Livestock

For more information contact

Pip Grant

WHY WE are ADDRESSING LIVESTOCK CHALLENGES IN THE RIVERINE PLAINS

Livestock play an important role in farming systems in the Riverine Plains. Mixed grain and livestock systems often complement each other, helping spread production and financial risk across the farming enterprise.

Our aim is to address the production challenges that livestock farmers face in local systems and provide them with the information and tools to adapt in an ever-changing industry. Our project work explores animal nutrition, genetic traits, animal health, data collection and the use of stock containment areas to conserve ground cover and improve soil health.

Riverine Plains has been involved in several projects that address the benefits of stock containment areas. We’ve held on-farm events showcasing different stock containment area design, sharing innovative ways to reduce labour requirements and manage the nutritional requirements of livestock. We’ve also addressed how to use stock containment areas to retain ground cover and protect soils from erosion, especially during drought.

Livestock producers are increasingly using electronic identification (eID) tags to support livestock management decisions. Despite the widespread increase in adoption, many producers are not utilising the data they are collecting, or not collecting the data in the first place. This can lead to rushed and poorly-informed decision making, especially during stressful periods, such as drought.

A recently completed project enabled Riverine Plains farmers and advisors to learn more about how eID equipment can add value to livestock enterprises. It showed which livestock performance and genetic traits can be measured and how to use this data to make better management decisions.

Research highlights

Using electronic identification tags can better inform livestock management decisions. Riverine Plains has supported livestock producers to consider the data collected from eID tags and demonstrated ways to use it for decision making on farms.
Containment feeding can be used to protect soils and manage livestock feeding in times of drought — however it requires appropriate site location and design. The Saving Soil During Drought project demonstrated best practice application of stock containment areas to drive adoption for maximum benefit.

OUR LIVESTOCK PROJECTS

Our livestock-related projects are helping to provide solutions to complex issues and address the challenges that farmers face from season to season.

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Small farm dam suitability assessment

Understanding the suitability of existing farm dams to capture run-off from rain events can help farmers improve their drought resilience.
Drought resilient pasture systems

Enhance pasture management to increase resilience in dry seasons and boost farm productivity using decision support tools created from local paddock scale demonstration trials.
Saving soil during drought

Soil is a major natural asset in farming, which needs to be protected from damage by livestock during drought. This project investigates how stock containment areas can be used to protect soils, ensuring productivity and long-term sustainability of farm businesses.
Drought resilience practices in mixed farming systems

Helping farmers with containment feeding strategies, trigger points, monitoring tools, and dual-purpose crops.
Understanding electronic identification technology

Using eID technology to help farmers collect information and make better decisions.
Building livestock drought resilience by discovering stock containment innovations

Understanding the barriers to using stock containment areas in times of drought.
Northern Victoria Grain & Graze 2

Improving feed utilisation and stock productivity with no negative on crop production, increasing overall farm profitability.