FORAGE decision support system

Grant Stone (Principal Scientist with Department of Environment and Science) discusses the growing field of satellite imagery and the sorts of tools available from FORAGE.

Playlist – FORAGE reports for assisting land management decisions (Grant Stone)

1. FORAGE reports for assisting land management decision-making
2. Outline
3. So how do our products assist?
4. Long Paddock website delivery portal
5. FORAGE property reports
6. DES’s Remote Sensing Centre (RCS) provides…
7. Combining the major aspects of climate, pasture and grazing environment
8. The reports – briefly
9. I. Indicative Land Type report
10. II. Rainfall and Pasture report
11. III. Drought Assessment report
12. IV. Regional Climate Projections report
13. V. Erodibility report
14. VI. Foliage Protective Cover report
15. VII. Crop Frequency and Type report
16. VIII. Fire Scar Map report
17. IX. Ground Cover Map report
18. X. Ground Cover Regional Comparison report
19. XI. Pasture Growth Alert report
20. Using reports for productivity – how to interpret them
21. Requesting FORAGE property reports
22. Who uses FORAGE?
23. Long Term Carrying Capacity report
24. My FORAGE on-line property mapper
25. Pasture Biomass estimates from satellite imagery
26. VegMachine – Four seasons of Fractional Cover
27. Pasture digestibility (DMD) impact on animal liveweight gain
28. Common industry questions
29. Forecasting liveweight gain (ADG)
30. Some final words…

The Queensland Government’s Long Paddock website offers a suite of free FORAGE online property-scale land management reports. These reports have been designed to support those involved in Queensland (and Australian) agriculture to support decision making in grazing land management including graziers, extension practitioners, consultants, researchers and education providers.

In this presentation, Grant Stone (Principal Scientist with the Queensland Department of Environment and Science) discusses:

• what reports and information are currently available;
• how to access and order reports for your property; and
• provides a preview of the new and soon to be released reports.

You can watch the full recording or use the the playlist below to jump to the start of a particular section within the presentation.  42:21 published 27 November 2018 by FutureBeefAu.

Download a copy of the FORAGE – free property information- part 1 – currently available information (PDF, 5MB)

Full recording

Playlist

1. Forage – free property information to assist grazing land management decisions – Part 1: currently available information.
2. Webinar ‘roadmap’
3. What is FORAGE?
4. FORAGE data sources: SILO Climate database
5. FORAGE data sources: Grazing system models
6. FORAGE data sources: Remote sensing data
7. FORAGE support
8. Common land management questions
9. Rain and pasture report
10. Indicative Land Type report
11. Rainfall and Pasture by Land Type report
12. Rainfall and Pasture Growth Outlook report
13. Foliage Projection Cover report
14. Ground Cover report
15. Ground Cover – Regional Comparison report
16. Drought Assessment Information report
17. Erodible Soils report
18. Regional Climate Projections report
19. So, who uses FORAGE?
20. What FORAGE products do I use in regard to land management questions?
21. Wrap-up

New reports are now available for the FORAGE suite of online property-scale land management reports. The Crop Frequency and Type report and the Fire Scar report have been recently released and can be accessed on the Queensland Government’s Long Paddock website.

Two additional reports: The Pasture Growth Alert report and the Estimated Safe Carrying Capacity report are being developed for release.

In this recorded webinar, Grant Stone (Principal Scientist with the Department of Environment and Science):

• introduces and explains the newly released Crop Frequency and Type and Fire Scar reports; and
• provides a preview of the soon to be released Pasture Growth Alert report and Estimated Safe Carrying Capacity reports.

You can watch the full recording or use the playlist below to jump to the start of a particular section within the presentation.  39:36 published 4 December 2018 by FutureBeefAu.

Download a copy of the FORAGE – free property information – part 2 – new and soon to be released reports (PDF, 7.7MB).

Full recording

 Playlist

1. FORAGE – free online property information to assist with grazing land management decisions: Part 2 – new and soon to be released reports
2. Webinar roadmap
3. The FORAGE system
4. Crop Type and Frequency report (10 year crop frequency and crop type information by season)
5. Crop Type and Frequency Map reports (by crop frequency, season – summer/winter, grain/cotton and pulse/cereal)
6. Crop map images – Summer (February) and Winter (September)
7. Fire Scar report (page 1 – background information)
8. Fire Scar report (page 2 – years since burnt and page 3 – fire scars detected in each month)
9. Fire Scar report (page 4 – time series graphs for the number of fire scars by month [historically] including fuel load and curing index)
10. Fire Scar percentage area graph and rainfall pasture report (identifying low burn areas, high burn areas and biomass)
11. Pasture growth alert reports (prototype – background information and report layout)
12. Pasture Growth history (page 2 – moving 12 month period)
13. Pasture Growth accumulation outlook (page 2 – 6 month pasture growth outlook)
14. Pasture Growth total cover (page 3 – seasonal total cover)
15. Rainfall and pasture growth maps (page 4)
16. Safe Carrying Capacity report (prototype)
17. What information is used to calculate Safe Carrying Capacity?
18. Safe Carrying Capacity results and outputs
19. Safe Carrying Capacity report – it’s progress for release
20. ‘My FORAGE’ mapper (prototype – what is it?)
21. How do I request FORAGE property reports?
22. Your subscription options for selected reports
23. FORAGE support
24. Summary of new FORAGE reports
25. Wrap-up

This recorded webinar is focused on supporting small landholders during times of drought and the subsequent recovery processes.

In this recording, Roger Sneath (Senior Beef Extension Officer, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries) discusses the development of drought plans and the concept of having a strategy in place when faced with the challenges of dry conditions.

At what point do you make important decisions about the animals in your care?

Roger will also expand on what cattle feed requirements (for maintenance) you should consider when making these decisions. The topics discussed include:

1. Rain and pasture websites
2. Review drought plans
3. Feed budgeting
4. Drought options and tools
5. Feeding cattle
6. Holding breeder condition
7. Protein and energy supplements
8. Costing nutrients

You can watch the full recording or use the playlist below to jump to the start of a particular section within the presentation.  33:00; published 18 May 2020 by FutureBeefAu.

Download a copy of the presentation – Dry season management (PDF, 2.53 MB)

Additional resources:

• a new website has been developed to support small landholders – ‘Animals in drought‘
• information on Dry season pasture budget: a guide for stocking rates (FutureBeef)
• information on Forage budgeting videos (FutureBeef)
• information on Beef business tools (FutureBeef)
• information on Dry season management of beef businesses (FutureBeef)
• information on Managing for dry years and drought (FutureBeef)
• information on drought and climate adaptation visit the Long Paddock (FORAGE) website

Full recording

Playlist

1. Dry season management
2. Topics to be covered
3. Australia’s variable rainfall
4. Long paddock website and FORAGE
5. CliMate website
6. Drought decisions and review
7. Making a drought plan
8. Producer reflections on drought…
9. Annual cycles and critical trigger dates
10. Feed budgeting
11. Drought options and tools
12. Selling vs feeding
13. Managing for variability
14. Feeding cattle – how much do they drink?
15. How much do they eat?
16. Maintenance full hand feeding rates (as fed)
17. Weaning information
18. Estimated full feeding costs (425 kg breeder)
19. Holding breeder condition
20. Protein and energy supplements
21. Costing energy and protein
22. Fodder biosecurity (chemical, weeds, etc)
23. Summary and take home messages

This recorded webinar is focused on supporting small landholders during times of drought and the subsequent recovery processes.

In this presentation, Bruce Lord (Healthy Land and Water) discusses the factors relating to grazing land management and pasture recovery including:

1. Land types
2. Soil health
3. Grazing land condition
4. Pasture and grass indicator species
5. ABCD land condition scoring
6. Grazing management tools
7. And many more…

During the presentation, Bruce also discusses restoring and maintaining land condition.

You can watch the full recording or use the playlist below to jump to the start of a particular section within the presentation. 31:17; published 12 May 2020 by FutureBeefAu.

Download a copy of the presentation – Grazing land management and pasture recovery (PDF, 3.92 MB)

Additional resources:

• a new website has been developed to support small landholders – ‘Animals in drought‘
• watch this short (1 minute) video on ‘Why you need groundcover’ (1:14; published 29 November 2016 by FutureBeef)
• watch this video (5 minutes) on ‘Guide to pasture photo monitoring’ (5:14; published 27 April 2020 by FutureBeef)
• information on Dry season pasture budget: a guide for stocking rates (FutureBeef)
• information on Forage budgeting videos (FutureBeef)
• website Long Paddock (FORAGE)

Full recording

Playlist

1. Resilience strategies for small landholders: Grazing land management & pasture recovery
2. Grazing land management
3. Land types and soils
4. Land types affect pasture growth
5. Soil health – functions and properties
6. Soil health – plant available water content
7. Soil health – nutrient availability
8. Soil health – soil organic matter
9. Soil health – groundcover management
10. Managing soil limitations and at-risk areas
11. Grazing ecosystem – Three gateway model
12. Grazing land condition
13. Features of a healthy pasture
14. Some pastures and grass indicator species
15. ‘ABCD’ land condition scoring
16. Land in ‘A’ good condition
17. Land in ‘B’ fair condition
18. Land in ‘C’ poor condition
19. Land in ‘D’ very poor condition
20. The rolling ball – land condition
21. Land condition affect pasture growth
22. Maintaining land in good condition
23. Land condition – the drivers
24. Pasture and land condition resilience
25. Grazing management tools
26. Long term carrying capacity Vs Stocking rate
27. Forage budgeting (balancing supply and demand)
28. Safe utilisation rates
29. Rest – a critical time is key
30. Managing the grazing system
31. Management of land types and soils
32. Maintaining pasture and land condition
33. Restoring pasture and land condition
34. Resources

This short video explains how carrying capacities are calculated and why they are important for grazing businesses. Watch this video to find out more:

This short video introduces the FORAGE land management information system and shows how you might apply FORAGE to your grazing land management decision-making.

This video discusses the importance of pasture quality and quantity in maintaining the body condition of your cattle for breeding, growing and finishing.

FORAGE rainfall and pasture growth reports provide information that may be helpful in determining whether your paddocks can supply enough pasture to maintain body condition of your cattle.

This video discusses the questions you might ask when you are considering suitable areas to agist your cattle.
It highlights the FORAGE report/s that provide useful information about growing seasons, pasture growth and quality, and water availability.

This video discusses four key FORAGE reports that can help you to assess and manage ground cover and land condition on your property.

This animation explains how percentiles are calculated, how to interpret them and their use for products found on the Long Paddock website.

The FORAGE Pasture Growth Alert report is a four-page report that can assist with stocking rate decisions, grazing land management, and drought preparation, by providing a rating on past and future pasture growth.

This video gives a brief overview of the Pasture Growth Alert report – for a more in-depth tutorial on how to use the report, continue watching through until the end of the video.