At MLA’s Grazing land management hub, producers can find several tools and calculators to help them in making the most of their feedbase and grazing land management strategies.
Below are the top five tools recommended to improve your feedbase skills to increase productivity.
1. Australian Feedbase Monitor
The Australian Feedbase Monitor provides producers with accurate updates on ground cover and Total Standing Dry Matter for every hectare of their property.
Designed to improve grazing management for producers engaged in red meat production, the Australian Feedbase Monitor provides:
- access to farm-level rolling monthly pasture biomass estimates for every Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) account holder – updated every five days
- regionally calibrated predictions based on more than 6,000 sites, using world-leading satellite monitoring and data analysis systems
- data showing the trends in pasture growth and ground cover dating back to 2017
- support for more objective and accurate feed budgeting, leading to sustainable grazing management decisions.
Free subscription to this tool can only be accessed by MLA members via myMLA, so make sure you’ve registered for myMLA and linked it to your current Livestock Production Assurance (LPA) account.
2. Stocking rate calculator
The stocking rate calculator is designed to determine the number of cattle or sheep you should put into a paddock based on its carrying capacity.
Identifying a stocking rate and density that will sustain and maximise green pasture utilisation is important in increasing the profitability of an enterprise.
The calculator will allow you to achieve optimal grazing land management by helping you figure out how many days a paddock can be grazed depending on livestock numbers and class.
Functioning offline and on both mobile and tablet, the stocking rate calculator can join you in the paddock.
To use, simply click on the input boxes under ‘paddock description’ and type in your data.
Visit etools.mla.com.au/src to access the calculator.
3. Pasture improvement calculator
Developed by EverGraze, the pasture improvement calculator helps to determine the costs and benefits of resowing pastures compared to current practice.
The calculator allows facilitators and producers to compare financial implications of different pasture resowing options, and can be used to help determine the best pasture improvement option, including:
- upgrading existing pastures
- improving infrastructure, such as fencing and water to improve grazing management
- applying capital rates of fertiliser
- establishing new pastures.
Using net cumulative cash flow, the calculator’s method finds when peak debt occurs and how long negative cash flow may last before the investment pays off.
The calculator allows inputs of:
- costs of resowing
- benefits of the resown pastures to livestock
- soils and the environment at any given financial values (i.e. different interest rates, tax rates, gross margins etc.)
Like the stocking rate calculator, the pasture improvement calculator can be used offline by simply clicking on the input boxes and entering the according data.
To access the calculator, head to etools.mla.com.au/tools/pic/v230/.
4. Feedbase planning and budgeting tool
The feedbase planning and budgeting tool is designed to help you:
- plan your rotational grazing systems
- determine appropriate stocking rates
- calculate your pasture growth rates
- determine how long your paddocks will last
- calculate the most economical ration for your stock.
The tool consists of 11 individual calculators which include:
- How long will the paddock last?
- How much feed will be available at the end of the grazing period?
- How many head can I run in this paddock?
- How many hectares do I need?
- Summer feed budget
- Winter feed budget
- Rotation planner
- Farm paddock grazing days recorder
- Phosphorus required and cost
- Feeding supplements at pasture
- Comparing nitrogen, gibberellic acid and supplement values.
To access the calculator and find more information on how to use, visit etools.mla.com.au/fbrp
5. Pasture paramedic
Pasture paramedic is a decision-making tool that allows for rapid assessment of pasture condition in the medium to high rainfall zones of southern Australia, northern NSW, and the WA wheatbelt.
The tool measures the quality and quantity of available pastures and identifies requirements for pasture renovation or rejuvenation.
