Solar-powered, air-driven remote sheep drafting technology could offer practical and profitable solutions to managing targeted paddock feed supplementation programs and drought management strategies.
Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries researchers at Longreach, led by senior research scientist Dr Maree Bowen, report that for the first time, individual management of sheep grazing as a flock in an extensive rangeland system was now possible.
Dr Bowen said the precision management technology developed through the Australian Sheep Industry Cooperative Research Centre (Sheep CRC) allows sheep with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to be individually drafted onto supplement as they exit paddock water points.
"Commercial application of this technology could be used for targeted feed supplementation of breeding ewes so that only those animals requiring supplement are given draft access to the feed," Dr Bowen said.
"There is scope to use the computerised drafting system based on an animal's condition score or weight to selectively feed late weaners or to manage drought supplementation economically and with greater efficiency.
"The system can also draft off untagged animals such as feral goats."
Dr Bowen said the commercial benefits of this remote drafting and weighing technology are now being field tested with cattle through the Desert Knowledge CRC.
"The cattle industry is well placed to take advantage of the mandatory NLIS electronic ear tags to adopt the technology," Dr Bowen said.
The Sheep CRC research goal was for the sheep industry to become more profitable and flexible by using sophisticated individual sheep management systems that allow producers to focus on returns from each sheep rather than the current practice of managing at the whole flock level.
"The concept of targeted feeding based on a remote drafting system involves giving selected sheep free access to a supplement in a fenced area as they leave the paddock watering point," she said.
"The amount of feed eaten is limited by the need to drink. After the sheep return to the paddock via a one-way flow gate, re-entry to the feed area can be managed by a pre-set access schedule on the drafter.
"Frequency of access determined by the RFID-activated drafter can be varied from every time the animal returns to drink to once per week or once a fortnight."
Dr Bowen said that to demonstrate proof-of-concept for a supplementation system based on the remote drafter, a controlled series of pen studies were initially conducted at the DPI&F Rosebank Research Station, Longreach.
A prototype remote drafter was then field tested in the paddock using 68 Merino wethers grazing dry season Mitchell grass pasture with access to lupin grain supplement. Access ranged from nil access to 1, 2, 4 or 7 days/week for eight weeks.
Sheep exited the fenced sole watering point through the drafter and were either directed back to the paddock or to the supplement yard self-feeder.
During the eight week paddock trial, the remote drafter operated with a high accuracy rate with just 2.1pc incorrect drafts from a total of 7027 passes through the draft system.
For the sheep given access to the lupins, the growth rate response plateaued at about three accesses per week with a corresponding growth rate of 72.5grams/head/day.
Dr Bowen said the now completed Sheep CRC co-funded experimental trial demonstrated a growth response to increasing frequency of access to feed supplementation using the remote drafter.
"The trial data provides a starting point from which the industry can develop feeding strategies to achieve sheep weight change targets in the paddock,” Dr Bowen said.
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