ON FARM NATIONAL FEEDBASE f A goat pastureparadise Establishing resilient mix that included GTL 60 Lucerne, pastures to support their Australis phalaris, Convoy cocksfootsummer‑active perennial grassesThe BIGG story Boer goat business is a The Barossa Improved Grazing key priority for Barossa and Valley Diploid perennial ryegrass. Group (BIGG) is a network of five Valley producers Owen and It also included a small percentage of Balance chicory which Tracy had heard producer groups in the Barossa Tracy Bonython. was a favourite of goats. Although and eastern Mount Lofty Ranges An MLA‑funded Producer Demonstration summer active, these varieties also regions of SA which aims to deliver Sites (PDS) couldn’t have come at a respond in winter and spring. greater productivity and better better time, as it gave them a first‑hand natural resource management look at grazing management strategies The pasture was sown on 28 May 2018 outcomes for its 300 members. to suit their 30ha farm at Ebenezer, on 2.8ha at a rate of 25kg/ha. BIGG technical facilitator Georgie where they run 100 breeding does. Despite the dry winter and spring (with Keynes said the group developed As part of the trial, run by Barossa just 203mm of rain in the growing three major sites at Koonunga, Improved Grazing Group (BIGG), season) it had more than 3,000kg of dry Keyneton and Mt Pleasant–Eden Tracy (pictured) and Owen worked matter per hectare (kg/DM/ha) at the Valley. Different pasture varieties one‑on‑one with Rehn Freebairn from end of September. and blends were sown and PDS‑supported Pasture Genetics to Tracy used temporary electric fencing measured at each of the sites from develop a customised pasture mix. to divide the paddock into two 2016 to 2018 to determine how smaller areas. She baled 1.1ha for hay, they could be used to fill seasonal They were seeking a pasture to fill producing 1.5 tonnes of hay. feed gaps. the summer feed gap and help meet turn‑off targets of 40–50kg for weaners, This high‑quality hay provided an extra Twelve minor sites were developed which are sold direct to Barossa Valley 15 days’ supplementary feed for 75 on local farms in 2017 and 2018 to and Adelaide restaurants. weaner goats through the summer. test the successful pasture blends sown on the major sites. “Our goal is to turn off animals all Six days after baling, the pasture had year‑round, so it’s extremely important 2,400kg/DM/ha. It contained a lot of Pasture strategies across the PDS to have quality feed consistently chicory which was short enough to be sites included: available to our animals,” Tracy said. missed by the mower at cutting. • extending the growing season with a mix of early and late varieties “We’re still quite new with our goat The remaining 1.7ha was split into two business so we haven’t got a large with temporary electric fencing and • establishing lucerne to provide amount of information on pasture strategically grazed. year‑round feed opportunities management, so the PDS was the start • increasing production by of improving our grazing options for Goats were slowly introduced onto the combining ryegrass with our goats.” pasture with several half‑days of grazing, forage cereals then 75 head grazed 0.7ha at a stocking • using native pastures at critical Tracy and Owen planted a pasture pressure of 107 DSE/ha for 11 days. times of the production calendar This high stocking pressure ensured (such as lambing) the goats grazed evenly and quickly, • using stored soil moisture to resulting in less overgrazing of the grow summer forage crops establishing pasture. They utilised • running high stocking rates 2,475kg/DM/ha, with a residual of 1,000kg/DM/ha. • producing silage in a rotational grazing system. The second section was grazed for 12 days, then the pasture was rested to and plan to continue trialling different allow the perennial grasses, lucerne pasture options to find the best options and chicory to recover and set seed for our goat herd. We definitely saw prior to further grazing. the goats favour the chicory in the “Considering the low rainfall received in mix and so we would like to explore 2018, we were pleased with the initial this further.” ■ growth we saw and the length of time that the animals were able to graze for,” Tracy Bonython Tracy said. E: tracy@bonchevon.com.au “We’re grateful that we’ve been able bonchevon.com.au to work with BIGG on this pasture site 32