At Southern Dirt, we partnered with MLA for the Dual Purpose Crops project. This initiative was designed to explore and enhance the use of crops that serve both as a source of forage for livestock and as a grain harvest. Our involvement focused on providing local expertise, facilitating on-ground trials, and supporting our growers with the latest research and practical insights.

From 2020 to 2024, we collaborated with mixed farming enterprises across Great Southern Western Australia. Our producers ranged from ewe flocks managing 2,000 heads to sprawling fields nurturing 7,000 sheep – even grazing cattle found a place within our study.

Background

Producers in the Great Southern region of Western Australia face a re-occurring on-farm autumn feed gap. The MLA ‘Benefits of Dual-Purpose Crops Producer Demonstration Site (PDS)’ addressed the benefits of implementing dual-purpose crops within a mixed farming enterprise.

Dual-purpose crops such as long-season wheat, DS Pascal, fodder oats, barley, and triticale offer a solution by providing high-quality feed through grazing, reducing the need for supplementary feeding as well as still resulting in a competitive cash crop.

The main target audience for this demonstration included mixed farming enterprises, particularly the 80% of Southern Dirt members who are mixed farmers with flock sizes ranging from 2,000 to 5,500 breeding ewes, and some larger enterprises with around 7,000 ewes. These producers seek localised research data to enhance their production capabilities and overall farm profitability.

The results of the demonstration have provided valuable insights into the benefits of integrating dual-purpose crops into mixed farming systems.

Grazing crops provide high quality green feed for livestock and can typically be grazed between June to August. Green crops have a higher energy content than green pasture meaning a lower crop FOO is required to meet the livestock needs. There can however be a yield penalty associated with this activity. Crop grazing can be used in several possible ways to boost profitability including to:

• allow twin-bearing ewes to gain weight at the end of pregnancy leading to bigger lambs with higher chance of survival,

• increase stocking rate,

• reduce supplementary feeding cost and/or

• producing out-of-season finished lambs.

Objectives

By February 2024, the project aimed to:

1. Demonstrate and quantify the benefits of integrating dual-purpose crops into mixed farming systems to address the autumn feed gap with three new demonstration sites each year (9 in total). 1 in 2020, 3 in 2021, 3 in 2022, 2 in 2023

1. 80% of core producers will have adopted dual-purpose crops as a part of their whole farm management system.

1. 10% of Southern Dirt members will have adopted dual-purpose crops as part of a whole farm management (currently there is less than 5% of members using dual-purpose crops in their mixed farming enterprises)

1. Demonstrate the impact of grazing crops on harvest yield (kg/ha) and live weight gain (expected less than 10% yield penalty and 10% increase in liveweight gain (kg/hd/day) on dual-purpose crops compared to grazing pasture paddocks).

1. Conduct an economic analysis on grazing the dual-purpose crops which will include crop yield and weight gain of sheep (considering factors such as reducing supplementary feed costs, crop yield penalties and weight gain)

1. Undertake communication activities (6 field walks and 2 events / workshops) to extend the results to encourage adoption of the practice by Southern Dirt members (target to increase knowledge and confidence in implementing grazing crops into farming management practices by a minimum of 80 farmers by 15%)

Methodology

Nine trial sites were established in the Southern Dirt region, including at Kojonup, Broomehill, Katanning, Darkan, and Boyup Brook over four consecutive years 2020-2023. Dual-purpose crops included differing varieties: DS Pascal wheat, Bennett wheat, fodder oats, barley, and triticale. The demonstration sites compared a dual-purpose crop paddock, with a similar-sized pasture paddock and/or a control that is sown with the same dual-purpose crop variety but not grazed. Assessments collected throughout the sites over the four years included forage availability (FOO), Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), livestock weights, condition scores, grazing durations, grazing economics and final crop yield. The trial analysed stocking rates, seasonal conditions, weight gain, and crop yield impact. An economic analysis has been completed for all sites to quantify data, and to demonstrate the benefits of integrating dual-purpose crops in mixed farming systems.

Results/key findings

Across the nine Producer Demonstration sites in Western Australia’s Great Southern region, dual-purpose crops showed significant benefits for mixed farming systems.

In terms of overall project site results, one site grazing William’s oats, resulted in lambs gaining 341.95 g/head/day, compared to 215.84 g/head/day on pasture, exceeding expected growth rates. This highlighted the potential of short-term crop grazing to boost livestock growth while also allowing pastures to regenerate.

Trials have recorded varying yield penalties from 0.4% to 23% but the consensus is that the yield penalty is minimal if the crop is grazed early and lightly.  Despite challenges such as delayed grazing affecting yield reductions at several sites, favourable spring conditions allowed for crop recovery and improved livestock conditions, showcasing the resilience and potential of dual-purpose crops in enhancing farm productivity and sustainability.

Overall, grazing crops increased profit between $19/ha and $30/ha depending on the yield penalty incurred by grazing. However, to maximise the benefits of crop grazing, other key management changes must be made.

The value of crop grazing significantly decreases for low livestock prices. At high grain prices light crop grazing is still profitable however profit drops significantly for higher grazing intensities.

Farmers can be confident that some crop grazing will be profitable regardless of the size of their cropping enterprise in a mixed-farming system.

In terms of the monitoring and evaluation process of producers involved, all core producers post project surveyed stated that participating in this PDS project had increased their knowledge of Dual-Purpose Crops. Eighty percent (80%) of core producers post project surveyed also said that it has increased their skills significantly while 20% stated that their skills were increased slightly. From the post project survey, we can also conclude that 60% of core producers stated they have made or intend to make other changes to their business as a result of participating in this PDS.

Benefits to industry

Dual-purpose crops help producers manage seasonal feed gaps more effectively, increasing the agricultural industry’s resilience to climate variability and mitigating production risks. With correct management, grazing these crops results in minimal yield penalties, allowing for optimal livestock and crop production. This approach enhances overall productivity, provides a greater return on often underutilized land, and contributes to economic stability within the sector. Furthermore, the successful implementation and demonstration of dual-purpose crops encourages knowledge sharing and innovation, promoting a collaborative approach to farming challenges and sustainable practices, leading to a greater return on investment for the producer and industry.