Saving soil during drought

WHY THIS PROJECT WAS NEEDED

Drought can have a devastating impact on livestock production systems and on farm natural assets, particularly soils.

Soils that are exposed due to loss of groundcover often become dry and powdery, making them vulnerable to wind and water erosion. The impact of this is seen through dust storms and severe soil erosion, which can impact significantly on water quality and cause major sediment build-up.

Appropriate management of livestock during drought is critical for pasture persistence and the resilience capacity of soils, vegetation, and farming enterprises.

In short: This project helps farmers prevent soil erosion during drought, through appropriate management of livestock.

Project focus

This project demonstrated the best practice application of stock containment areas (SCAs), and was supported by a comprehensive suite of tools, materials, and information tailored to southern NSW. The project provided livestock producers with knowledge and confidence to adopt SCAs for maximum benefit.

Maximising profits with a SCA

Maximising livestock operating profits by better utilising stock containment areas was the focus of a Riverine Plains workshop on 25 October at Andrew Bouffler’s Lockhart property.

At the workshop, sheep graziers heard Tanisha Shields from Agrista outline the key drivers for maximising business operating profits. Discussions around gross profit (revenue minus variable enterprise expenses) and earnings before interest and tax (gross profit minus fixed costs) highlighted the need to maximise efficiencies to maximise business performance. To increase operating return, farmers must either reduce expenses or increase revenue; this is where SCAs can play a role, however there are underlying considerations around establishing and effectively using SCAs.

Benefits of SCAs and barriers to adoption

There are many benefits to feeding in containment areas, compared to the paddock. These include saving time and labour, maintaining stock condition by reducing unnecessary walking in search of feed, supporting shy feeders, maintaining pastures, reducing erosion, and maximising autumn growth by keeping stock off pastures until well established. During drought, farmers can feel overwhelmed and a SCA can allow farmers to manage the condition of their stock more efficiently, which can help support mental health.

Potential barriers to adoption were also discussed, including water availability, appropriate location for a SCA, the need to establish infrastructure, and labour availability for frequent feeding, as well as associated costs.

Feeding in a SCA

Containment feeding requires diligent feed management to ensure the class of stock receive adequate nutrition for maintenance and to achieve production objectives. Tanisha discussed key feeding considerations and drivers of intake such as weight, age, physiological state, feed quality and palatability, water quality, mineral deficiencies, trough allocation, environment, health issues, social stress and wool cut.

Providing adequate energy is paramount as energy is used for maintenance, growth and muscle and fat development. Performing feed tests and considering feed on the basis of cents per megajoule (MJ) of metabolisable energy (ME) is important, particularly when purchasing feed. Feed quality is variable and farmers need to ensure they are getting value for money.

Having adequate effective fibre — fibre that is physically effective in stimulating chewing and saliva production — is also important for bicarb production and buffering against acidosis, as well as reducing the risk of water belly and increasing vitamin B12 absorption.

Feed budgeting

Feed budgeting ensures stock nutritional requirements are met by feed energy, protein, fibre, mineral and vitamin contents to achieve production objectives at a reasonable cost. 

Information on various feed budgeting components, feed requirements and content tables can be found in A guide to confinement feeding sheep and cattle in NSW and on the Agriculture Victoria Sheep Resources website. 

SCA design

It’s important to keep in mind that every SCA set up will be different depending on the farmer's enterprise, objectives, location, etc. Host Andrew Bouffler demonstrated his containment area, explaining how and why he chose the site, and how it’s been used over the last five years. Great discussions were had by attendees around the practical aspects of SCA utilisation, location, infrastructure, stock access, feeding and water access and systems.

Thank you to Tanisha Shields, Agrista, for an exceptional presentation and to Andrew and the Boufflers for providing an excellent SCA example.

Project outcomes

May SCA workshop

Riverine Plains farmers learned about the advantages, regulations and design practicalities of stock containment areas at a workshop and demonstration near Barooga, NSW, on 30 May.

Rebecca Stacey and Garry Armstrong from Murray Local Land Services (LLS) shared the advantages, regulations and design practicalities of SCAs, as well as animal nutrition while host farmer, Tom Marriott, explained the benefits and practicalities of SCAs on his property.

SCAs are valuable tools that can be used for holding stock for drought feeding to maintain paddock ground cover over 70%, to provide flood and fire respite and can be used for quarantining or joining.

When establishing a site consider:

1. Site selection
Ensure good drainage and consider soil type, shelter, feed storage, water access and proximity to yards.

2. Stocking density and mob size
Regulations vary across states, so check LLS and Agriculture Victoria websites. Stocking densities for NSW are: sheep 1 per 2-5m2, weaner cattle 1 per 9-10m2, dry cows 1 per 15-25m2, ewe with lamb 1 per 100m2.

3. Feeding
Consider trough height and size. Trail feeding directly onto the ground is not recommended. 

Key feed & nutrition points:

• Ensure there is enough feed in storage to cover livestock requirements
• Identify how long you plan to feed
• Feed budgeting is important
• Planning is critical when deciding which stock to sell
• Cracked grain increases the risk of acidosis
• Know the digestibility and energy contents of various feeds; animal intake is limited to 3% of body weight, therefore the digestibility or fibre content affects feed intake
• Digestibility and energy content are directly related, so buy feed according to cost per megajoule of metabolisable energy per kilogram of dry matter, rather than dollars per tonne.
• Know the protein content of various feeds, including crude and bypass
• Use the NSW drought feed calculator app to assist with feed budgeting

4. Water
At least two to three days’ worth of clean (non- salty) water must be available and livestock must have adequate access. Ensure a flow rate of 1-15 L per head per hour and keep the temperature between 16-18 °C (bury pipes).

5. Shade and shelter 
To ensure tree survival, use tree guards and monitor nutrient load. Recommendations are for 0-4 m² per sheep or lamb, 2 m² per cow. Orientate shade in a north/south direction.

6. Animal health and welfare
Keep areas as clean and dry as possible. Control dust, introduce grain slowly, ensure stock have access to roughage and ensure rapid treatment of sick animals.

7. Regulations
Permits are not required for SCAs but are required if the areas are used for feed-lotting. SCAs must be located a minimum of 100m from a natural water source, 500m from residential house and 200m from main roads.

Thank you to Tom Marriott for generously hosting the day.

This event was held as part of the Saving Our Soils During Drought project through the Southern NSW Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub, supported by LLS, through funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund.

Electronic identification and stock containment area field day

Around 50 Riverine Plains farmers and advisors saw some real-life examples of how stock containment areas (SCA) and electronic ID (eID) equipment can add value to their livestock enterprises at the Electronic identification and stock containment area field day on 15 June. It was held near Howlong and featured presentations from industry professionals and on-farm demonstrations.

Garry Armstrong from Murray Local Land Services (LLS) addressed the importance of eID adoption for improving the traceability of Australian livestock for biosecurity purposes.

Currently, cattle lead the way in eID adoption and traceability in Australia through the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS), however sheep and farmed goats are catching up.

While eID has been mandatory in Victoria for sheep and farmed goats since 2017, from January 2025, all sheep and goats born on-farm in NSW must also be eID tagged. From January 2027 all animals leaving a NSW farm must also be eID tagged. It was recommended NSW farmers start applying eID tags as soon as practicable to accelerate improvements in traceability and to capitalise on this technology to improve stock management decisions.

Garry also outlined the key considerations of stock containment areas and how they can be used to improve farm business resilience in dry conditions. He addressed important design considerations for maximising stock performance including pen size and stocking density, soil type, access to shade and shelter, as well as feeder and water-trough placement. Garry also explained the importance of monitoring and managing diseases, as well as feed budgeting to understand the quality and quantity of feed.

Host farmer Ian Trevethan demonstrated his containment area, explaining considerations behind the design and sharing insights into the design aspects that work well, as well as ideas for improvement.

The applications and opportunities for eID technology on-farm was addressed via a panel session with Ian Trevethan, Simon Riddle, Rozzie O’Reilly and Rob Martin from FarmLink. Key messages included:

• You can’t manage what you don’t measure; eID enables efficient data management which helps make important management decisions
• Plan what you will use the data for before collection; define your breeding objectives and determine what data you need to collect to achieve these
• Depending on breeding objectives, farmers may use eID to record a combination of traits such as, weight gain, pregnancy or lactation status, fleece weight, birth type, etc.
• Recording individual data may empower important and timely decisions such as deciding which stock to sell, feed budgeting and identifying animal health conditions
• When handling data, whether in Excel or engaging with other software programs, keep it simple.

Gallagher, Te Pari and Datamars also demonstrated a range of technology and equipment available to maximise the use of eID tags for stock management and handling. Henry Hickson from Nextgen Agri, also spoke about the importance of having a plan before collecting data. Henry emphasised the key values of eID technology for driving mob improvements, including:

• Measuring responses to management in stock
• Hitting management targets
• Increasing labour flexibility
• Selecting animals to retain
• Enhancing traceability and transparency

Thank you to Ian Trevethan for generously hosting the field day and sharing his valuable insights with the group.

This event was held as part of the Saving Our Soils During Drought project through the Southern NSW Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub, supported by Local Land Services, through funding from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund.

This event was also supported by the Australian Government’s Agricultural Innovation Hubs Program through the Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub.