Sheep and beef
BioAg pasture programs produce living, healthy and balanced soil, improve the production and quality of yield, and improve fertiliser use efficiency. Once a healthy soil is achieved, you can expect to grow more nutritious pastures that will support high volumes of beef, wool, lamb and milk production, with minimal animal health problems.
Specific considerations for sheep and beef
Core to a productive pasture system is supply of required nutrients and ameliorants to enhance the growth potential of your pastures. Each summer a nutrition plan should be developed and applied in preparation for rains and seasonal growth.
Soil microbes play a key role in nutrient cycling and delivery to plants. During dry periods microbe populations decline. With the start of the growing season, use of biostimulants can hasten microbial recovery, and the benefits of nutrient cycling and water infiltration this provides.
Shorter days, and the colder conditions of winter, slow pasture growth. Use of a vegetative biostimulant alone, or with fertiliser or stimulants, has shown to grow more feed, supporting stock through winter.
During spring look to grow as much pasture as possible. Your summer applications of nutrients and ameliorants now support the growth being delivered. Fodder, silage or hay may be supported with additional applications of NPKS fertiliser.
The BioAg approach
BioAg nutrition programs are incorporated into a growers current nutrition program. Our objective is to make fertiliser and other inputs work better and build and support healthy and balanced soils and plants. Programs are custom-made for each block, using advanced soil and tissue analysis. These integrated programs typically incorporate a range of BioAg solid and liquid nutrients, often associated with conventional inputs. BioAg fertility programs can be developed to meet organic certification requirements.
Soil test
An experienced and Fertcare accredited BioAg agronomist works with you and provides technical expertise on your crop. If you don’t already have recent soil test data, we arrange a soil test for you. The results provide essential information about the soil fertility and soil structure for better performance. Download the BioAg soil sampling procedure here.
A tailored program
Based on the results of soil tests, crop requirements and other factors such as soil structure, climate, history of the block, and targets that you are trying to achieve, we provide a tailored program that aims to improve soil fertility and maximise yield response. We support you through the program to ensure that inputs are applied at the right time, in the right way.
Leaf and tissue testing
Any nutritional program cannot foresee the changes in weather, disease, or pests, that may impact a crop. During the season, growers may observe issues or evidence of stress in their crop. This may be due to greater growth or yields than planned, a trace element shortage or abiotic stresses. An on-farm inspection and associated leaf or tissue tests will promptly identify any issues, which can quickly be addressed by applying the appropriate inputs. Download the BioAg leaf sampling procedure here.
High yielding crops require fertile balanced soils
Key to highly productive crops is the function of soils. Soil structure, chemistry and biology are critical in supporting crops throughout the growing season. By improving all aspects of the soil, crops will benefit from improved access to moisture, due to improved infiltration and water holding capacity, improved access to nutrition through improved nutrient cycling, fixation (for N) and a reduction in loss pathways, improved resilience to abiotic stresses and disease, improved root growth providing access to additional moisture and nutrients as well as improved carbon sequestration and a range of other benefits (click for more on soil health).
Beneficial microorganisms stimulate the plant’s root growth and help protect it from abiotic stresses. This is made possible through mutually beneficial relationships that microbes develop with plants, for example mycorrhizal associations. BioAg products programs supply essential macronutrients (N, P, K, S, Ca), trace elements (B, Zn, Cu etc.), microbial food and metabolites beneficial microorganisms that colonise root systems, improving soil function, plant health and productivity.
Sheep and beef – key features of a BioAg program
The following table illustrates the cropping process and potential solutions depending on soil test results and other contributing factors. Call your BioAg Area Manager to discuss your individual needs.
Sheep and beef resources
- Biostimulants increase yield benefits
The yield map from the Summer 2023 harvest near Brocklesby in Southern NSW visibly shows the positive impact of BioAg’s biostimulant program on yield.
- Pasture for beef case study – Upper Murray NSW
Routine soil tests across two decades have helped guide and provide a clear picture for BioAg’s customer in their transition from a chemical fertiliser program to a balanced biological approach to fertility. A review of the long-term changes in the soil has shown severa...
- Twizel, New Zealand, multi-year trial
BioAg New Zealand commenced multi-year pasture trials in 2021 in the in low rainfall high-country of the Mackenzie Basin near Twizel, located in the South Island of New Zealand.
- BioAgPhos™ suits low rainfall zones
Interim results from BioAg field trials undertaken in low rainfall high-country pasture demonstrate that BioAg applications significantly increased dryland pasture production and positively changed species composition.
- Building a feed wedge
While this season’s rainfall has extended pasture growth; it is traditional that livestock operations start to run short of good pasture any time from late summer through to late winter. Spring reserves are grazed down, while cold weather reduces the amount of new vege...
- Powered by Watts
Antony Isles, a BioAg client of 10 years, is delighted that his 2,500 acre ‘Green Trees’ property at Black Springs, south of Oberon, is powered by Watts, not Amps. Watts being BioAg Agent Andrew Watt. Andrew and his wife Rhonda have been working with BioAg for 22 years,...
- Duck island connection
There is a natural connection between Duck Island and BioAg. We both question convention and apply solutions to problems based on evidence. Duck Island is a large grazing property in the Upper South East of South Australia, situated on the saline soils of the Ninety Mil...
- Capital P in Broadacre Cropping and Pasture
In broadacre cropping and pasture, the last two seasons in Victoria and New South Wales have been exceptional. As a result, when considering your fertiliser requirements for 2022, it is important to consider the amount of nutrients your crops or livestock have removed. ...
Recommended products
BioAgPhos
Solid Fertiliser
Highly reactive phosphate fertiliser made from high-grade reactive phosphate rock combined with BioAg’s microbial digesting agent.
Soil & Seed
Biostimulant
Formulated to improve soil microbial activity, natural soil fertility and moisture and nutrient utilisation.
Balance & Grow
Biostimulant
Formulated to increase vegetative growth, root development and soil microbial activity. Ideal for broadacre, pastures and horticulture.
Committed to organics
With a core range of natural fertilisers and biostimulants, BioAg can offer an extensive range of products certified by Australian Organics, suitable for use in organic systems.