Stuart and Katie Barrett have overcome productivity challenges in their breeding and backgrounding operations \u2018Drumburle\u2019, south of Biloela in Central Queensland. <\/p>\n
By accessing historic forage mapping and the expertise available through MLA\u2019s Northern Breeding Business (NB2) program, they solved the puzzle of grazing pressure inconsistencies in certain areas of their highly productive growing country.<\/p>\n
Led by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries (QDPI), this NB2 pilot program involved producer groups across northern Australia.<\/p>\n
Stuart has been part of the Fitzroy NB2 program since 2021 and took on the producer coordinator role for nine other grazing businesses involved.<\/p>\n
Pasture insights improve productivity<\/p>\n
The program\u2019s skill-building activities unlocked key insights into why areas of the Barretts\u2019\u00a0pasture were underutilised despite being located on heavier, more productive scrub soils.<\/p>\n
Stuart used DPI\u2019s Grazing Resilience and Sustainable Solutions (GRASS) program to access Drumburle\u2019s historical ground cover percentages \u2013 it revealed clues on how to improve the feed quality in these areas.<\/p>\n
He paired the historical data with on-ground observations. After purchasing land which had a valley with\u00a0deep black soil, Stuart noticed his cattle were favouring soft natural grasses on higher ground and lighter land.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe valley consistently had really good ground cover \u2013 you\u2019d think the cattle would be down in the valley getting the best pasture from this soil, but they were actually up on the ridge,\u201d Stuart said.<\/p>\n
A closer look at pasture type revealed why.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an abundance of setaria species like purple pigeon grass and Biloela buffel growing there. They\u2019re persistent and perennial but not particularly palatable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chatting to other producers in the group revealed they had experienced similar issues with these species.<\/p>\n
Eat your greens<\/p>\n
Chatting to other producers in the group revealed they had experienced similar issues with these species.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe valley\u2019s 100ha of purple pigeon grass is hardy and provides lots of roughage, which cattle need when they\u2019re consuming a lot of protein,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
NB2 gave him confidence to plant 38ha of leucaena in February last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I hadn\u2019t done the program, I wouldn\u2019t have had the information required to make this strategic decision, which will improve our weight gains and productivity.\u201d<\/p>\n
He planted rows of leucaena every 10m, like hedgerows, as an economical way of putting protein into the pastures. In January \u2013 after nearly a year to give the leucaena time to establish \u2013 cattle were let in to start grazing.<\/p>\n
\u201cCombining the purple pigeon grass with the leucaena encourages them to eat enough roughage,\u201d Stuart said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe leucaena is like eating ice cream off a tree so they\u2019re going to want some roughage to go\u00a0along with this rich diet.\u201d<\/p>\n
By combining these species, Stuart turned an undesirable species into something that works well as a pasture mix.<\/p>\n
Jumping ahead with genetics<\/p>\n
Stuart has made an additional profitable adjustment since his participation in NB2 by introducing Wagyu genetics into his Droughtmaster herd.<\/p>\n
He drew on the genetic knowledge of a consultant, who provided him with information and confidence to implement a cross-breeding strategy within a portion of Drumburle\u2019s herd.<\/p>\n
The Barretts select high-marbling Wagyu bulls to cross with Droughtmaster cows.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were starting to get discounts on the feeder grid from the higher Bos indicus content, so crossing the Droughtmasters with Wagyu bulls will help reduce these. The Wagyu genetics also improved our fertility, temperament, and intramuscular fat and marbling,\u201d Stuart said.<\/p>\n
Reaping the rewards<\/p>\n
This strategy has improved joining rates among Stuart\u2019s yearling heifers \u2013 the first round of progeny from the Wagyu bulls joined two years ago. While his previous rate would have been four Droughtmaster bulls to cover 150 females, he reduced to three Wagyu bulls to 150 breeders.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a modest, family-sized operation and are affected by cost of production increases.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s difficult to increase production while you\u2019re still being conservative with the environment,\u201d Stuart said.<\/p>\n
These environmental considerations include refraining from overgrazing and being conservative with their long-term decision making around stocking rates and seasonal variability.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to get a premium through increasing the Wagyu content. Next year we will have F2 calves on the ground and we\u2019ll start seeing better eating quality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Better together\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Fitzroy NB2 group plans to keep meeting beyond the funding period of the program, which concluded at the end of June 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to take turns hosting group activities and get-togethers where we invite businesses and subject matter experts,\u201d Stuart said.<\/p>\n
The social aspect is also a drawcard, filling a gap experienced by many farming families in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cI needed fresh ideas and the access to experts and fellow producers really helped when I was taking over the business from my father.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes getting involved in these projects can lead to a bit of trepidation, but by the end of it, I was refocused, re-energised and am more motivated to go and actually try new things.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stuart and Katie Barrett have overcome productivity challenges in their breeding and backgrounding operations \u2018Drumburle\u2019, south of Biloela…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[38685,48603,200,48601,30357,48604,48602,79],"class_list":["post-66487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-genetics","tag-case-study","tag-forage-mapping","tag-genetics","tag-grazing-land-management","tag-industry-news","tag-nb2","tag-pasture-management","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}