food supply under threat
Agriculturally improved grasslands, which dominate modern intensive agricultural landscapes, are usually poor in wild plant species due to the original diversity of plants having been overtaken by the introduction of cultivated plant varieties such as perennial ryegrass and white clover, or perhaps other invasive species inadvertently introduced from nearby cultivated land.
Grasslands too are of vital importance for raising livestock for human consumption.
animal production or feed
The world’s pasture and grazing lands have for the most part remained stationary for the past
three centuries.
However, over the past three decades changes to grazing lands have been noted in several key global regions as follows :
- increases in the less densely populated regions of tropical Africa and Central/South America, often at the expense of forests that are being cleared to make way for cattle (and other ruminants) pastures
- declines of approximately 20% in Europe, South-East Asia and North America where increasing population has forced a switch from grazing to more intensive cropping and cultivation systems, including the feeding of livestock with grains such as corn
- increases in Asia and the Middle East, (notably China), increasing pasture lands at the expense of cropping environments
So, the struggle between these two vast and important agricultural systems intensifies and places continuing pressure on the animal-carrying pasture lands.
animals places pressure on pasture
and grasslands
Modern Day Farming Technologies
Modern-day farming technologies, practices, approaches and agricultural land management systems should all be viewed in this context. The importance therefore of managing the soil to ensure its animal-carrying capacity is retained to the optimum level of performance is critical to this debate.
RLF as a world-leading liquid fertiliser company has developed its product range specifically to meet this important objective.
RLF is at the forefront of several products and fertilising concepts that give great effectiveness to managed pasture lands, and these are as follows :
carrying pastures means more
productivity is required
Pasture Plus
Pasture Plus is a crop-specific Ultra Foliar fertiliser spray with Nutrient Delivery System (NDS) that increases the efficiency in product uptake through the leaf by up to 350%. Pasture Plus delivers 12 essential nutrients contained in a High-analysis Broad-spectrum solution. These nutrients are formulated specifically for this crop type. Pasture Plus provides the plant with an optimum balance of essential nutrients to ensure soil nutrient variability and deficiency is fixed. Pasture Plus gives greater plant protection, more growth and improved yield qualities. This is done by using just one product that delivers 12 essential nutrients tailor made to suit the crop.
Nutricover
NutriCover is a foliar-fertigation product formulated to satisfy the nutrient demand of plants at critical stages of plant growth for a fast and effective outcome. By using three forms of nitrogen, (urea, nitrate and ammonium), not just the one to stimulate metabolic pathways in the plant, NutriCover maximises the benefits of nitrogen through balanced crop nutrition. This means that NutriCover is at least three times more efficient than UREA nitrogen through the soil alone, thereby enabling a reduction in nitrogen by traditional granular fertiliser programs. NutriCover can be tailored with additional elements to suit specific nutrient requirements if the crop demands by using key major nutrients that function as activators and building blocks in plant growth.
Nitrogen Plus
Nitrogen Plus is a foliar-fertigation product formulated to take care of the nitrogen demands of plants at the critical stages of plant growth. Nitrogen Plus contains the highest level of nitrogen in four different structures that a liquid formulation can hold. Nitrogen Plus utilises the RLF Nutrient Delivery System (NDS) technology that increases the efficiency in product uptake through the leaf by up to 350%. Nitrogen Plus gives fast entry nitrogen to protect against the nutrient deficiency and can be applied as a foliar to broadacre crops or in irrigation systems to all plants. The presence of four forms of nitrogen (UREA, nitrate, ions, ammonium ions and organic nitrogen), supports plant metabolism for fast and efficient uptake and utilisation of nitrogen.
Power N
Power N is a high concentration source of liquid nitrogen specifically designed for safe foliar application and injection and is flexible and easy to use. Power N can be applied in targeted applications to meet crop demands at any growth stage. By being able to split applications throughout the growing season, growers can better manage crop risk. Power N is available as a bulk liquid, does not deteriorate and can be stored safely on-farm from year to year.
- PowerN26 is a balanced ratio of nitrogen and sulphur.
- PowerN39 is an efficient method of supplying nitrogen.
Power N products can be applied via irrigation or boomspray systems with flat fan or streaming nozzles, foliar sprayed, injected into the soil or sprayed on to the soil. Power N is ideal for ‘little and often’, or split applications to closely match crop nitrogen requirements and can be metered precisely for variable rates.
In Australia
The information and figures were gathered as part of a formal survey of information on agricultural land management practices on Australian farms.*
The key findings were :
-
Approximately 105,000 agricultural businesses (or 77% of all agricultural businesses) had livestock on their holding during the reference period. Of these businesses, 71% indicated that they held cattle and/or calves while 40%reported that they held sheep and/or lambs.
-
Around 62,000 agricultural businesses reported rotating livestock on grazing land, with 21,000 (34%) of those in New South Wales and 17,000 (27%) in Victoria.
-
Of the businesses breeding sheep in Australia, the lambing rate per 100 ewes was 98 for meat sheep and 90 for wool sheep.
-
Of lambs produced, 97 meat lambs per 100 ewes were weaned, while the figure for wool lambs weaned was lower at 85 lambs per 100 ewes.
-
The average age of lambs turned off was 13 months with an average weight of 40 kg.Tactical grazing of sheep and goats was the predominant rotation method, with approximately 21 million head rotated this way nationally, in 153,000 paddocks covering 14 million hectares.Of the businesses breeding cattle in Australia, the calving rate per 100 cows was 76 for meat cows and 79 for dairy cows.Approximately 6.5 million cattle were rotationally grazed across an estimated 504,000 paddocks, covering an area of 24.4 million hectares. Businesses in Victoria reported rotation practices for around 2 million cattle, or 30% of the national figure, across 208,000 paddocks (41% of all paddocks). Queensland businesses rotationally grazed around 1.7 million cattle or 26% of the national total, across 10.8 million hectares, or 45% of Australia’s grazing area where rotation practices were conducted.Set-stocking for cattle was undertaken on approximately 35.3 million hectares in Australia. Queensland accounted for 15.5 million hectares of this total (or 44%) while the Northern Territory accounted for 8.2 million hectares (or 23% of the total).
*RLF acknowledges the data collected in 2011-12 by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and made available courtesy of Department of Agriculture and Food WA.
In New Zealand
In 2012 the following key statistics were determined as part of the annual survey of the agricultural industry animal production businesses on NZ farms.*
-
dairy cattle numbered nearly 6.5 million – 1% more than the previous year
-
sheep numbered 30.8 million – down 476,000 from the previous year
-
beef cattle numbered 3.7 million – down 36,000 from the previous year
-
deer numbers decreased by 3% to 1.0 million
The dairy industry continues to grow and the following chart maps this progress over a ten year period since 2002 :
*RLF acknowledges the data collected in the 2012 Survey of Farmers and Foresters conducted by Statistics New Zealand.
In China
-
Beef cattle numbers are falling slightly as the following graph shows, however at 45.5 million head this represents a significant industry reliant on pasture.
-
Dairy cattle number are increasing and at 15.3 million head represent the focus on supplying a reliable source of dairy products for the home market.
-
Goat numbers are also on the increase with 196 million head being recorded in recent census.
-
Buffalo are commonly accounted for in conjunction with beef cattle, and healthy populations of horses, donkeys and mules (combined total of approximately 20 million) are also still managed and used as part of China’s pastoral systems.
In other Regional Marketplaces
In 2005, FA) recorded the following statistics for ruminant numbers. These figures capture the combined total of livestock for both meat and milk production.
Across the Americas
A glimpse of wider global perspective shows animal production and grazing numbers from across Northern and Latin America as follows :
In the United States of America ruminant livestock production is a major segment of their agricultural industries. Income from beef cattle and calves, milk products, sheep, and goats totalled about US$93.7bn in 2007, compared to US$77.2bn income from grain crops. This shows the extent to which grazing is reflected in the country’s land use. In 2007 there were 373m hectares in farming enterprises, of which 165m hectares were in permanent pasture and rangeland (44%), 14.5m hectares of cropland used only for pasture (4%), 12m hectares in pastured woodland (3%) as opposed to 164m hectares in cultivated crops (44%) with the balance being assigned to other forms of agriculture such as horticulture.In Canada pastures and grasslands occupy 44% of the total farmed area. In 2009 these areas were recorded as 15.5m hectares of natural forage land on private holdings, 5.7m hectares of seeded pastures, 2.9m hectares in sown hay and fodder crops and 5.1m hectares in alfalfa for both hay and pellets. In addition there are vast areas of natural rangelands. The total estimated value of forages used domestically exceeds US$1bn annually. Canada has an estimated 4.3 million beef cattle with the majority of these businesses being situated in the western provinces, with British Columbia being the largest.In Argentina in 2005, there were 50.8m head of cattle, 12.5m head of sheep, 4.2m goats and 3.7m horses. In recent decades sheep numbers have declined considerably, whilst horse livestock increased dramatically.
In Brazil the predominant grazing production system relies on both native and cultivated pastures, which are stocked and grazed all year round. In 2004 there were 192m head of cattle, with three-quarters of these being for beef. There were 14.2m head of sheep, 1.2m buffalo and 9.1m goats. (Goats had increased dramatically on previous years). In addition there were 5.9m horses. Forage conservation is generally only managed for intensive dairy production systems and some rare feed- lot systems.
And, this is the important balance that needs to be maintained if food security for the world is to
be achieved.
Demand for meat however has outstripped available pastures, with the result that more and more livestock are fed on fodder crops. This is a global trend, but applies most especially to the most densely populated countries. The shortage of pasture land has also helped change the kind of livestock being raised. Decreases are being recorded in cattle numbers in many regions, whilst goats worldwide have had an explosive increase in numbers. Pigs (now considered to be the world’s largest meat source), and poultry, have experienced growth because they can be fed from feed-lots and more intensely farmed.
This is a complex, often complicated and evolving discussion, however at the heart of it all remains
the soil.
So, can pastures and grasslands be sustainably managed for the future ?
The way in which all sectors of the world agricultural industry combine to ensure the very best advantage is made from the land systems currently under cultivation for both animal pastures and grazing, as well as for food production from crops and other market produce, will be the key to answering this question.
At RLF we research, develop, trial and market sustainable products that contribute much to performance and quality of crops and produce, and much to the building of soil organic matter.
We are committed to the role that we play in meeting the challenges of food production for the world, whether it be from animal production, animal feed production, broadacre cropping environments or small-scale market produce enterprises.
crops and animal
production must
remain balanced as
the health and
success of each
is entwined
And, this is the important balance that needs to be maintained if food security for the world is to
be achieved.
Demand for meat however has outstripped available pastures, with the result that more and more livestock are fed on fodder crops. This is a global trend, but applies most especially to the most densely populated countries. The shortage of pasture land has also helped change the kind of livestock being raised. Decreases are being recorded in cattle numbers in many regions, whilst goats worldwide have had an explosive increase in numbers. Pigs (now considered to be the world’s largest meat source), and poultry, have experienced growth because they can be fed from feed-lots and more intensely farmed.
This is a complex, often complicated and evolving discussion, however at the heart of it all remains
the soil.
So, can pastures and grasslands be sustainably managed for the future ?
The way in which all sectors of the world agricultural industry combine to ensure the very best advantage is made from the land systems currently under cultivation for both animal pastures and grazing, as well as for food production from crops and other market produce, will be the key to answering this question.
At RLF we research, develop, trial and market sustainable products that contribute much to performance and quality of crops and produce, and much to the building of soil organic matter.
We are committed to the role that we play in meeting the challenges of food production for the world, whether it be from animal production, animal feed production, broadacre cropping environments or small-scale market produce enterprises.
crops and animal
production must
remain balanced as
the health and
success of each
is entwined