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MERINO breeders Ian and Fiona Koch are continuously searching for new ways to make their enterprise more profitable and sustainable.

And thanks to a study grant, the Kochs – who operate Bunyara Merino stud at Moculta – will head to the United States in October to further their research.

Ian and Fiona Koch own and manage 1800 hectares in the northern Barossa Ranges. The property consists of a variety of land classes in three different rainfall zones which require different management techniques. One region of the property, the native grass rangelands, is in a 350 mm rainfall zone.

In its biggest ever pasture walk, the Barossa Improved Grazing Group (BIGG) will be visiting three major project trial sites on September 21.

Technical facilitator Georgie Keynes says the farming systems group are excited to share learnings from the projects with Barossa livestock producers.

Eden Valley livestock producer and grape grower Ben Zander is a strong advocate of sheep grazing in vineyards, with his family using the increasingly-popular practice for more than 30 years.

The Barossa Improved Grazing Group (BIGG) and Grasslands Society of Southern Australia (GSSA) have teamed up to bring together a pasture update for graziers in the Barossa region, to be held at the Nuriootpa Sports and Function Centre on August 25.

Two autumns after fire devastated grazing land in the Eden Valley regions, BIGG monitoring sites have demonstrated strong resilience of native grasses, with 90 per cent of burnt grasses having recovered.

Barossa sheep producers have learnt about farm management practices to improve lamb survival at a workshop in Flaxman Valley.

The workshop, organised by Rural Solutions in conjunction with the Barossa Improved Grazing Group, featured presenters Jason Trompf, J.T. Agri-source, and Gordon Refshauge, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, and provided producers with strategies for minimising lamb losses.

A survey by the Barossa Improved Grazing Group and Barossa Grape & Wine Association has found the majority of BGWA respondents either already graze livestock in their vineyards or are interested in grazing in the future.

Following a record dry spell through spring and summer, increasing numbers of Barossa producers have been turning to confinement feeding to preserve paddock groundcover and increase NRM outcomes.

Sub-clover is a vital component of Barossa pasture systems and in 2014 Barossa Improved Grazing Group (BIGG) received a three-year Producer Research Sites grant ($70,000) from Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) to investigate the effect of soil borne root diseases on local sub-clover productivity.