Sheep liveweight and dry matter production from Year 3 of the Regenerative Agriculture Dryland Experiment

Abstract

Sheep liveweight and dry matter (DM) production from Regenerative and Conventional dryland systems under two levels of soil fertility (Olsen P 20-25 and 10 mg/ kg) were measured in Year 3 (July 2023-June 2024) of an on-going experiment at Lincoln University. The Regenerative system comprised multispecies pastures and winter forage crops, and short-duration, high-density rotational stocking at 12.9 ewes/ha. The Conventional system had lucerne and cocksfoot/sub clover pastures, annual ryegrass as the winter forage crop, and longer-duration, lower-density rotational stocking at the same stocking rate. There were no effects of soil fertility. Sheep liveweight production was 131 kg/ha (23%) less for Regenerative than Conventional (496 vs. 627 kg/ ha), but DM production was 1,550 kg/ha (22%) greater (8,490 vs. 6,940 kg/ha) with lower crude protein (13% vs. 19%), lower metabolisable energy (9.5 vs. 10.0 MJ/kg DM) and higher neutral detergent fibre (51% vs. 40%). This contributed to lower liveweight gains of priority lambs compared with the legume dominant Conventional system.