Desktop research project to provide data on liveweight and liveweight gain in the beef cattle sector in Queensland and the Northern Territory Steven Bray, Dionne Walsh, Madonna Hoffmann, Beverley Henry, Sandra Eady, Casey Collier, Caroline Pettit, Javi Navarro, Debra Corbet FINAL REPORT 2015 This publication has been compiled by Steven Bray of Animal Science, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. © State of Queensland, 2015. The Queensland Government supports and encourages the dissemination and exchange of its information. The copyright in this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia (CC BY) licence. Under this licence you are free, without having to seek our permission, to use this publication in accordance with the licence terms. You must keep intact the copyright notice and attribute the State of Queensland as the source of the publication. For more information on this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au/deed.en The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The Queensland Government shall not be liable for technical or other errors or omissions contained herein. The reader/user accepts all risks and responsibility for losses, damages, costs and other consequences resulting directly or indirectly from using this information. How to cite this report: Bray S, Walsh D, Hoffmann M, Henry B, Eady S, Collier C, Pettit C, Navarro J and Corbet D (2015) Desktop research project to provide data on liveweight and liveweight gain in the beef cattle sector in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. Rockhampton, Queensland. Contents Executive summary ............................................................................................................................................ ii Recommendations....................................................................................................................................... ii Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................ 4 Background .................................................................................................................................................... 4 Aim of this research project ........................................................................................................................... 4 Review of current data ................................................................................................................................... 5 Methods ............................................................................................................................................................. 7 Relational database development and data entry ......................................................................................... 7 Data outputs ................................................................................................................................................... 7 Regional justification ...................................................................................................................................... 8 LW, LWG, DMD and CP reference tables ..................................................................................................... 9 Allocating proportion of herd number to each livestock class ...................................................................... 10 Results ............................................................................................................................................................. 10 Data collation ............................................................................................................................................... 10 Regional biophysical information ................................................................................................................. 11 Regional LW data ......................................................................................................................................... 16 Recommendations and discussion .................................................................................................................. 32 Narrative for regionalisation recommendations - Queensland..................................................................... 32 Queensland High productivity region ....................................................................................................... 34 Queensland Moderate/High productivity region ....................................................................................... 34 Queensland Moderate/Low productivity region ........................................................................................ 34 Queensland Low productivity region ........................................................................................................ 35 Narrative for regionalization recommendations – Northern Territory ........................................................... 35 Alice Springs ............................................................................................................................................. 35 Barkly Region ........................................................................................................................................... 35 Northern NT .............................................................................................................................................. 36 Livestock class recommendations ............................................................................................................... 37 Regional LW reference table ....................................................................................................................... 37 Regional LWG reference table ..................................................................................................................... 37 Regional pasture DMD and CP reference tables ......................................................................................... 41 Allocating proportion of regional herd number to each livestock class ........................................................ 41 Lessons learnt from data collation ............................................................................................................... 42 Assumptions, issues and caveats ................................................................................................................ 42 Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................................... 43 References ...................................................................................................................................................... 43 Appendices ...................................................................................................................................................... 45 Appendix 1: ABS SA2 regions assigned to each Breedcow Dynama herd model region ................... 45 Appendix 2: Data references and project name .................................................................................. 47 Appendix 3: Summary regional statistics ............................................................................................. 55 Appendix 4: Proposed LW, LWG, CP and DMD reference tables ....................................................... 56 Appendix 5: Proportion of regional herd number in each livestock class ................................................ 58 Cattle LW and LWG data compilation for Queensland and Northern Territory i Executive summary At the national scale, north Australian beef livestock emissions are calculated using regional statistically sampled livestock numbers and reference tables for liveweight (LW) and liveweight gain (LWG). These figures are used to estimate livestock dry matter intake (DMI) and subsequently enteric methane emissions. Reference tables for feed dry matter digestibility (DMD) and crude protein (CP) are used to estimate nitrous oxide emissions. The most recent Australian National Greenhouse Accounts: National Inventory Report (NIR) includes reference tables of LW and LWG for seven classes of cattle in four seasons for nine regions across Australia. The regions are generally defined by state and territory borders. Given the significant variation in rainfall (300-2000 mm) and soil fertility across Queensland and the Northern Territory, the state- and territory-wide reference figures are unlikely to adequately represent the majority of cattle herds. At the individual beef business scale, productivity growth and returns on investment in the northern Australian beef industry are generally static or declining and, together with high debt levels and increasing input costs, many northern grazing businesses are in a dire financial situation. Additional ‘carbon income’ may be available to some grazing businesses through participation in the Australian Government’s Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF). The lack of representative LW and LWG data may hinder the development and/or application of ERF methodologies, which would enable grazing businesses to successfully diversify their income stream. ERF project livestock emission reductions must be consistent with the National Greenhouse Accounts. This project collated experimental data on beef cattle LW and LWG in Queensland