STABILITY AND PRODUCTIVITY OF STYLOSANTHES PASTURES IN AUSTRALIA - II- ANIMAL PRODUCTION FROM STYLOSANTHES PASTURES

Native pasture is the major forage resource grazed by beef cattle in n orthern Australia. Cattle growth rates and annual production levels fr om these pastures often fall well short of those needed to satisfy mar ket demands for well grown young cattle or high quality carcasses. Var ious technologies have been and are being used to improve production a nd enhance the producer's ability to meet market requirements, In this paper, we review and discuss the use of technology based on pasture l egumes from the genus Stylosanthes. The annual liveweight gain advanta ge to cattle grazing stylo-grass pastures compared with grass pastures is usually in the range of 30-60 kg/head. This advantage has been rec orded in central and northern regions and appears to be independent of the length of the growing season, Seasonal growth rate varies between years and is often similar to grass alone in the early wet season. In the fate wet and dry seasons, the advantage due to incorporating styl o can average 250 and 150 g/hd/d, respectively. These increases are as sociated with increased stylo selection at these times, as well as hig her nitrogen and digestible energy intake. In northern regions in part icular, oversewn pastures can be grazed at 2-3 times the rate for nati ve grass pastures, whereas in the southern region, no increase in stoc king rate is recommended. Although these oversewn pastures are present ly robust and productive, additional management inputs may be needed i n future to maintain balanced stylo-grass pastures. The increased flex ibility that stylo-grass pastures offer producers enables them to targ et herd and market requirements better.