Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

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 …

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 …

Studies In The Mulga Pastoral Zone. 1. The Grazing Of Wandarrie Grass Associations, D G. Wilcox

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

THE establishment of the Wiluna office of the North-West Branch marked the commencement of a series of investigations into the pastures of the mulga zone.

Unlike the agricultural areas where a fund of knowledge exists on the growth habits of the pastures, the pastures of this area were completely unknown.

The preliminary investigations had to be aimed at forming an understanding of the reactions of the various plants to rain, to temperature and seasonal conditions and to grazing in an area of extremely low rainfall reliability.