NORTHERN DAIRY FEEDBASE 2001 .4. FEEDING SYSTEMS DURING WINTER AND SPRING

The problem period for milk production in northern Australia is early autumn-late spring. Any change to the feedbase that improves the quali ty and quantity of the diet over this period will increase farm milk p roduction by allowing increases in herd size and production per cow. F armers will use a range of feed resources which must be integrated eff ectively to increase productivity (milk output/unit input) and profita bility. These new farming systems must be sustainable in the long term . Forage resources available to improve the feed supply during winter- spring are reviewed. Those with the greatest potential to increase far m productivity are irrigated temperate pastures and forage crops, and high quality silages produced from maize, grain sorghum and legume cro ps. High quality legume silages have a special role to play in increas ing the protein supply on dairy farms. It should also be possible to p roduce silages of acceptable quality from the surplus growth from trop ical-subtropical pastures. Integrating silage cutting with grazing man agement should significantly improve pasture utilisation and quality. Feeding this silage in combination with concentrates would allow an in crease in stocking rate while maintaining production per cow.