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FFI CRC Case Studies
Future Farm Industries CRC (formerly the CRC for the Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity) is well on the way to providing tangible benefits for Australian farmers through its research outcomes.
Below are seven case studies that highlight the dividends already being experienced through the incorporation of FFI CRC research into farming systems. Research that is well placed to reduce the effects of salinity and help farmers adapt and remain productive in a drying climate.
Case Study 1: Enrich helps boost fodder during summer
Don inspects his rhagodia shrubs used as fodder during the drier months.
Don Nairn grows wheat, lupins and oats and runs about 4000 sheep on the northern end of Western Australia’s wheatbelt. Reduction in annual rainfall, grazing and cropping had left the topsoil on his farm exposed and vulnerable. With the help of the FFI CRC Enrich program, Don has been able to increase feed levels during summer, stop wind erosion and double the marginal land’s carrying capacity.
Watch Don explain how strip grazing has made life a lot easier on his farm.
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Case Study 2: Perennial pasture runs more livestock while reducing salinity
The Evergraze trial in Hamilton, Victoria, has shown that farmers can grow more pasture, run more livestock, and not be forced into offloading stock before summer, all while reducing salinity risk. Dr Ralph Behrendt (above left), from the Victorian Department of Primary Industries is trial site leader and Coleraine farmer, David Robertson (above right), heads an advisory group overseeing the trials which were first begun in 2004.
Watch Ralph and David explain how summer-active perennials have improved productivity and reduced recharge on David's property.
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For more information, visit the EverGraze website.
Case Study 3: FFI CRC Researcher on the cusp of a perennial legume breakthrough
Dr Daniel Real with the perennial legume, Bituminaria bituminosa, showing great promise.
Perennial legumes that stay green in even the driest of years could hold the key to Australian farmers’ survival of climate change, according to Uruguayan-born plant breeder Daniel Real.
With scientists predicting that annual rainfall will be cut by up to 40 per cent (relative to 1990) in Australia’s south west and most of Australia will experience up to 20 per cent more drought months by 2030, farmers are under pressure to find alternatives to the traditional annual subclover and grass-based pastures that are already suffering in a changing climate.
Dr Real may have an alternative. Dr Daniel Real works as a senior plant breeder with FFI CRC. He believes they’re on the cusp of selectively breeding a leguminous plant that will not only flourish in dry conditions but will withstand repeated grazing and produce healthy sheep.
“We’ve selected the best characteristics which we’ll breed into a few cultivars. This will produce a new species that’s never been planted in Australia,” Dr Real says.
For more information about Dr Real's research read the Oct 07 edition of Focus on Perennials.
Case Study 4: Perennial pastures boost farmers' productivity
David Strong is convinced by the benefits gained by EverGraze.
David Strong is hosting the EverGraze trial on his 1000ha grazing and wool, sheep meat and cropping farm near Wagga Wagga, NSW. He says the research on perennial pastures would boost farmers’ productivity and protect the environment.
“It’s simulating four farming systems on site and that’s extremely rare. This could change the way farms are operated in a way that benefits the environment and boosts productivity,” Mr Strong says.
For more information, visit the EverGraze website.
Case Study 5: Native shrubs show potential in mixed forage systems
Jason Emms believes native plants can be a fodder source in marginal areas.
One-year-old shrubs produced an impressive 1200 kilograms a hectare of edible leaf in a trial that’s testing native shrubs for grazing potential in mixed forage systems in Australia’s harsh climate.
The result was from a trial site at Monarto in South Australia last year where the 2007 rainfall reached less than 300 millimetres. The Enrich trial site at Monarto in South Australia is managed by FFI CRC researcher and ecologist Jason Emms.
For more information read the March 08 edition of Focus on Perennials.
Case Study 6: Native legumes the big hope for farmers dealing with climate change
Steve Hughes examines the growth of a native legume.
Steve Hughes, curator of the Genetics Resource Centre in Adelaide, sees Cullen Australasicum and wild lucerne as the big hope for farming in dry areas as the climate changes.
“These are the plants we’ve identified from a shortlist of 200 species that have a lot of potential in terms of production and persistence and we know they persist in areas with 200mm or less of rain annually,” Mr Hughes says.
Visit the Genetics Resource Centre for more information.
Case Study 7: Saltbush proving its worth as a feed source
Dr Hayley Norman is proving that saltbush is a nutritional feed source.
The humble saltbush may become a key weapon in farmers’ arsenal for battling the effects of climate change and dryland salinity.
In salt-ridden mixed cropping and livestock country, the outback perennial, once condemned for not being nutritional enough on its own to maintain livestock weight, is now proving its worth, producing $3 to $110 a hectare.
“It’s actually carrying farmers through the autumn feed gaps,” said CSIRO research scientist Dr Hayley Norman.
Go to the WA Science Network to find out more about Dr Norman's Saltbush research.
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