Plant Sciences Commons^™

Improving Feed Grains, Bruce P. Mullan

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Clearly, to encourage grain growers to focus their production systems towards feed grains, it is important to first identify the reasons for variation in the nutritional value of grains and then to develop rapid, cheap, and accurate methods of measuring these factors. The analytical methods should ideally be suitable for application either at the site of grain delivery from the farm or within the place of stockfeed manufacture. This will mean the nutritional value of the grain can be known before it is used. The rational marketing of feed grains could then be achieved, with the benefits from more efficient …

Improving Dairy Farm Performance, Ruth Dilley

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Western Austraian sairy farmers produce more milk per cow and per farm than their eastern Sttates counterparts and the milk is also of higher quality. But there is always room for improvement and as grain prices rise it is crucial that maximum benefit is derived from the cheapest feed source - the pasture.With this in mind Ruth Dilley looks at the Dairy Farm Performance Program - a comprihensive farm database developed by Agriculture Western Australia.

Value Of Saltbush Questioned, Brian Warren, Tess Casson, Ed Barrett-Lennard

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Over the last 20 years the Department of Agriculture has focused on finding plant species that can grow on salt/and to produce sheep feed, and on techniques for establishing plantations of saltbushes. Some research has been in response to farmer reports of success in using revegetated salt/and to provide autumn forage, while other work has resulted from the apparent importance of saltbushes in rangeland areas.

Objective measurements of wool production have been taken only recently. Three years research at Katanning indicates that while saltbush material is selected and eaten by sheep, its value for wool production is not high. It …

Biotechnology : Exposing The Myths & Realities, Sue Sutherland, Alan Lymbery

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Biotechnology has become one of the buzz words of the 1990s. Sounds impressive but what's it all about? Sue Sutherland and Alan Lymbery unravel some of the jargon and explore its potential for Western Australian agriculture.

Storm : [Wind Erosion In The Great Southern], Dan Carter

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

On Thursday 11 May 1995, a low pressure system with central barometric pressure of 990 hPa formed of south-western Australia. This depression directed gale force winds over the South-West Land Division for some seven hours.

Dan Carter reports on the widespread damage to soils and property, and management practices that would have reduced the problem.

Other On-Station Activities For Wool Pastoralists, Mark Stevens

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The impact of low wool prices has been most severe on specialist wool growers who have little scope for diversification, particularly those in the pastoral area.

Although there are limited opportunities for new enterprises on all pastoral stations, individual pastoralists are examining other on-station activities to determine which ones might be suitable. In doing so, they are evaluating:

• location (proximity to a major highway or population centre);

• natural attractions (coast, gorges, river, wildflowers);

• natural resources (native fauna and flora); and

• water supply (quantity and reliability of good quality water).

Lupin Stubbles : Getting The Best With Weaner Sheep, Keith Croker, Colin Mcdonald, Jeremy Allen

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Sweet lupins are now grown on about a million hectares in Western Australia each year. If half of the State's seven million weaners were grazed as recommended on half of the lupin stubbles, it could generate about $15 million from reduced supplementary feeding, greater wool production and other advantages. But correct management is important, particularly knowing when to take weaners out. Research by the Department over the last five years is now indicating how this should be done.

Tough Times Call For A Review Of Farm Business Performance, Martin Van Bueren, John Young

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Most Australian farm businesses specialising in wool production are operating at a loss at current wool prices. After both short term operating and long term costs of capital depreciation are accounted for, only a small number of wool growers are able to make a profit with the wool market indicator below 500c/kg.

Poor prices have stimulated wool growers to review their operations and look to ways of improving cash flow in the short term, such as diversifying into cropping. The downturn should also prompt growers to address the longer term trends of declining terms of trade and historically poor productivity …

Diversification In The Woolbelt, John Allen

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The productivity and diversification initiative for wool growers incorporates two leves of diversification.

Greatest emphasis is placed on industry wide increases in cropping intensity and in the range of crop types grown.

The second level involves non-traditional, alternative enterprises, each offering prospects for expansion of a limited number of wool growing businesses, suited to particular parts of the woolbelt.

The alternative enterprises include floriculture, aquaculture, export hay, farm tourism, commercial timber, horticulture and new animal industries.

How Sustainable Is Grazing Sheep On Annual Pastures In The Woolbelt?, Don Mcfarlane, Richard George

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Low wool prices have reduced the profitability of producing wool from clover-based annual pastures in the south-western woo/belt. The heavy reliance on one commodity is economically unsustainable for many farmers. But we should also consider how ecologically sustainable the practice is.

Shallow-rooted annual pastures contribute to widespread salinity in the area, annual legumes are acidifying the soils and making them water repellent, and bare, detached soils from heavy grazing cause sheet and rill erosion during autumn storms. In addition, stock are degrading remnant vegetation and destroying the soil's structure.

To counteract this degradation, the woo/belt needs more perennial pastures and …

The Impact Of Red Kangaroos On The Rangelands, Grant Norbury, Dale Norbury

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Kangaroos and other native animals should be maintained across their natural range, including areas set aside for pastoral use. But the added grazing pressure on native vegetation from sheep, cattle and feral animals, together with unnaturally high numbers of kangaroos, has seriously degraded much of our rangelands. Cattle and sheep numbers are relatively easy to control. The same cannot be said for kangaroos. Access to widespread man-made watering points has allowed kangaroos to continue breeding when normally a shortage of water would suppress reproduction.

Pastoralists complain that commercial kangaroo shooting is not always effective in preventing damage caused by kangaroos. …

The Productivity Of Western Australia's Wheat And Sheep Industry, Tim Coelli, Ross Kingwell

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A popular economic lament is that Australian industries and workers are not as productive as they should be. Politicians and economic commentators preach the need for productivity improvement and workplace reform, and criticise inefficiency and lack of endeavour. Can such criticism be fairly levelled at farmers and agricultural scientists? What is productivity and how is it measured? What is the productivity of Western Australia's main agricultural industry — wheat and sheep farming? This article addresses these questions and shows that our wheat-sheep industry can be moderately proud of its productivity record

Using Goats To Control Weeds, John Peirce

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Feral goats are common in the woodland and tall shrubland areas of arid Australia. They survive and reproduce despite regular shooting, capture and droughts. These goats are considered vermin in Western Australia because of their competition with sheep for forage and their reputation as destroyers of vegetation. Research elsewhere, however, has indicated that it is only the uncontrolled grazing by large numbers of goats that causes degradation, in the same way that uncontrolled grazing by sheep can cause erosion. To some people, however, feral goats are a valuable source of income. They have the potential for meat sales, and they …

Phomopsis-Resistant Lupin Stubbles As Feed For Weaner Sheep, Colin Mcdonald, Keith Croker, Jeremy Allen

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The breeding of sweet, narrow-leafed lupins with increased resistance to Phomopsis leptostromiformis, the fungus that causes lupinosis in sheep, is a breakthrough for the summer nutrition of weaner sheep. The new resistant varieties, Gungurru for the medium (325 to 450 mm) rainfall areas and Yorrel for low rainfall areas (less than 325 mm), were released by the Department of Agriculture in 1988.

This article discusses progress in a four-year project which is examining liveweight and wool production of weaners grazing Gungurru stubbles.

Intensive Animal Industries In The Peel-Harvey Catchment, R W. Payne

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The Swan coastal plain to the north and south of Perth is attractive for the intensive production of pigs and poultry for several reasons. It is close to markets, feed manufacturers and labour; has a less extreme climate than inland areas; and is underlain by a large reserve of high quality groundwater.

Because these are all intensive operations, large quantaties of nutrient-rich waste are produced over a very small area. They can severely damage ground and surface waters unless steps are taken to control the wastes which they produce.

This article oulines both the nature of intensive aniamal industries in …

Prospects For Leucaena On The Ord, D Pratchett, Tim Triglone

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

For the past few years, the Department of Agriculture has been fattening cattle on the forage shrub leucaena which is grown under irrigation with pangola grass. About 400ha of leucaena is under commercial production in the Kimberley.

Cattle grazing leucaena show promising growth rates but other problems need to be overcome before its use is more widely adopted. Leucaena establishes slowly. It is also costly to transport fattened cattle to southern abbatoirs.

Erosion Potential Of Phomopsis-Resistant Lupins, D J. Carter, Paul Findlater

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

During lupin harvesting, up to 20 per cent of the grain remains on the ground. This non-harvested or pilt grain is a valuable feed for sheep during early summer because the pods, leaf and stem generally provide little nutrient in the stubnbles. In addition, the more efficient the weed control, the less valuable are the stubbles.

The disease lupinosis caused by Phomopsis leptostromiformis restricts the amount of grazing from the lupin stubbles, and hence the risk of wind-erosion of stubble paddocks.

However, the introduction of lupin varieties moderately resistant to Phomopsis and with reduced potential to cause lupinosis means that …

The Sandplain Lupin : Its Nutritional Value And Grazing Management, P W. Morcombe

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The sandplain lupin or Western Australian blue lupin (Lupinus cosentinii) was introduced to the West Midlands at the turn of the last century. Since that time it has been used as a self-regenerating summer forage for sheep and cattle.

Being deep rooted, it has adapted well to the sandy soils from Perth to Northampton, and plantings now cover more than 100,000 ha.

As few other improved pasture species will persist on these deep sands the sandplain lupin provides an important source of summer feed for grazing livestock. A stand can be grazed throughout summer at stocking rates of 10 to …

Economic Impact Of Growing Phomopsis-Resistant Lupins, J M. Warren, Jeremy Allen, Wallace Cowling

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The planting of Phomopsis-resistant lupins will increase net farm income. They will also alter the traditional blend of pastures and cropping, depending on grain and wool prices. In mixed farming areas of Western Australia's southern wheatbelt, they will allow more land to be sown to lupins rather than cereals on farms in which the lack of sheep feed over summer severely restricts wool production.

The benefits of Phompsis-resistant lupins arise from a reduction in sheep deaths due to lupinosis, a longer safe grazing period (free from lupinosis) on lupin stubbles, a decrease in the need for supplementary sheep feed over …

Control Strategies For Annual Ryegrass Toxicity, W J. Burdass

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

In 982-83, annual ryegrass tocicity (ARGT) was estimated to have cost Western Australian sheep farmers between $7 and $8 million in total economic losses.

The disease can severely disrupt farming operations. Sheep must be checked daily and if affected moved to a 'safe' paddock. The availability of paddock feed is reduced, as is stock carrying capacity. Worry about the possibility of dramatic stock losses, and uncertainty about what decisions to make, are all stressful.

Stock losses from ARGT can be minimised by the use of selective herbicides to control ryegrass in pastures and crops. This breaks the disease cycle - …

Phomopsis-Resistanct Lupins : Breakthrough Towards The Control Of Lupinosis, W A. Cowling, J. G. Allen, P Mcr. Wood, J. Hamblin

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Attemots to control lupinosis in sheep have been thwarted by the unpredictable occurence of the disease in the field. The complex interaction of the toxin-producing fungus (Phomopsis leptostromiformis) with its host (the lupin plant), together with variable weather and paddock grazing conditions, have made it difficult to predict when stock are in danger of contracting the disease. The risk of lupinosis discourages many farmers from growing lupins, despite the many potential benefits of including them in crop rotations.

A team of Department of Agriculture plant breeders, plant pathologists, and animal scientists set out in the mid 1970s to find resistance …

Grazing And Management Of Saltland Shrubs, C V. Malcolm, J. E. Pol

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

areas of bare saltland on farms need not be unproductive etesores. Many Western Australian farmers are now successfully growing salt-tolerant or halophytic shrubs such as bluebush (Maireana brevifolia), saltbushes (Atriplex spp.) and samphires (Halosarcia spp.) on these areas.

Department of agriculture trials and farmers' experience indicate that if saltland is planted with recommended shrubs, it can provide two months' valuable grazing for sheep during autumn and early winter, a time when paddock feed is scarce. Research by the Department has also identified a range of salt-tolerant shrubs suited to the various types of saltland.

Grazing trials to …

Protein Enrichment Of Cereal Grains For Livestock, Andrew C. Dunlop, C. L. Mcdonald

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Every year Western Australian farmers feed about 759,000 tonnes of cereal grain to livestock, mostly to sheep but also to dairy and beef cattle. These grains are fed as drought feeds, as supplements to augment poor quality or scarce paddock feed or in growth rations to attain higher levels of production. Many grains fed, however, have a low protien content and are therefore used inefficiently by animals.

Several methods of improving the low protien content of feed grains have been tested. They include the addition of lupin seed, spraying oats with urea and gassing oats with ammonia.

Phomopsis Infection Of Lupin Seed, D S. Petterson, P. Mcr. Wood

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Early reports of lupinosis in Western Australia implicated infected stems and leaves of the sandplain or W,A. blue lupin (Lupinus cosentinii) as the main source of toxicity.

After the introduction of low alkaloid varieties of L. augustifolius, lupinosis continued to oddur on stubbles but random testing of seeds showed only low levels of Phomopsis leptostromiformis infection.

However in 1976, scientists at the University of Western Australia who were evaluating the use of an all lupin seed ration for drought feeding sheep encounted lupinosis in one of their trials.Seven per cent of the seed used was found to be infected …

Preventing Lupinosis With Phomopsis-Resistant Lupins, Jeremy G. Allen, W. A. Cowling

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Lupinosis is one of the major livestock siseases in Western Australia. It is caused by stock eating toxins produced by the fungus Phomopsis leptostromiformis which colonises the stems of dead lupin plants.

In 975, the Department of Agriculture started a breeding programme to develop Phompsis-resistant lupins to overcome or control lupinosis. In the previous issue of this Journal the results of small plot evaluations of new lines of Phompsis-resistant lupins developed in this programme were reported. This article describes the first trial involving grazing of Phompsis-resistant lupins.

Further Research Into Parrots And Fruit Damage, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Parrits are major pests of Western Australia's South-West fruit growing industry. The amount of damage they can cause to ripening fruit in orchards varies from season to season, but in the last two years these colourful birds have become an even greater problem.

The Agriculture Protection Board has started further research aimed at determining how wxtensive damage to fruit can be prevented.

A Closer Look At Parrots As Pests, John L. Long

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Small parrots have been attacking fruit and grain crops in the south of Western Australia at least since agriculture expanded into their native habitats in the early 1900s. The parrots are capable of quickly adapting to new situations so it is not surprising that they have eaten crops.

It is not known whether parrot numbers have increased since European settlement began, but this appears likely. The present landscape of islands of uncleared country interspersed with areas of agriculture appears to favour the survival of the red-capped parrot, western rosella and the Port Lincoln parrot. These species were investigated during a …

The Secretive Silvereyes, I J. Rooke

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Durinf the past five years the agricultural Protection Board, in co-operation with scientists from CSIRO's Division of Wildlife Research and the University of Western Australia, had studied the biology and control of the silvereye in the South-West of Western Asustralia. The project was partially funded by a voluntary levy on vignerons in the Margaret River and Mt Barker areas.

The first part of the study investigated the bird's bioloogy - its food requirements, reproductive rate, how it interacted with other birds and its seasonal movements, It was hoped that this knowledge would help develop effective techniques for either controlling the …

Erosion Risks With High Stocking Rates At Kojonup Trial, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A pasture grazing trial at Kojonup dramatically illustrated the effects of Cyclone Alby. Severe erosion was evident on the heavily stocked plots while the more lightly stocked plots showed little damage.

Doublegee Control In Pasture : What Is It Worth, D J. Gilbey, R. J. Lightfoot

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A recent study showed that the cost of spraying to control a heavy doublegee infestation can be recovered in the first year of the spraying.