Using livestock manures to boost pasture growth
Livestock manures can be a cost effective alternative to inorganic fertilisers but must be applied at rates which counter growth limiting nutrients.
Read MoreLivestock manures can be a cost effective alternative to inorganic fertilisers but must be applied at rates which counter growth limiting nutrients.
Read MoreThe soil treatments with the lowest cost of producing extra pasture were those that addressed first limiting nutrients.
Read MoreTwo new publications about the science of soil carbon abatement do not align well with the optimism amongst carbon project facilitators for achieving permanent, commercially large increases through changing land management practices.
Read MoreWildlife road kills continue on minor rural roads west of Romsey which have a default 100km per hour maximum speed limit when the safe speed for wildlife, pedestrians and cyclists is less that 50km per hour.
Read MoreNatural Capital improvement on farms has been recognised as an important component of management by the NSW government.
Read MoreWildlife taking advantage of improving natural capital on Moffitts Farm are being killed by vehicles on surrounding roads.
Read MoreMoffitts Farm is now selling Wiltipoll ewe lambs and prime lambs with carbon neutral credentials.
Read MoreThe Romsey Structure Plan Options and Scenarios fail to account for their housing estates greenhouse production and the lost opportunity to sequester greenhouse gases and recover biodiversity with enlightened farm land use change around the town.
Read MoreThe Textile Exchange’s Regenerative Agriculture Landscape Analysis contends there are significant difference between farmers who adopt RA while CSIRO’s Mark Farrell says the approaches to soil health and quality are similar.
Read MoreWhen carbon credits are sold off the farm to a third party, the farm business cannot then claim them for accessing carbon neutral markets.
Read MoreBy managing pasture species and mass we are able to minimise our sheep flock’s methane emissions as well as improve growth rates. Plus interesting developments with bull ants and echidnas.
Read MoreShire town residents are increasingly using nearby minor rural roads for exercise and nature observation, it means a new era of vehicle speed restrictions is required to protect public safety.
Read MoreHistorically soil health mostly meant how much organic matter is in soil. But organic matter changes slowly. Microbes change fast.
Read MoreThis FAO report provides an important scientific account of the role of soil biota in the soil food web and carbon flow between the atmosphere, plants and soil.
Read MoreChanging grazing and land management practices to bolster ecosystem functions is positive for the environment but may not necessarily lead into trading soil carbon.
Read MoreThe Macedon Ranges Shire Council’s draft Road Management Plan takes no account of increasing numbers of pedestrians on some minor rural roads and increased wildlife population on roadside verges and surrounding farm and public land. It provides no data on vehicle road maintenance diesel use and their greenhouse gas emissions trends.
Read MoreAnecdotal examples of increasing soil carbon stocks by changing livestock grazing and pasture management are common, but long term statistically significant trial data demonstrates making a significant change is likely to be difficult especially in perennial pasture paddocks where the existing carbon level in above 3%
Read MorePatrick Francis provides feedback to the Macedon Ranges Shire Council’s draft Roadside Conservation Management Plan.
Read MoreVictoria’s state government departments responsible for maximum speed limits on minor rural roads and safety and welfare of wildlife do not recognize vehicles travelling to fast to avoid collisions with wildlife on minor rural roads, are the cause of an increasing number of wildlife road kills and injuries.
Read MoreTrees age. And at some point, they die. When that happens, decay begins, sending carbon back into the atmosphere as CO2. Other smaller trees will then take over, thereby leaving a fairly stable CO2 stock in the forest.
Read MoreThe Australian sheep meat industry has already achieved a status of green house gas stabilisation.
Read MoreThis research contends global warming is likely to increase soil carbon losses particularly in regions with high carbon stocks.
Read MoreApplying artificial climate treatments to pasture species without including different grazing regimes is absurd, it makes the research conclusions around pasture species resilience in face of climate change irrelevant.
Read MoreThis research is suggesting that the carbon sequestered in the soil can be released faster than previously thought [and play a role in] future climate change,”
Read MoreSoil health (regenerative agriculture) initiatives must credibly delineate grain yield, grain quality and across farm ecosystem functions outcomes from what is currently being achieved with science based conservation agriculture.
Read More2020 rainfall has been consistently close to or above average each month ensuring optimum pasture growth and ewe fertility ensuring a record high lamb marking and weaning percentage.
Read More“A Twentieth Century Shepherd – The letters of E.H.B. Lefroy” demonstrate the activities and passion of a remarkable Australian who devoted his life to helping others in a science based quest for a more productive and profitable pastoral Merino wool industry.
Read MoreLivestock farmers are being given mixed messages around minimum pasture levels that preserve pasture plant resilience and ecosystem functions.
Read MoreThe European Commission is about to settle on a new policy on methane which could have profound implications for ruminant livestock agriculture.
Read MoreSome native grass species will respond to increased plant available phosphorus, but best practice grazing management is critical to ensure their persistence when fertiliser is applied.
Read MoreToo many journalists fail to ask their on-air guests questions about generalisations made, in this case about different types of meat production in Australia versus overseas.
Read MoreSummer/autumn 2020 received the highest rainfall for the period since 2012. The consequences for biodiversity and pastures were enormous.
Read MoreRoad kills of native animals are avoidable on minor rural roads in the Macedon Ranges and adjacent shires. To achieve this traffic speeds on these roads must be legally limited to a maximum of 40 km/hr.
Read MoreIn part two of a three article series on regenerative agriculture Patrick Francis examines why the concept is creating unnecessary divisions amongst Australia’s broadacre farmers.
Read MoreRegen Ag has emerged over the last five years under the misapprehension of providing a more holistic methodology for profitable farming while improving ecosystem functions compared to conventional or agricultural science based farming.
Read MoreThe excerpts from Neil Black’s diary relate to Western Victoria’s landscapes, pastures, wildlife, livestock, animal husbandry, labour, wages, living conditions and bushfires in 1840.
Read MoreFind out what Victoria’s pastoral landscapes, vegetation and wildlife were like before pastoralism. James Bonwick provides an insight in 1857
Read MoreRuminant livestock industries are under pressure to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and strategies exist to help do this.
Read MoreThe challenge for agricultural science surrounding increasing or maintaining soil organic carbon level, is to provide farmers with knowledge that gives them confidence that the practice changes being recommended will achieve the desired outcomes under their individual soil type, climate, enterprise and business circumstances.
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