Name:- PROGRAZE Assessment 3 This assessment is 10 percent of the marks for this unit. Resources: You will require the following resources to answer this assignment. • Access to the internet • Prograze manual • MLA Pasture Ruler • Lecture notes Instructions Read and answer all questions Submit your completed assessment via the LMS system Each question is one (1) mark and the assessment is marked out of 20. Due Date:- 5:00pm Friday 12th May For the following two (2) questions use two different methods for determining stocking rate. Use the French potential and Growing season methodologies 1. What would the estimated DSE carrying capacity be for a well-managed farm in Southern Australia, based on an average annual rainfall of 750mm with a growing season of 9 months? 2. You have just bought the best farm, with highly fertile, well drained soils in a 600mm rainfall zone in north central Victoria. You have been told the growing season is usually 6 months What do you think would be the theoretical stocking rate of your new farm? 3. List and explain three management strategies for dealing with a forward budgeted feed deficit over winter 4. Describe the hay making process. 5. Describe how to make pit silage. 6. Research the predicted seasonal pasture growth for each location in the table and complete the following table Table 1 Pasture Growth KgDM/Ha/day Month Location Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Years Growth Hamilton Good Pasture Hamilton Poor Pasture Rutherglen Maffra Dryland 7. If a typical grazing property utilizes 30% of the feed grown, what is the potential stocking rate per hectare for each location given that 1DSE utilizes 1Kg DM per day on average. 8. You are going to put the bull out on the 1st of October for an early July calving. You need to make sure your bulls are in a suitable conditions score prior to mating. Prior to mating what is a suitable conditions score for a bull? a) 1 b) 2 c) 3 d) 4 e) The condition score for a bull is not important at mating. 9. In your area winter is often very cold and wet and pasture growth is very slow. Over winter what are the two (2) most suitable feeds you would supplement your bull with so as to maintain body weight and his condition score? a) Lupins b) Hay c) Urea Blocks d) Bypass protein supplements e) Silage 10. In summer you need to supplement your bulls so they so they do not lose too much weight. Which of the following feed is not suitable? a) Good quality silage b) Good quality Hay c) Straw d) Cracked feed barley e) Urea Blocks The following information is to be used for the next six questions. It is the middle of winter (July) and you have just measured your moderately dense perennial rye grass pasture using the Prograze stick method. You have calculated it to be an average of 5.5cm. When the stock leave the paddock you want to leave about 1000KgDM/Ha of pasture. 11. The expected digestibility of this pasture is a) about 10-11 MJ/Kg DM b) about 70%-75% c) about 50-55% d) unimportant as it will not affect how much they eat per day e) about 90%-95% 12. The expected Crude Protein percentage for the above pasture is ;likely to be approximately a) 5% b) 10% c) 20% d) 40% e) 80% 13. Use the MLA stocking rate calculator to calculate how much feed the following stock will consume per day. Assume grazing length is 1 day and the paddock is 10 Ha. https://www.mla.com.au/extension-training-and-tools/tools-calculators/stocking-rate-calculator/ a) A crossbred ewe b) A crossbred ewe with a lambs at foot c) A Cow in mid lactation d) A Dry cow 14. If you need to supplement 24 Kg weaner sheep over the late summer / early autumn period, which would be the most suitable supplement a) Lupins with a Crude Protein of 32% b) Feed barley with a Crude Protein of 12% c) Oats with a Crude Protein of 7% d) Molasses with a Crude Protein of 3-4 % e) The answer should be focusing on energy and not on crude protein 15. You are assessing a pasture in a paddock. List 3 things that would indicate a high quality pasture Stock water is a very important component of an animals diet. It is rarely tested or thought about except during droughts. Follow the link below, read the article and use the information to answer the next three question http://agriculture.vic.gov.au/agriculture/livestock/sheep/sheep-notes-newsletters/sheep-notes-autumn-2016/testing-your-stock-water-is-critical-in-dry-seasons 16. What may happen to salt levels in a dam over summer? 17. a What conditions favour blue green algae in a dam? B What management practices would lower the risk of blue green algea in a dam? 18. For the following stock what are the upper levels of salinity before stock performance is affected? Type of livestock EC (S/cm) mg/L (ppm) Mature sheep Lactating ewes Mature cattle Calves 19. In your own words, explain how to condition score sheep. 20. Over summer the dry ewes (1DSE) are starting to lose condition. As you want to keep them in condition score 3+ for mating you realize that you need to supplement them. The silo has some feed barley in it with a tested result of 12MJME/KgDM and 13% Crude Protein. The barley is 90% dry matter. Your farm group suggested that you should feed them one third of the required energy from this supplement. How much barley per animal per day do you need to feed to meet this target?