Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia
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Field Trials Report 2024: WA Farming Systems Project (DAW2204-003RTX)
No full textWithin the Western Australian Faming Systems Project, a program of 11 field trials were conducted in 2024 from Ogilvie in the north to Wittenoom Hills in the south.
The season was a challenging one with a late break to the season at all sites and varying conditions from decile 3 to decile 10 growing season rainfall across the sites
State and transition models for mulga rangelands of Western Australia
No full textThis report details a collaborative project between the Western Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and CSIRO that focused on developing State and Transition Models (STMs) for mulga rangelands in Western Australia. The overarching aim of the project was to improve the common understanding of the characteristics and dynamics of mulga rangeland ecosystems and the expected impacts of management. Specifically, the project aimed to collate expert knowledge and monitoring information using a nationally consistent framework to develop quantitative and dynamic STMs. The geographic scope of the project covers the extensive mulga rangelands of Western Australia, particularly the Gascoyne and Murchison Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) regions, as well as parts of the Pilbara and Yalgoo IBRA regions. The study prioritised mulga woodlands and shrublands and chenopod shrublands for model development due to their pastoral importance and history of ecological modification
Exploring single cell microbial protein as a sustainable fishmeal alternative in yellowtail kingfish (Seriola lalandi) diets: impacts on health and gut microbiome
No full textBackground
With the global expansion of aquaculture and the increasing demand for fish meal, identifying appropriate and sustainable alternative protein sources for aquafeeds has become essential. Single-cell protein (SCP), derived from methanotrophic bacteria, presents a promising alternative by converting methane into protein, potentially addressing both the need for alternative protein sources and reducing industrial greenhouse gas emissions. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of different levels of SCP inclusion (0%, 25%, 50%, and 75% fish meal replacement) on the health, gene expression, and gut microbiome of yellowtail kingfish (YTK, Seriola lalandi) following a 35-day growth trial. Results
The study found that SCP inclusion at the highest level of fishmeal replacement (75%) induced a mild inflammatory response in the hindgut of the fish. However, micromorphological assessments of the hindgut, serum biochemistry, and gene expression analyses revealed no significant detrimental effects from SCP replacement. Notably, there were indications of improved lipid digestibility with SCP. Furthermore, SCP inclusion significantly enhanced microbial richness and altered the composition of the gut microbiome, introducing beneficial bacterial taxa that may contribute to improved gut health and resilience. Conclusions
This study highlights SCP as a viable and sustainable alternative to fish meal in YTK diets. The findings suggest that SCP can be included in YTK diets without adverse health effects at moderate levels and may even offer benefits in terms of lipid digestibility and gut microbiome diversity. These results contribute to the advancement of more sustainable aquaculture practices
AgTech solutions for narrow orchard systems in Western Australia
No full textTwo-dimensional (2D) multileader narrow orchards, characterised by tightly spaced rows (typically 2-2.5m) with planar cordon canopy training, are emerging as the future of modern fruit production to meet the challenges of labour shortage, resource efficiency, and sustainability
Field-scale gene flow of fungicide resistance in Pyrenophora teres f. teres and the effect of selection pressure on the population structure
No full textThe Paddock Challenge: comparing business as usual with recommended stocking rates
No full textCattle producers love a challenge. Will getting their stocking rates right provide production stability and allow for land condition improvement on a commercial property in Central Australia? The Paddock Challenge is a component of the Rain Ready Rangelands Project funded by the Australian Government Future Drought Fund, with the philosophy that learning through doing is the key to adoption. It aims to work with commercial producers to adopt, demonstrate and test the learnings from the Quality Graze project under their unique circumstances, and to use data to drive stocking rate and development decisions. Two pastoral stations, 400km southwest and 300km northwest of Alice Springs, Australia (Fig. 1), are collaborating with the Northern Territory Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to test the Quality Graze recommendations and compare their grazing management to a \u27Challenge\u27 paddock where a strategy adapted from Quality Graze is being applied. Comparisons and benchmarking are at the whole pad dock or water-point scale, depending on station infrastructure. The first year of the challenge involved working with producers to explore their current management, collecting baseline data on pastures, animal performance, landscape use, nutrition, and health. Station data were used to inform bioeconomic modelling of the economic impacts of different stocking and management strategies. The project collaborated with producers to develop strategies aimed at enhancing the rain responsiveness of their landscapes, thereby reducing the impact of climate variability on land condition and animal production and build the climate resilience of their businesses
Boosting winter pasture growth
No full textApplying gibberellic acid or nitrogen fertiliser to pasture in winter can increase dry matter production of grasses and broadleaf weeds and help reduce feed shortages in winter
Adopt-a-trap to help detect European wasps
No full textEarly detection of European wasp is important to prevent the spread and establishment of nests, and the Adopt-a-trap program is a key part of annual European wasp surveillance.
The department intensively traps the highest risk areas of the state, but the Adopt-a-trap program can extend surveillance beyond these areas and into the regions to enhance community surveillance.
The trapping method used in the Adopt-a-trap program is very successful in catching European wasps. They address the wasps’ sense of smell and foraging habits to find food. Trapped wasps are useful in alerting us to the presence of a nearby nest — usually within 200 metres from the trap. Trapped wasps help us track down and destroy the nest.
Community members, businesses in industrial areas, and local governments are invited to Adopt-a-trap to monitor European wasps during the active wasp season, from December to May.
When the weather starts to heat up, it’s time to hang the trap in a backyard tree with an ice cube-sized piece of fresh fish inside, inspect regularly, and change the fish lure weekly or fortnightly
Sheep feed value guide
No full textSheep are supplementary fed for either survival or production purposes. Efficient supplementary feeding should aim to supply sheep with a diet that is sufficient in digestible energy and protein. We recommend testing feedstuffs, although the feed tables supplied here can be used to help roughly estimate the amount of grain and fodder required.
Knowing the value of different feedstuffs is critical when making decisions about livestock nutrition, for survival, maintenance and growth.
Supplementary feeding is a key part of a Western Australian (WA) sheep enterprise because most sheep systems are on annual pasture which is dry over the Mediterranean summer. Feed shortage over late summer and autumn are common
The de-domestication of Ornithopus sativus Brot. to develop cultivars with physical dormancy (hardseed)
No full textOrnithopus sativus Brot. (French serradella) is a forage legume that is well adapted to acidic coarse textured soils (sands) which are characterized by poor nutrition and an inability to retain water. During the process of domestication of O. sativus, there was an unintentional loss of seed physical dormancy (PY) thus compromising its self-regeneration after a cropping interval. Through mass screening of seed, we identified for the first time that heritable sources of PY exist in three populations of O. sativus. This rare genetic material was then incorporated into suitable genetic backgrounds of differing maturity through targeted hybridization. We demonstrated that the heritability of PY was dominant in the population of 97ZAF5sat but inconsistently recessive in the population of cv. Emena. Flowering time was variable in each source population, with a large variation in time to emergence of first flowers (95–175 days). Selection for early flowering maturity was heritable and stable. F6 generations selected for PY in different maturity classes were then evaluated in situ to establish whether PY would allow a proportion of seeds to survive in the soil through consecutive seasons exposed to a Mediterranean climate. The breeding lines FHS3, 7 and 23 remained dormant, thus viable, in the soil for up to 3 years, indicating the likelihood that O. sativus with PY could survive and persist in a ley farming system. The de-domestication program in O. sativus has resulted in commercially successful cultivars (most recently cv. Fran2o) suited to sustainable dryland agriculture in a Mediterranean climate