Therefore, you are building in a residual and discounting the species stock won’t eat.
When you have a diverse pasture mix in the paddock, graze to your desirables. This means you want to leave your desirable species with enough biomass to be rain ready with a strong root system to encourage those to increase as a percentage of the overall mix.
For an indepth look at the various methods you can use to Feed Budget accurately, take a look at our online self-paced course, Feed Budgeting 101.
Through time-controlled grazing management, the pasture quality and quantity are improved. Consequently, animal production increases either through increasing the Average Daily Gain of individual animals or through kg/ha of protein produced or both. This creates an increase in Gross Product within the business. Find out more about our grazing principles that help guide good grazing management.
To increase cattle and sheep or other livestock production, the focus must be on pasture and soil health. Healthy soils are alive and have great structures that allow pastures to thrive. This, in turn, provides quality pasture for stock.
By ensuring the Stocking Rate matches Carrying Capacity (having enough quantity and quality pasture available), you will ensure breeding stock have adequate body condition for joining and feeder stock will make optimal average daily gains for that land and pasture type. To achieve this, you must vary the stocking rate to match the season—less rainfall, less grass production, and less stock numbers that can be carried on that piece of land.
Match your rest periods for paddocks to the growth rate of the desirable pastures. This ensures that the plant is maintained in phase two of its life cycle for the maximum time and allows for desirable species to increase in the pasture mix. It will also allow adequate rest to ensure maximum ground cover and root health.
Ensure all stock has access to clean water, ideally from a trough, and ensure stock is free from disease and pests. Rest periods assist in this by breaking the life cycles of pests such as ticks, reducing the need for chemicals or undesirable alternative methods for control. Lastly, provide adequate shelter for your stock, such as windbreak and shade.
You can learn more about the methods suggested above in our RCS Grazing Clinics and GrazingforProfit® program.
Stocking Rate is the demand on the feed supply, considering how many stock you have and what is the overall herd Large Stock Unit (LSU) or Dry Sheep Equivalent (DSE). Carrying Capacity is the amount of feed you have available based on pasture quality and quantity.
To consider what pastures go with cropping, ask yourself the following questions:
Your answers to these questions will guide you in your plant selections.
The question should be “how do I increase crop gross margin?” or “how many inputs do we currently need to prop up poor ecological function?” and “will those inputs increase as the ecological function continues to decrease?”.
Remember, there is no correlation between production and profit. There is a powerful correlation between the cost of production and profit. You can learn more about this in our Regenerative Cropping Workshops.
Match your rest periods for paddocks to the growth rate of the desirable pastures. This ensures that the plant is maintained at maximum production (in phase two of its life cycle) for the maximum time and allows for desirable species to increase in the pasture mix. This increases the amount of green leaf and therefore increases the rate of photosynthesis. It will also allow adequate rest to ensure maximum ground cover and root health. Discover how to do this at our Grazing Clinics.
Plan, monitor and manage. Each season is different, and we need to plan for the future and then readily observe the changes in the paddock to make sure we react and adjust as required.
Implement time-controlled grazing (matching rest to the growth rate of the plant), grazing for desirable species and matching stocking rate to carrying capacity.
Check out the full list of RCS Grazing Principles for further details.
Allow adequate rest periods for native pastures to become established and increase in volume. Focus grazing decisions towards the desirable natives, leaving enough biomass behind after grazing to ensure the plant has a strong root system and is rain ready. Remember the important rule to only remove a maximum of 40% of C4 grasses in one graze and 60% of C3 grasses to ensure root biomass is increasing.
Learn more about how to manage pastures at GrazingforProfit®.
You can increase the stocking rate and carrying capacity by allowing plants to have adequate rest and grazing for desired species. You will improve the pasture composition, and this will be reflected underneath the surface by improving soil structure and microbial life. This will increase ground cover and the amount of quality pasture available throughout variable seasons and increase the resilience of your landscape. It also allows root zones to develop and access water and nutrients from a larger profile in the soil.
Increasing the environment’s resilience and maintaining pasture in a rain-ready state in variable rainfall seasons allows for the overall ecosystem health to spiral upwards. This, in turn, will increase the overall carrying capacity of the landscape, therefore increasing the number of stock that can be run. How to apply the above methods is covered in our Grazing Clinic and GrazingforProfit® program.
When you are spiralling the health of the land upward (ecosystem), you are increasing the carrying capacity of the land and its resilience in variable seasons. This allows you to increase the number of Large Stock Units or Dry Sheep Equivalents you can carry at certain times of the year to maximise productivity either in numbers weaned or kg of protein/ha.
Making small adjustments to stock numbers early when the season is deteriorating (rolling rainfall decreasing) means that you will need to destock less later. This allows you to end up with more stock at the end of a dry period or respond quickly when a season breaks.
Improving land health and an increase in sustainable production go hand in hand.
You can track your rolling rainfall and stock numbers using our Grazing Chart tool and use the information it provides to make the decisions mentioned above.
Learn more about the above suggestions at Farming & GrazingforProfit®.
Learn more about the above suggestions at Farming & GrazingforProfit®.
The carrying capacity of a piece of land changes as the seasons change. When there is less rainfall, there is less pasture growth. Therefore less stock can be carried.
To match SR:CC, you must know where you are currently by looking at the following figures for the last 12 months:
Then you must keep an up-to-date grass budget to ensure you know the carrying capacity of the country. How much feed do you have ahead of you? Is there growth? Match the stocking rate to the available pasture till your green date, which is when you have a 70% chance or greater of your season starting, meaning enough moisture and a soil temp to promote growth. Lastly, monitor what changes happen and manage the changes.
For more detail on the following techniques, check out the RCS Grazing Principles.
Growing season – matches the rest period to the growth rate of the plant. In times of rapid growth, the rest period for each paddock will be short (for example 30-60 days). Ensure you are only removing 10-20% of available pasture – this is the accumulation period where you are building your haystack for the non-growing period of the season.
Non-Growing season – conduct a whole property grass budget. Calculate the mob size you can run until your green date (the estimated time of your next growing period). Graze the available pasture in two grazes (to follow the rule of not removing more than 40% of C4 grasses in one graze and 60% of C3 grasses in one graze). It also keeps the stock on an even plane of nutrition and allows for any rainfall to be utilised.
If you want to create your own tailored grazing plan, we suggest following our self-paced, online Create a Grazing Plan course or engaging one of our Advisors to help you.
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The season in SA and Tassie is particularly tight right now with little or no useful rain since early January and a generally failed 2023 spring prior to that. Right now, across southern Australia and much of the eastern NSW, you won’t need to drive far out into the countryside to see cattle and sheep grazing (and lying on) hay and silage trails lined across paddocks.
Martha Lindstad and partner Robert James are farm managers on ‘Karalee’, Enngonia NSW. Both have travelled different paths to being where they are. Martha is originally from Norway, growing up on a three hectare farm before travelling to New Zealand and eventually the Pilbara in Western Australia. It was here that she saw the benefits of sustainable farming for the country and livestock.
The Prince’s RCS mentor, Raymond Stacey, sees a strong future ahead for Simon and Laura. “The Drought Resilient Soils and Landscapes project is about supporting graziers to manage their country and businesses better,” Raymond said. “I see an operation here where they’re working hard on their planning and putting their plans into action to leave their country, business and people in better shape.”
John Kempf, a visionary in regenerative agriculture, founded Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA) to revolutionise farming practices. A respected expert in biological and regenerative systems, John's mission is to empower farmers worldwide with the knowledge and tools for a healthier, more sustainable food system. AEA's impact extends from healthier soils to thriving communities. John hosts the acclaimed Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, sharing cutting-edge insights from scientists and leading growers on implementing these transformative practices. Prepare to be inspired as John delves into the profound connections between soil health, human health, energy, and economics.
Unlock the Secrets to a Thriving, Sustainable Grazing Operation! In this video and blog post, David McLean, RCS's Chief of Delivery, spills the tea on building a successful grazing business. It's not just about cows and grass (although those are important!). Discover how to find the perfect balance between practical skills, smart choices, and a long-term vision. We'll dive deep into the foundational principles and strategies that can make your grazing operation both profitable and environmentally responsible. Learn how to: Maximise your profits (without sacrificing your land!) Make sound decisions for a healthy herd and ecosystem. Plan for a thriving future in the grazing industry. Ready to take your grazing operation to the next level? Watch now!
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