Pastoral zone

AWI’s investments in the pastoral zone focus on lowering the costs of production and increasing the sustainability of grazing systems.

  • Land, Water, Wool - pastoral

    AWI has trialled several new tools that may assist woolgrowers in deteriming the optimum stocking rate for their property.

  • Nutritive value of rangeland plants

    Accurate assessment of the nutritional value of high salt content rangeland plants is crucial to determining the most cost effective supplementary feeding strategies. AWI is currently developing new methods to evaluate the quality of feed supplied by pastoral zone vegetation.

  • Saltbush establishment

    Saltbush provides a valuable feed source in low rainfall environments and plays an important role in the reclamation of land affected by salinity. AWI is researching new methods for low cost and reliable establishment of saltbush.

  • Enrich

    AWI’s Enrich project is developing principles for new grazing systems based on perennial shrubs. The integration of perennial shrubs and improved pastures in low rainfall environments will provide a diversified feedbase for sheep production.

  • Alternative breed performance

    AWI will undertake an analysis to determine the economic impact of alternative sheep breeds on a traditional pastoral wool enterprise.

Overview

There are currently 1,735 pastoral zone wool growers across Australia. The profitability of these businesses is reliant on the sustainable grazing of native grasslands and shrublands. AWI has invested in a range of pilot projects that have the potential to assist pastoral woolgrowers in better matching stocking rate and feed supply and preparing for periods of drought. These monitoring and assessment tools also have the potential to allow growers to demonstrate their environmental credentials to consumers.

Wool growers in the pastoral zone are highly dependant on seasonal rainfall as a determinant of the appropriate stocking rate for their property. The efficient and timely use of climate forecasting tools will assist producers to make management and stocking rate decisions and prepare for periods of drought.

In many parts of the pastoral zone, specialist wool producers are increasing their focus on meat production from dual purpose sheep such as Dohnes and exotic sheep breeds such as Dorpers and Damaras. The impact on profitability in shifting from a wool to a meat focus will  be examined in an economic study funded by AWI.

There is interest in increasing the productivity of pastoral zone systems through the use of sheep finishing systems and cost effective supplementation strategies. A number of studies are underway to better understand the nutritive value of traditional rangeland plants with high salt content and to investigate cost effective mechanisms to establish and manage shrub based production systems in low rainfall environments.

AWI invests in the Bestprac network across the pastoral zone. Bestprac provides a mechanism for pastoral zone producers to meet in small groups and with the assistance of a facilitator investigate and discuss techniques for improving the profitability and sustainability of wool production systems.

Related articles

Pastoral zone rising to the challenge, Beyond the Bale Feb/Mar 2007

Conviction sustains pastoral-zone growers, Beyond the Bale Feb/Mar 2007

Native plants boost grazing options, Beyond the Bale Feb/Mar 2007

Report

Australian Wool Production in the Pastoral Zone Report (PDF 616Kb)

AWI grower networks

Find out about AWI's community-based network groups in each state.

 

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