FEED365: 2024 results Esperance demonstration sites
- ASHEEP & BEEF
- Apr 4
- 9 min read
Sarah Brown, ASHEEP & BEEF
Project Background
The Feed365 Project is a collaboration between the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) and Meat & Livestock Australia. Its purpose is to research and redesign livestock forage systems to fill feed gaps, develop new feed base options and integrate them into grazing systems.
The bulk of this research is happening at DPIRD’s Katanning Research Station, where more than 20 forage treatments have been established and assessed between 2021 – 2025. The work is being led by pasture research scientist Dr Daniel Real, alongside a team including Dr Angelo Loi, Paul Sanford, Clinton Revell, and Claire Payne. These trials are now in their final year and results are expected in late 2025.
ASHEEP & BEEF’s role in the project has been to coordinate demonstration sites in the Esperance region, in 2024 this included:
Establishing and measuring grazing of a long-term regenerating pasture mix of triticale / cereal rye / balansa clover at the Esperance Downs Research Station, hosted by Josh and Tegan Sullivan who lease part of the site.
Monitoring and attempting to graze a tedera site established in 2022 at The Oaks, hosted by Mitchell and Demi Greaves.
A big thanks goes to Josh, Tegan, Mitch and Demi for hosting sites, and to producers Mark Walter and David Vandenberghe who have been involved in the project team.
Read on for the 2024 results from the Sullivans’ Esperance Downs Research Station site. Further reporting on the tedera will be shared later this year as grazing was not able to be measured in 2024 due to an unplanned grazing of the paddock in summer.
2024 Pasture Mix Results: Triticale / cereal rye / balansa clover
Location: Esperance Downs Research Station, Gibson
Host: Josh & Tegan Sullivan
Profile: Soil samples 0-40cm, loamy sand / sand, subject to waterlogging, 5.7-6.2 pH(water)
Paddock History: Long-term regenerating pasture with brome grass, silver grass, geranium, rye grass, sub clovers.
Objective
The original objective for this paddock was to establish a permanent pasture system that will reclaim a run-down paddock. This included establishing a system that would be suitable for potential waterlogging and suppress unwanted grasses such as brome and silvergrass, and provide early / late feed options.
In 2022 this paddock was sown with a pasture mix and then divided in half, with one half grazed and the other kept for hay. A deep rip strip was included for comparison purposes. Barley grass and brome grass remained problematic and required slashing and later spray topping.
In 2023 the site was split into halves (7ha each). Two experimental pasture mixes were sown on 22nd February, ideally to provide autumn feed, spell over winter and then graze again through late spring. Seasonal conditions were very challenging. With a very dry start, the aim to graze during autumn was not met. Later in the season waterlogging occurred and the only species to survive was balansa clover. Plans to conduct grazing measurements were abandoned.
Results from 2022 & 2023 can be found at www.asheepbeef.org.au/feed365.
2024 Plans
In October 2023, Dr Daniel Real and Dr Angelo Loi visited Esperance and met with Josh Sullivan and other members of the project team to make plans for this paddock for the 2024 season. Angelo was particularly interested in trialing a mix that had shown promise under tough conditions in the Katanning FEED365 trials and the project team agreed to proceed with the following mix:
Triticale 40kg /ha - A mixture of Speedee (early cv) and Wonambi (late cv)
Cereal Rye 30kg /ha - Fastfeed or Vampire
Balansa Clover 10kg p/ha
The mix was intended to create grazing windows early and late in the season, with the Balansa Clover included as a backup due to the potential for this paddock to be waterlogged. Note: Angelo recommended the Balansa clover at a higher sowing rate than usual because it was to be sown dry and he advised that under these conditions losses can be up to 50%. If budget was an issue, he suggested the Balansa ration could be brought back to 7.5kg/ha, but if not an issue (e.g. if someone was growing their own seed and had access at low cost) he’d recommend up to 15kg/ha dry sown.
2024 Establishment
Of course, the best laid plans often test us!
Sourcing seed for the desired varieties of triticale and cereal rye was problematic. Speedee could not be sourced. Fastfeed and Vampire could only be obtained from interstate and as a result were very expensive. In discussion with Daniel and Angelo, the final mix was set as follows:
Triticale 40kg /ha - Wonambi (late cv) - $2.73 p/kg ex GST
Ryecorn 30kg /ha - $2.18 p/kg ex GST
Balansa Clover 10kg p/ha - $6.50 p/kg ex GST
The trial site was intended to be dry sown prior to the break of the season to give the Sullivans an opportunity to get it in the ground prior to their main seeding program and to give it the best chance for grazing in the autumn feed gap. The idea was that early rains would create an opportunity for weed control, but a very dry start to the 2024 season meant that there were no opportunities to conduct a knock-down spray. (Researcher Paul Sanford noted that dry seeding mixes such as this in a clean paddock is preferable in order to maximise autumn feed, but our aim with this site was to improve a paddock already in permanent pasture).
We re-assessed and with advice from Angelo agreed that ideally the mix would now be sown no later than mid-May. Again, the best laid plans… !
In early May, Josh reported light rains (around 7mm), but with minimal weed germination it was determined best to wait. In late May, the project team got the WhatsApp message we were after from Josh: “G’day gang, finally got some rain to get a germination, is the plan still to put this trial in even though we are not fitting the autumn feed gap now?” The circumstances had shifted from our ideal plans, but it was decided to move forward.
Josh got the knock-down spray out and seeded the mix on 12 June 2024 using a John Deere air hoe drill with 10 inch spacing and 50mm splitter boots.
21mm of rain fell on the day of seeding which was topped up to make a total of 53mm for June, followed by 76 mm in July.
2024 Results
With establishment completed and the autumn feed gap behind us, our revised plan was to commence a measured grazing in early August 2024, comparing the demonstration paddock to a nearby “control paddock” of regenerating pasture that is typical for the farm. Grazing cages were placed in each paddock.
Our thanks to Jake Hann, Nutrien Ag Solutions, for capturing the sheep condition scores and weights and to Farm & General for taking pasture measurements.
Demonstration Paddock Measurements
On 23rd of July 2024, pasture cuts were taken of the demonstration mix showing low levels of N, and adequate levels of P, K and S.
Prior to grazing, a visual estimate of the Food On Offer (FOO) was taken to calculate the stocking rate to achieve a minimum of 3 weeks grazing. See images below taken 5th August 2024 of the demonstration paddock with FOO estimated at 1700kg Dry Matter/ha by Daniel.
sture cuts of the demonstration paddock were taken for nutritional analysis on 20th August 2024 at Independent Labs (Dr. John Milton). Results showed that the Phosphorus and Potassium levels were very high as might be expected for a crop at this stage of maturity, especially if it was well fertilized with these two important elements. The Calcium and Magnesium levels were not that high, as is often the case for a Cereal dominant forage. The level of Calcium would be considered too low for good growth of lambs, especially with the Ca:P ratio at 0.94:1 being well away from the desirable ratio of 2:1 for bone growth. The Magnesium at this level may be considered Ok for growing lambs, but the very high level of Potassium and the very low level of Sodium may impact to impair the absorption of Magnesium, especially with the high level of CP. The level of Sulphur would normally be considered Ok for growing lambs, but in conjunction with the high CP of this forage the Nitrogen:Sulphur ratio was quite wide for lambs, especially wool breeds. This wide N:S ratio and the ME at this level may act together to lower the utilization of the CP consumed. The Chloride in this forage was reasonably high and fortunately its potential to negatively impact on the bone mineralization of growing lambs was probably masked to a large extent by the high level of Potassium. The levels of Copper, Zinc and Manganese should be adequate to support good rates of growth of healthy lambs, but the Copper and Zinc levels may be marginal if the absorption of these elements was impaired to some extent should the lambs continue to scour while grazing this lush forage. The level of Iron was well above that needed for high rates of lamb growth. Molybdenum was quite low and at this level in concert with the reported levels of Sulphur, Iron and Zinc is unlikely to disrupt Copper metabolism in growing lambs.
After grazing concluded (5th September 2024), pasture cuts were taken on 12th September for biomass, showing inside the grazing cage 1239.56g wet, 511.42g dry, 41.2% DM and outside the cage 356.13g wet, 76.3g dry, 21.4% DM.
Stock measurements are shown in the table below.
Once the measured grazing of the demonstration paddock was complete, the paddock was put aside and cut for hay on 23rd September 2024. Josh noted that the uneven grazing pattern of the sheep had become very evident, as shown in the images below.
On 8th October 2024 the paddock was baled, yielding 4T/ha. Samples of the hay were taken on 28th November 2024, with the results showing a good quality hay with ME = 8.6 MJ/kg) and WSC of 10.1%.
Control Paddock Measurements
This paddock was located nearby the demonstration paddock, and consisted of an established regenerating mix primarily including Geraldton subclover, wimmera ryegrass, and weeds including cape weed, erodium and brome grass.
Visual estimate of FOO was taken to calculate the stocking rate to achieve a minimum of 3 weeks grazing. See images to the right taken 5th August 2024, with FOO estimated at 1250 kg Dry Matter/ha by Daniel.
At the conclusion of grazing pasture cuts were taken for biomass, showing inside the grazing cage 815.29g wet, 168.17g dry, 20.6% DM. There was insufficient pasture outside the grazing cage to take a cut.
Nutritional analysis of this paddock could not be taken.
Stock measurements are shown in the table to the below.
Results Analysis
Stock rate in the demonstration paddock was 15 DSE/ha vs 6.1 DSE/ha in the control. Sheep in the demonstration paddock gained an average of 2.64kg more (or 0.094kg more weight per day) than those in the control paddock. Demonstration paddock stock gained a 0.38 additional condition score compared to those in the control paddock.
Despite missing the early grazing due to seasonal conditions, DPIRD has been pleased with the results from the demonstration paddock. The paddock was able to carry a significantly higher stocking rate than the control and the animals demonstrated good performance. Daniel noted that DPIRD has been getting similar results in their FEED365 trials at the Katanning Research Station where they have been measuring comparable mixes to a control of sub clover and ryegrass.
The seed itself was expensive to purchase, however there is the potential for producers to grow their own seed to reduce the associated cost. DPIRD will be conducting economic analysis of their Katanning research trials and we will look forward to sharing this when available.
From Josh’s point of view, the cost per hectare for the seed was a point that would frighten people away from the mix. “I think I could have got the same return from a barley / vetch / serradella mix, much of which I have on hand, as what I can out of the trial mix,” said Josh. “In comparison to putting 60kg p/ha of Neo barley in, or whatever you have in the shed, that could do the same if not better. The seed mixes have to be user friendly.”
“Maybe if there had been a good early start and a true autumn seeding to get an early grazing, that could be the fit that would make it worth spending the money on it. That could have been a different story. It would have been good to see that in the trial, but that’s not the season we got. Maybe in that situation you could see that a barley would not do as well. The seasonal conditions have made it hard to demonstrate.”
The total seed cost was $239.60 p/ha ex GST. The balansa clover ($65 p/ha of that total) was included as a backup because the paddock had been waterlogged in the past and the project team did not want the Sullivans to be left with a bare paddock during the trial.
“For the trial, we went ahead with late seeding because there were still things to be learnt, but in a commercial situation it would be better to put it in the ground if there were early rains, but if not, leave it in the silo and put in something else.”
“The pasture it produced was quite strawy – the sheep ate the leaf matter at the bottom, but they did not eat the stem of the plants. If that was barley they would eat the lot. Without strong grazing pressure it tended to grow away from them.”
“The hay results were quite good. It’s nearly all gone now and the sheep have eaten it to the ground and not wasted any. Perhaps it could work as a true hay crop.”
“We’re letting that paddock regenerate this year, there was some reshooting after we cut the hay but it was a dry spring. We’ll see what comes from that.”
“It was a worthwhile exercise, there is always something to learn.”