Like much of NSW we experienced a difficult 2017 from a rainfall perspective receiving approximately two thirds of our annual average with one of the driest six months on record between April and September. In other words, a typical “testing” year where “water use efficiency (WUE)” was a key factor in both cropping and grazing enterprises.
Comments from farmers in our area support research that shows fallow efficiency is so often critical to good crop performance, both for grain dual purpose or only grazing. Grain crops varied from 3.5 tonne/hectare to failure with common good yield factors being a combination of efficient capture of fallow rainfall combined with early sowing of slower maturing varieties.
Efficient capture of fallow rain involves aspects like reasonable stubble cover levels and timely weed kills especially critical. Timely weed control generally means an extra one or so herbicide treatments over the fallow period as by far best kills occur when weeds are young and fresh.
I had consultations this past year with landholders that experienced next to no winter grazing from dual purpose or grazing only winter crops. In other cases, commonly with similar rainfall histories, grazing was possible for 150 days (full graze out) at an average of around 20 DSE/ha (dry sheep equivalent). Stored soil water and timely sowing were critical factors.
Perhaps from a grazing industry perspective, the most standout feature with the difficult year was the value of tropical grass pastures combined with winter annual legumes, or lucerne, compared to winter annual pastures only or temperate perennial grass plus winter annual pasture.
Tropicals were able to provide good feed from periodic 2016/17 summer rain, great growth from March rains, and even though dry then set in growth continued until heavy frosts from June onwards. Tropical grasses or lucerne also responded quickly from early October rain and has provided excellent feed since. In contrast annual only pastures and temperate plus winter legumes grew little feed over winter early spring and in other than higher altitude areas commonly failed to provide much feed from October onwards rains.
My firm belief is that tropical grasses combined with winter legumes is an important pasture for almost all parts of the state (plus adjoining states) and is able to better cope and provide feed than more traditional annual only or temperate perennial grass pasture types.
Science has also shown the vast improvement in crop yield where soil deficiencies like phosphorus and nitrogen are corrected with fertilisers that supply these missing elements at rates appropriate to likely yield expectations. Much the same applies to pasture production although far less generally accepted. In the case of pastures phosphorus and sulphur are almost always the universal deficiencies with legume pasture component responsible for correcting nitrogen deficiency.
However when a dry winter early spring occurs and legumes don’t provide much nitrogen, increasingly we are appreciating the value of nitrogen applied to perennial grass pastures. One of the commonness queries I receive, especially so in 2017 is the plethora of advice given with no science (quality research) behind a product/practise promoted. Sometimes such advice is funded via Government grants via various bodies.
Frustration of the year. In my view various weather forecast sites were not especially helpful in 2017, commonly forecasting rain that never occurred, even very short-term predictions. Best research of the year I reckon was the study undertaken by Rob Banks, Gunnedah, Principal Soil Scientist, that showed tropical grasses dramatically increased soil carbon, soil water storage, soil quality, as well as productivity compared to unimproved pasture.
