Animal Sciences Commons^™

Oestrogenic Subterranean Clover Guide. Identification And Remediation, Kevin J. Foster, Megan H. Ryan, Daniel R. Kidd

Bulletins 4000 -

Subterranean clover (subclover, Trifolium subterraneum L.) is an annual pasture legume that provides high quality feed for livestock. It is estimated to be sown over 30 million hectares across southern Australia, with cultivars developed for the low, medium and high rainfall zones. Unfortunately, some older cultivars contain high levels of phytoestrogen which can affect the reproductive system of sheep and cause other health issues. This became a significant issue for sheep producers from the 1940s as new land was cleared and sheep grazed subclover-dominant pastures. There was a collection of livestock issues observed and these were grouped together under the …

Mosaic Agriculture: A Guide To Irrigated Crop And Forage Production In Northern Wa, Geoff A. Moore Mr, Clinton K. Revell Dr, Christopher Schelfhout Dr, Christopher Ham Mr, Samuel Crouch Mr

Bulletins 4000 -

The Bulletin is a comprehensive guide for pastoralists, agronomists, agribusiness and the broader community on the growing of irrigated crops and pastures within a rangeland pastoral setting.

Dispersed irrigation developments on stations throughout the northern rangelands (sometimes referred to as mosaic agriculture) has created opportunities for the introduction of more productive forage species and pastoralists can now grow high quality forage for 12 months of the year. This can help to overcome the key constraint of traditional pastoral systems, the low quality of the feed over the dry season that typically results in stock losing condition.

Improving Subtropical Grass Pastures On The South Coast Of Western Australia, Paul Sanford, Ron Master, Eric Dobbe

Bulletins 4000 -

This bulletin reports on the findings of a research project funded by DPIRD and MLA that investigated methods to improve legume content and increase production of both kikuyuand panic-based pastures on the south coast of WA.

Final Evaluation Of The North East Agricultural Region (Near) Strategy, Andrew Blake, Don Burnside, Vicki Williams

All other publications

No abstract provided.

Management Of Merino Weaners For Optimum Production, Patricia Harper, Keith Croker, Danny Roberts

Bulletins 4000 -

Sheep mortality during the first year of life is a large problem on many farms and poses a significant animal welfare issue for Australian agriculture. Post weaning mortality is estimated to cost the Australian sheep industry more than $89 million annually through reduced income, poor productivity and increased management expenses (Sackett et al. 2006).

A high mortality rate among weaners reduces the number of surplus animals available for sale and the number of potential breeding replacements. This, in turn, affects the selection intensity for desirable traits and the flock’s rate of genetic improvement.

Ill thrift and poor growth of weaner …

Pastoral Profits Guide, A Paddock Guide To Achieving Sustainable Livestock Productivity, Mark Alchin, Jim Addison, Valarie Shrubb, Zac Cockerill, Matthew Young, Tim Johnson, Greg Brennan

All other publications

Most pastoralists appreciate the need to deliver an economic, environmental and social 'profit' from their business. Achieving these profits can be a real challenge given the comparatively low productive potential and the substantial seasonal variation in the WA Southern Rangelands region. This guide was written to assist pastoralists to meet their specific livestock production, financial and range condition objectives through the better alignment of feed demand (stocking rate) to feed supply (carrying capacity). We provide nine basic steps that simplify the process of managing the feed supply, equipping pastoralists with the tools to make· decisions and to critically assess the …

Returns To R&D Investment Of Dafwa: Benefit Cost Analysis, 2005-2006, Nazrul Islam

Bulletins 4000 -

The primary outcome or objective of the projects that are assessed, is to increase the market competitiveness and profitability of agri-industry.

Returns To Research And Development Investment Of The Department Of Agriculture And Food Western Australia : Benefit Cost Analysis, 2006-2007, Peter Coyle, Editor, Roslyn Blanchard, Francis Bright, Paul Mattingley, Manju Radhakrishnan

Bulletins 4000 -

Strategic decision making is enhanced by the consideration of benefit cost analyses of many projects. Each year a selection of projects is evaluated to assist in the determination of the most appropriate allocation of funds. This is only one of the methods that are employed by the Department’s Executive to increase market competitiveness and profitability in agriculture and the pastoral industries. This report includes both ex post and ex ante analyses, as they are complementary processes.

Feeding And Managing Sheep In Dry Times, Ian Mcfarland, Mandy Curnow, Mike Hyder, Brian Ashton, Danny Roberts

Bulletins 4000 -

Feeding sheep is a significant cost to any sheep or mixed farm enterprise in southern Australia. The cost is usually managed by annually sourcing feed on-farm. However, this feed source can become scarce when we experience unusual dry spells within seasons (termed a 'dry season', such as a dry winter or spring), a late break to the season, a drought year, or even worse, successive drought years.

Climate change research suggests that southern Australia will experience higher annual temperatures and a decline in mean growing season rainfall (particularly winter and spring) over the coming decades. This will affect the productivity …

Code Of Practice For The Use Of Agricultural And Veterinary Chemicals In Western Australia, Peter Rutherford

Bulletins 4000 -

Agricultural and veterinary chemicals are a critically important input to modern farming systems. There is, however an increasing responsibility on the spray operator and his supervisor to use them with utmost safety. An effective way of providing the “rules” of safe chemical use is through a Code of Practice, the concept of which arose because of the increase in new and emerging agricultural industries and their impact on traditional uses of agricultural chemicals.

On-Station Production Of Native Speargrass Hay In Western Australia, G L. Krebs, Robert R. Rouda, S P. Van Wyngaarden

Bulletins 4000 -

This report documents the practical and economic feasibility of on-station harvesting and production of speargrass hay and haylage and its subsequent feeding to cattle and sheep in the extensive regions of south-eastern Western Australia. Four hundred and ten bales weighing an average 275 kg were produced from a total harvested area of 40.6 ha in the vicinity of Duck Dam on Kanandah Station. In the lead up to harvesting, seasonal conditions were among the best on record. Half of the bales produced were further processed into haylage. Two feeding trials, involving wethers at Arubiddy and steers at Kanandah, were undertaken …

The Good Food Guide For Sheep : Feeding Sheep For Meat Production In The Areas Of Western Australia, Keith Croker, Peter Watt, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia

Bulletins 4000 -

The Good Food Guide for Sheep has been produced to provide Western Australian farmers with a concise compilation of current information on feeding sheep for meat production. Although there are already numerous publications about sheep nutrition,many of them relate to wool production, reproduction or drought feeding, or they concentrate on particular feeds or feeding systems.

This book contains information on a wide range of feeds and feeding methods. Just as there is no single ‘best’ sheep breed for meat production, there is no ultimate feed regime for sheep for growth.

Agriculture And The Western Australian Economy : Value Added Contribution Of Agricultural Commodities, Nazrul Islam

All other publications

No abstract provided.

Registered Cultivars Of Subterranean Clover : Their Characteristics, Origin And Identification, W. J. Collins, Phil G. Nichols, M J. Barbetti, Co-Operative Research Centre For Legumes In Mediterranean Agriculture (Australia)

Bulletins 4000 -

This Bulletin updates Bulletin No. 4083, which was written in 1984. Since tat time 11 new subterranean clover cultivars have been released, making a total of 33. This Bulletin is largely applicable across all subterranean clover areas of Australia. However specific mention is made in the text to applications in Western Australia.

Murex Medic Trials And Redlegged Earthmite Impacts, D. Gillespie

Experimental Summaries - Plant Research

1. Selection and development of early maturing varieties of murex medic.

Small plot trials were established at six medium and low rainfall sites in autumn 1988. All were hand sown 2Mx3Mplots sown at 50 kg/ha except for the Merredin site which was drill sown at 10 kg/ha.

Locations: Badgebup, Gabalong, Kellerberrin, Merredin, North Quairading, Pingrup.

2. Mid season murex medic evaluation.

Locations: Avondale, Cranbrook, Darkan and New Norcia

This programme aims to identify superior varieties to Zodiac which was released in 1988.

3. Management of murex medic.

Locations: Arthur River

After three years of drought the large grazing trial at …

Communication Networks And The Adoption Of Three Farn Practices, P. W. Fry, F. K. Goss

All other publications

The report commences with a discussion of the diffusion and adoption model, and illustrates some of the research observations and practical outcomes that have emerged in recent years, An overview of social network research is presented as a means of understanding communication exchanges and providing data relevant to the diffusion debate. The communication and adoption studies are then reported in three separate sections in the order they were conducted. (A map of the location of the survey areas is shown in Figure I ) . The objectives, survey method, results and a summary are presented for each study.

A background …

Registered Cultivars Of Subterranean Clover : Their Origin, Identification And Potential Use In Western Australia., W. J. Collins, B J. Quinlivan, C M. Francis

Bulletins 4000 -

The annual species subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) is the most important pasture legume in Western Australia. In addition to providing nutrious feed for livestock, it is an important source of nitrogen for non-leguminous species in pastures for the State's ceral crops.

Toxic Ferns Of Western Australia, T E H Aplin, P Steele, M C. Nottle

Technical Bulletins

Botanical descriptions and notes on the distribution of six species of ferns are given. These plants contain the enzyme thiaminase, which may induce thiamin deficiency, or other constituents toxic to animals. The clinical signs of both thiamin deficiency and fern toxicity in affected livestock are described.