Producers had the opportunity to see the region’s best performing resilient pastures at the CWFS Fettell Centre in Condobolin on Thursday, 30 May.
A range of expert speakers examined the biology, phenology and management of pasture in the low rainfall zone of Central West NSW.
Speakers included Dr Richard Hayes, Senior Research Scientist, NSW DPI, Dr Susan Robertson, Senior Research Fellow, Gulbali Institute, CSU, Wendy Gill, Principal, Achieve Ag Consultancy, Sam Jarrett, Sales Agronomist Central West and South West, DLF Seeds and Melissa Gooseman, Product Development Manager, DLF Seeds.
The pasture variety demonstration trial includes 40 plots of perennial, annual, hard-seeded legumes, varieties of lucerne, brassicas, forage rape, herbs and pasture mixes.
The afternoon workshop was of interest to those producers wanting to assess the suitability of various resilient pasture species and explore the fit for their farming system. They also heard about grazing management strategies for the wide array of pasture varieties demonstrated.
Producers also heard about a paddock-scale demonstration site at James McDonald’s Condobolin property. Among the pasture mixes trialled were a Temperate Pasture Mix, a Tropical Pasture Mix, a Hard-Seeded Pasture Mix, and a Traditional Pasture Mix, utilised as a control.
Researcher Wendy Gill of Achieve Ag Consultancy discussed livestock performance on the pasture demonstration site as part of the Field Day.
The ‘Creating landscape-scale change through Drought Resilient Pasture systems’ project funded by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund – Drought Resilient Soils and Landscapes Grants Program, secured by Southern NSW Innovation Hub.
The project supports pasture demonstration sites across central and southern NSW to showcase modern pasture species combination and management practices known to build greater resilience to their landscape.