Do multispecies pastures increase resilience of rainfed dairy systems?
Head on-farm for a field day in Goon Nure to discuss the mixed species project, a joint project between the University of Melbourne and Dairy Australia. This farm is one of 11 dairy farm trial sites across Victoria looking at how multispecies pastures might work to make grazing-based dairy more climate resilient in the southern Australian dairy industry.
At this field day organisers will report on the findings of this trial site in East Gippsland that started in December 2022. The focus will be on pasture resilience, particularly during periods of climate stress, and what this means for home-grown feed supply and pasture management.
Guests will look at the annual and seasonal pasture production and quality, multispecies compositional changes and soil health under the two pasture types. A case study based on the findings from the trial of predicted outcomes under varying climate scenarios will be presented, with economic considerations of utilising the two different pasture types.
The field day will finish with a farm walk where guests will hear from farm owner, Rohan Bingley, on the management of these different pasture types. He will look at pasture persistence of his mixed species versus his ryegrass pastures and the management strategies he has implemented during the recent dry period.
This project is jointly funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund and Dairy Australia.
