ON FARM SOUTHERN CATTLE FEEDBASE f Down the track In this new series, Feedback catches up with producers who have been profiled in the past, to see how their business is evolving in response to new challenges and opportunities. Looking back Looking ahead Adaptation is the “The real value was having the In 2017, NSW beef producer name of the game time away from the business Stuart Tait embarked on an for Stuart Tait, and interacting with a lot of very MLA‑supported Nuffield Scholarship who changed tack smart people. to learn more about dual‑purpose along his Nuffield Farming “When you’re not elbow‑deep cropping. He’s used the knowledge Scholarship journey to gain working in it day to day, you start gained on his travels to sharpen more from the experience. to think about your business from his focus on grazing management a different perspective.” The Nuffield program provides and benchmarking and, as a recipients with a scholarship to Strategic grazing result, intensify production on his travel overseas and study an Stuart used the scholarship family’s property. agricultural topic of their choice. to visit dairy farms in England, Ireland and New Zealand. He was ON FARMSOUTHERN CATTLE SOUTHERN CATTLEON FARMStuart’s original research topic struck by how these producers FEEDBASEf was dual‑purpose cropping and measured, monitored and Checking out the global beef cattle, but once he began managed their grass resources to feedbase travelling he quickly realised Stuart Tait is travellingthe world to see whathe can learn about usingAustralian beef quality,” Stuart said.get cranked up’, but on the other sidethey have a long way to go to reachmaximise utilisation. dual-purpose crops to fillStuart then headed off on a Global feed gaps in cattle operations inFocus Program, startingi n Singapore Australia’s expertise in this area southern Australia.and continuing ontoI ndia, Doha, Denmark, the UK and the US. Stuart’s travels are part of his MLA-supported Nuffield Scholarship,“It’s a whirlwind tour of global agriculture and from what he has seen so far, heand it gives you a look at big picture suspects Australian producers are upthere with the world’s besti n terms ofproducing and managing feed supplyi n United Stattemperate mixed farming systems. US, meeting with producers, industryagriculture from a whole-of-chainperspective,” Stuart said.es: Stuart stayed on in thewas already world‑leading. So, heHe drew on these principles to At the end of his travels, Stuart aims representatives and researchers in to pull together the knowledge he has Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma find balance in his beef business gainedi nto a system he can use to and Texas. better manage the feedbase.“I spent time in Oklahoma, as their “I want to optimise my stocking rates, set climatei s similar to ours — those guysperformance targets and eliminate the are grazing acres and acres of wheatand only about 25% is harvested forfeed gap,” Stuart said.grain,” he said.broadened his focus to look at “Therei s al ot of research focused through rotational grazing. He ondual-purpose crops and sheep“The mix of uses is similari n some production, but there are obviousrespects to what we are doing here, whole finishing and forage‑based differences between cattle andbut the big difference is their farming sheep and I’m keen to look at how mytechniques — which arel ess advanced overseas beef producer counterpartsthan what we do in Australia.” aremanaging feed throughout the year.”Most growers Stuart visited were doing subdivided paddocks, increased International pit stopsa wheat-on-wheat rotation, with nothing South America:I n March 2017, Stuartelse, and all with full tillage. and the 22 other Australian Nuffieldscholars joined scholars from aroundthe world in Brazil for the Contemporary“The soils in Oklahoma were similar toours, but their yields were lower —I thinkwe’re on the right track, especially withexposed toi n the US varied betweenAlberta was noticeably different to the US.silage, windrowed and then when winterStuart Taitbeef systems. Scholars Conference. Stuart left with our crop rotations and more advanceddifefrent operators, with some usinghits, it’s like snap freezing the crop andE: taitpastoral@gmail.commob size and began to move conflicting views.soil management techniques.”rotational grazing with electric fences.“The Canadians have fewerthe snow insulatesi t — they just run an dual-purpose crops because of theirelectric fence across the paddock and “On one side Ithought ‘uh oh, wer’e inLikei n Australia, the grazingCanada: According to Stuart, farming infarming systems and the shorterNuffield Australia: nuffield.com.au trouble — these guys are starting tomanagement practices Stuart washis destinations of Saskatchewan andthe cattle follow the windrow.”More Beef from Pastures growing season,” he said. The Canadians were using pasture mbfp.mla.com.au SNAPSHOT: Stuart Tait, Mandurama, NSW l“They plant wheat at the same time as species Stuart had not encounteredGo to mla.com.au/tools to find Area:1,600ha Enterprise:Grain and Livestock:600 Angus Pasture:Phalaris, sub-clover, Soil:Red basalt Rainfall:750–“A lot of the Canadians IvisitedAugust before everything freezes. non-bloatingl egume similar tol ucerne.us (May–June) and then harvest during before, including sainfoin, aStill to go: Stuart will be visiting thedemand, stocking rate andcost of production.MLA calculators for feedThis opened his eyes tostock more frequently. oilseed crops breeders cocksfoot, tal fscue,le claysand 800mmcan’t quite eliminate the need toUK to look at feedbase management,Profitable Grazing Systems: and cattleItalian ryegrass andalluvial loamssupplementary feed, but a common Argentina and Uruguay to see pastureUpskill andl earn how to improve dual-purpose grazingpractice usedi s swath grazing — oat breeding and New Zealand toyour feedbase management: 32 crops, summerhybrid forages.crops are grown up to the height where examine dual-purpose systems andwe would sayi t was ready to cut for grazing management. mla.com.au/pgs 33new grazing management options and enterprise mixes, Stuart said a benefit has been Stuart Tait shared his Nuffield Scholarship insights in getting a better handle on what the February/March 2018 edition of Feedback. as well as how to analyse a business through internal feed is available so it can be benchmarking and data collection. better managed. Stuart Tait These strategies now form part The chance to take a closer look E: taitpastoral@gmail.com of the business Stuart runs with at how producers around the his wife Isabel and parents John world structure their enterprises Watch Stuart’s ‘Good Meat’ video at: and Joanna. prompted Stuart to ramp goodmeat.com.au/producers up productivity. Nuffield Australia Farming Scholarships “Nuffield wasn’t something where nuffield.com.au I came back and just tipped the The Taits have increased their whole business upside down,” cropping area as well as livestock Read Stuart’s original case study from the Stuart said. numbers – by growing more February/March 2018 edition of Feedback at mla.com.au/feedback 2244