The aim of Project 3030 is to help dairy farmers achieve a 30% improvement in profit through a 30% increase in the consumption of home-grown forage – hence the name ‘3030’.

Why do we need 3030?

Project 3030 began in early 2005. The overall target for the project was "to develop forage systems for non-irrigated dairy farms in southern Australia caable of delivering a 30% improvement in return on assets through a 30% increase in the consumption of home-grown forage". This target recognised:

• There is a close positive relationship between the amount of pasture consumed/ha and profit;
• Top producers are at, or close to, the upper limit of forage consumption possible from perennial ryegrass pasture base; and
• There is a need for continued productivity gains on-farm to counter declining terms of trade.

Learn more at our field days

Check our Resources area for notes from our field days and learn about the 3030 farmlets on the farmlets page.

How can farmers get the extra home-grown forage?

1. They could make greater use of their existing perennial ryegrass base, through better targeting of inputs and tighter grazing management. This should always be the first step in developing more profitable systems. Extension programs like Feeding Pastures for Profit can help farmers gain the necessary skills.

2. They could use other pastures or crops to complement perennial ryegrass, by growing more dry matter in total, and/or extending the growing season. This is where 3030 is focussed. It follows that 3030 will be of most value to those farmers who are already maximising their existing perennial ryegrass base.

What does 3030 do?

We do research and development, mostly on alternative crops and pastures such as annual ryegrasses, tall fescue, legumes, winter cereals (wheat, triticale, oats) and summer brassicas (turnips and hybrids). We want to find out how much they can produce, what their management requirements are, how to fit them into whole farm systems, and what extra profit they can generate.

3030 activities are structured around three broad themes:

• Growing and harvesting: Our growing and harvesting work helps farmers produce more
  home-grown feed. It includes research, on-farm monitoring and the development of
  information notes.
• Consuming home-grown forages: Consuming home-grown forage is all about building
  profitable systems. It involves farmlet experiments, feeding trials and systems modelling.
• Profitable farming: This is where 3030 will work with farmers and others to achieve
  sustainable on-farm change, through Partner Farms, social and extension research and
  the development of information for farmers and advisors.

Some of this work is conducted on research sites, but much of it is also conducted on commercial farms in partnership with farmers, advisors, agronomists and contractors.

Read the latest progress report of these three major themes.

Who is involved?

The Department of Primary Industries and the University of Melbourne are conducting most of the research and on-farm activities, with help from the partners mentioned above. The financial sponsors of the project are Dairy Australia, DPI Vic, the University of Melbourne, WestVic Dairy, Murray Dairy, GippsDairy, DairySA, and the Gardiner Foundation.

For more information contact: