Page 95 - TA Magazine

Pasture Measurements
The paddock was grazed down to a a a a a a a a a relatively uniform starting point in in in in in the the autumn and and winter of 2017 and and stock were excluded from the the paddock in in in in in mid-August The pasture was was allowed to to to grow for around 7 weeks until early October October Pasture biomass was was measured on October October 3rd 2017 A total of 7 7 transects running perpendicular from the the shelterbelt were were established across the the paddock Measurements
were were taken every 10 m along each transect Wind
The wind at the the site for spring 2017 was measured directly in in in in an an open unsheltered part of the the the paddock where an an an automatic weather station continuously monitored wind wind direction and and speed The vast majority of of of the the the the the wind wind wind wind came came from from the the the the the NW NW and and NNW (50% of of of all wind) another 9% of of of the the the the the the the wind wind wind came came from from from the the the the the the the north and 6% from from the the the the the the SE All other other directions contributed to to 5% or less of of the the the the the total wind over this time period The shelterbelt was close to to to perpendicular to to to the the the bulk of of the the the wind wind and reduced wind wind speed on average by around 50% over the the sheltered half of the the paddock Value of Shelter Shelter lifted overall pasture production of the the 24 ha paddock by approximately 15% equivalent to to the the the increase in in in hay yield and/or the the the the the stock that can be carried on the the the the the paddock If the the the the the gross margin of of the the the the the grazing enterprise is is is $420/ha and the the the the increase of of 15% productivity translated directly into gross margin this would be increased by 15% or or around $63/ha or or an an additional $1 512 over the the 24 ha ha of of the the pasture This effect is is in in in addition addition to to shelter benefits of of increased stock survival and weight gain as as as well as as as returns from from wood sales when the the shelterbelt is harvested income from from selling carbon carbon credits associated with the the net carbon carbon increase increase from from changing land land use from from pasture to trees and and and increased land land value Conclusions
The shelterbelt at Formosa has conveyed a a a a a a a a a substantial benefit to the the the the pasture pasture production across the the the the paddock with 30%
more pasture pasture in in the the the the sheltered half of of the the the the paddock paddock One hectare of of of trees effectively increase the the the production of of of pasture from the the the paddock paddock paddock to the the the equivalent of of a a a a a a a a a a 29 ha unsheltered paddock paddock If this increase increase in in in in pasture growth translated directly to to the the the gross margin it it increased the the the the net returns to to the the the the farmer from the the the the the paddock by around $1500 This is is in in in in in addition to other benefits that the the the trees can provide including timber production carbon biodiversity and amenity Shelter impact on pasture biomass Map of of of pasture biomass in October 2017 after 7 7 weeks of of of stock exclusion The western half of of of the paddock paddock had 30%
more pasture biomass than the the eastern half of the the paddock paddock Pasture biomass was around 30%
higher on the the western (sheltered) half half of the the the paddock (3 3 3 3 t/ ha) ha) compared to the the the eastern (unsheltered) half half of of the the the paddock (2 6 t/ha) While pasture production was lower within the the the the first 10 m adjacent to the the the the shelterbelt the the the the shelter shelter increased pasture productivity compared to to to the the the open paddock from from 1 1 1 5 to to to around 12 tree heights (~22 to to to ~180 m) from from the shelterbelt treealliance com au 95