Case Study: Emissions reduction at Carnigup via rotational grazing
- ASHEEP & BEEF
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Jan Clawson, ASHEEP & BEEF
Ryan and Elisha Willing own and operate a mixed cattle and cropping enterprise in the Boyatup area, east of Esperance, in WA. They were among the first group of producers in 2023 to join the Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) funded, Producer Demonstration Site Project Emission Intensity – Getting started on farm, previously known as Carbon Neutral 2030: Getting started on farm.
Ryan joined the project because he believed there would be an immediate requirement for carbon reporting and wanted to understand what was needed and to be prepared. He feels there is still a need to understand carbon emissions, but the reporting requirements are further away. That said, financial institutions will require producers’ emissions data as part of their reporting. We are already seeing producers being asked to share data.
“In the first year of the project, it was all about understanding carbon emissions and the information required to complete the calculator. In years two and three, we focused on fine-tuning the calculator information.” Ryan said.
There has been a real benefit in learning as a group - sharing ideas, discussing what works and what doesn’t etc. Having a group of like-minded people sharing ideas around a table always helps identify different ways to achieve productivity gains. For Ryan this included considering earlier turn-off time and gaining a better understanding of cattle weights - which provides opportunity for productivity gains and influences emissions intensity.
In addition to being the lead producer for this project, Ryan is also a demonstration site host. The aim for his demonstration site was to reduce carbon emissions by improving pastures and better pasture utilisation.
The objective was to show by planting higher quality perennial pastures and implementing a rotational grazing strategy, he could reduce enteric methane, net carbon emissions, and emission intensity over the life of the project.
Ryan had intended to plant lucerne in spring 2024 but due to an early and short finish to the season, he postponed this until conditions were more favourable.
During the 2025 growing season, Ryan has focused on improving the quality and quantity of his annual legumes and grasses and worked to improve pasture utilisation through rotational grazing.
Ryan had used rotational grazing before the project and knew it worked with weaner cattle but hadn’t used it for cows and calves before. He was concerned using a single hot wire would allow the calves to end up everywhere, but that wasn’t the case.
Ryan runs the rotational grazing system on his best pastures. This also requires mapping the lighter soil types, so cells have the same number of grazing days available without becoming overgrazed.
In early April, Ryan seeded RM4 Vetch at 9 kg/ha and Abundant Ryegrass at 5 kg/ha. With favourable rainfall and growing conditions, the result has been outstanding.
The area also received fertiliser treatments of 50 kg/ha of MOP pre-seeding, followed by 70 kg/ha of MAP and 70 kg/ha of Urea at seeding.
Ryan commenced rotational grazing on the 1 June 2025, maintaining 1.5 cow-calf units per hectare until the end of October 2025. While the ryegrass remained green, growth slowed as soil moisture reduced.
Following weaning, Ryan believes the area should continue to support two weaners per hectare through November and December.
The standard stocking rate for unimproved pasture in this area is typically one cow-calf unit on two hectares. This represents a 200 percent increase for Ryan.
The high rotational grazing stocking rate has also improved weed management. Ryan was able to control radish easily by using a weed wipe after a graze - ensuring the weeds were out of the withholding period before cows returned to that section.
Another project benefit has been better understanding of cattle weights by taking the opportunity to weigh cattle while they are in the yards. At the beginning of this project in 2023, Ryan had no recorded weights for his cattle and instead relied on educated estimates. In 2024 he weighed around 75% of his cattle. This weighing identified his weaners experienced a flat spot of reduced growth in May. He found by providing supplementary feed during May, he was able to turn his finished cattle off a month earlier in 2025.
Ryan said, “Completing the calculator is absolutely worth doing. Gathering the information and completing the calculator is a great way to understand the factors that affect production and carbon emissions, and how small changes can make a difference. The development of the easy-to-read ‘Starting your emissions journey’ toolkit has also helped make it less daunting.”
“The data you needed to complete the calculator is data you should be collecting anyway and is worthwhile knowing. It’s also good to see it all in one place.”
Ryan said he will continue to complete the calculator every year after the project has finished, as it will be good to know how he’s progressing.
