Prosperous pastures – managing your feedbase for dry conditions

With conditions drying out in 2023, many producers are concerned about whether their feedbase will get them through the season.

In this episode of the SA Drought Hub podcast, we hear from the University of Adelaide’s Associate Professor Matt Denton about the project he’s leading on feedbase management for improved drought resilience in low to medium-rainfall regions.

Matt is joined by Brenton Kroehn, who runs Borung Poll Merino Stud near Waikerie. Brenton shares his experiences as a project partner providing trial and demonstration sites, and offers insights into feedbase management to help protect against the worst effects of drought.

The feedbase project – which complements the hub’s ‘Mixed species pastures demonstration sites’ project – aims to help producers extend the pasture growing season and increase pasture ground cover to protect soils. Means to achieve this include better-adapted pasture species and pasture mixtures, and improved use of technology for pasture establishment and management.

The work is funded by the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, with additional support from the SA Drought Hub.