Agriculture Victoria has released the interim results from two East Gippsland native pastures trial sites, finding that fertiliser and good grazing management can mitigate the worst effects of erosion.
Land Management Extension Officer with Agriculture Victoria, John Commins said the trial was established in 2016 to investigate options for increasing the quantity and quality of native pastures while also increasing ground cover and suppressing weed competition.
“The results confirmed that with the right application of fertiliser and management to retain ground cover, the worst effects of erosion can be mitigated, especially for the north westerly facing pastures that are prone to erosion in East Gippsland,” Mr Commins said.
“The application of fertiliser at both trial sites resulted in higher pasture quality, in terms of crude protein and metabolisable energy,” he said.
“The Reedy Flat and Connors Hill locations were chosen to replicate the common and limiting areas found on a typical farm with regard to aspect, poor soil fertility and the presence of unimproved pastures.”
Mr Commins said quarterly feed testing was undertaken at both sites to determine pasture quality.
“Pasture composition monitoring was also undertaken in autumn and spring to ascertain changes in plant species that may be occurring in response to the increased soil fertiliser and grazing regimes,” he said.
Mr Commins said the trials would continue for another 12 months.
