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Feed and Cover Talks Draw a Crowd in Brookton

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Sustainable Agriculture

Wheatbelt NRM’s Making More from Summer Cover workshop drew landholders to Brookton last week to learn about livestock nutrition, health, ground cover and options to fill the summer field gap.

Project delivery officer Bonny Dunlop-Heague said the event was well received by attendees.

She said there was a lot of interest in the confinement feeding methods that are being implemented by Goomalling farmer Dan Dempster.

“A lot of people are looking at it to manage their livestock enterprise and paddocks at the most crucial time of the year when there’s no ground cover,” she said.

“Having a farmer talk about it and his experiences with it was very valuable.”

The day also featured a field walk at Kane Page’s East Brookton property, a demonstration farm for our Optimising Fodder Options in Mixed Farming Systems project.

There attendees visited two sites, including a forage shrubs site which grew well over the season despite a dry year.

“It was a great example of what can be achieved in less than one season,” Dunlop-Heague said.

A second site hosting kikuyu plantings in deep yellow sand outside its traditional growing range has been less successful so far, but is expected to improve over the coming year.

Curtin University livestock nutrition expert Dr Sue Low and agricultural consultant Phil Barrett-Lennard also spoke at the forum.

If you are interested in hearing more about any of the trials discussed in the workshop or want to know if your farm may be suited to these methods contact bdunlop@wheatbeltnrm.org.au.

Our events calendar continues with a composting workshop in Wongan Hills today before our joint livestock and ground cover event with Facey Group in Wickepin on March 23.

This project is supported by funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.

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