Elders : Sheep containment in focus

Activities at the three sites are focused on best practice sheep containment and the strategic use of AgTech for individual animal management and pasture budgeting.

The project is being facilitated by Elders NSW Livestock Production Specialist David Trengove, who explained that the activities are focused on increasing drought resilience.

"It's looking likely that local sheep producers will need to manage the impact of decreased feed on offer in paddocks during the upcoming season" David said.

"Containment feeding is an effective strategy to maintain breeding ewes and preserve ground cover during dry periods when pasture availability is low."

During the project, a core group of 11 producers will learn how to use AgriWebb livestock management software and Datamars Tru-Test electronic ID (eID) tag readers to collect and store information about individual ewes at key timepoints during the production cycle. This will allow the group to objectively assess the potential of breeding ewe containment to deliver improvements in conception rate, reproductive rate, ewe condition score maintenance, and weaning percentages compared to standard practice at three farms across two years.

The project will also use the Cibo Labs integration in AgriWebb for satellite-enabled pasture budgeting. The ability to remotely monitor paddock feed on offer over time will allow the core producer group to determine the right time to release the ewes from containment at each demonstration site.

"It's great to be showcasing some of the different tools that producers can use to make informed decisions based on their own data" David said.

Over the next two years, Elders will be hosting field days in the Cowra region, running online webinars, and preparing case studies to summarise results from the demonstration sites. To keep up to date with the latest project news and events:

• join the project mailing list by emailing [e-mail]

• follow the Elders Cowra Facebook page

• register here to attend the webinar on 20 December 2023 commencing at 6:30pm AEDT - Individual animal management: from data to decisions

For information about containment feeding, refer to MLA's producer guide Managing breeding ewes in containment areas and the NSW Central Tablelands Local Land Services guide A guide to confinement feeding sheep and cattle in NSW.

Animal production advice is available from your local Elders Livestock Production Specialist.

This project is being enabled by Thomas Elder Sustainable Agriculture.

_{This Producer Demonstration Site project is funded by Meat & Livestock Australia with support from Elders, AgriWebb, and Datamars.}