OPTIONS TO ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Improving sown pasture performance with fertiliser KEY QUESTION(S) Are my pastures nitrogen deficient? How much can I improve my pastures? FARMER(S) David Fuller (Sown pasture) Murray Sturgess (Native pasture)

REASON Pastures can be more resilient and less risky than crops in marginal conditions. So, increased areas of sown pastures have been suggested as a practical way to adapt to climate change if it brings hotter summers, lower rainfall and more seasonal variability to the Chinchilla district. Pastures can also boost soil organic carbon but, may provide lower returns than continued grain production. So, it is important to make sure our pastures are performing at their best to build up the soil and maintain good farm profits. Sown pasture rundown and the lost production from nitrogen tie-up are now common in Queensland. So David and Murray were interested in the potential for nitrogen to increase the long-term performance of their sown and native pastures; something that will be even more important if pasture areas do increase in response to climate change. David and Murray have both used fertiliser test strips to see if their pastures are nitrogen deficient and assess the potential to boost their future pasture growth. METHODS David and Murray applied nitrogen as Green Urea, a special form of urea fertiliser that is safer to use with surface applications in pastures. Green Urea can last on the surface for up to 14 days longer than normal urea while farmers wait for rain to wash it into the soil. Sown pasture - David applied the urea (March 2012) by a hand-spinner at rates of 0kgN/ha (control), 100 kgN/ha, and 200 kgN /ha to a Fine Cut Rhodes, Premier digit, and Creeping blue grass pasture that established only 15 months earlier. He used three replications of the 100 kgN/ha treatment to get a more accurate measure of the results. Native pasture - Murray also applied his urea (March 2012) with a hand-spinner, but chose to look at his native bluegrass pastures which are considered to need less nitrogen. Murray used a series of rates; 0 kgN/ha (control), 10 kgN/ha, and 25 kgN /ha, 50 kgN/ha, 100 kgN/ha, and 200 kgN /ha to see how much the rate affected any results. Pasture samples were collected in May 2012. Both paddocks were grazed before bulk samples were taken. This is one challenge with field trials. Davids trial was still sampled to measure dry matter production and grass quality measures (nutrient analysis), while Murrays strips were only sampled for quality because cattle liked the fertilised grass strips so much that most of the bulk had been removed.

OPTIONS TO ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Improving sown pasture performance with fertiliser

RESULTS
Pasture & rate of nitrogen applied Davids sown pasture (3 reps) 0 kg N/ha (Control) 100 kg N/ha 200 kg N/ha Murrayss native bluegrass 0 kg N/ha (Control) 10 kg N/ha 25 kg N/ha 50kg N/ha 100 kg N/ha 200 kgN/ha Dry matter
(kg/ha)

Colour
(0 yellow - 10 green)

Protein
(%)

3967 5756 6710 -

3 8 10 3 4 5 6 9 10

4.9 8.0 8.9 4.3 5.8 5.7 6.1 8.9 11.8

CONCLUSIONS Using Green Urea has confirmed that both the sown and native pastures were nitrogen deficient and producing well below their potential. In both cases the pastures in the fertiliser strips were grazed much more heavily than the rest of the paddock. Indeed, while Murrays 10 kg N/ha strips were difficult to see with the eye, the cattle clearly recognised the strip and ate it back heavily. David estimates his cattle removed about 50% more plant material from his fertilised strips. Both he and Murray were amazed by the colour and increased feed they got from using fertiliser. As David said, It just goes to show what production I am missing out onand the potential my pasture has. These strips will be repeated next year with the strips slashed prior to applying Green Urea. Doing new strips next to the ones for this year will also help assess how long the effects last. David and Murray are keen to keep investigating ways to improve the nutrition of their pastures. While they are using fertiliser to assess the loss of production from nitrogen deficiency, they are both very interested in using legumes that can fix their own nitrogen to maintain production levels into the future.

This project is funded by GRDC and the Australian Governments Climate Change Research Program

OPTIONS TO ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Improving sown pasture performance with fertiliser

Davids sown pasture responses to fertiliser on a well established young pasture Even after grazing, each kilogram of nitrogen produced about 18 kg extra dry matter.

Murrays Queensland bluegrass looked healthier and the cattle heavily grazed the fertilised plots.