Making good quality hay and silage is like running a marathon, the hard work is done in the first 40 kilometres, but the race can be won or lost in the home straight.
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This is exactly what 35 producers involved in the Holbrook Landcare’s Feed Testing Program are trying to perfect.
Hay and silage can play a key strategic role in successful livestock systems.
Matching feed supply with animal demands can be very challenging with increasing seasonal variations. Although grazing is the lowest-cost animal production system in Australia, relying on grazing alone may not necessarily be the most profitable system.
The group of producers have set about to better understand the quality of feed they are conserving and look at ways to improve their processes.
Group facilitator Ashley Paech, Holbrook Landcare farming systems officer, said that the group tested over 100 samples of hay, grain, silage and pasture from last season to get a benchmark of how they are currently performing.
They will repeat the same process again with this year’s products after hay and silage training in October.
Only good quality pasture has the potential to make good quality hay or silage.
- Ashley Paech
“A key learning from the testing so far has been that feed quality, in energy and protein, is directly impacted by the composition of the pasture at the time of cutting. Only good quality pasture has the potential to make good quality hay or silage.”
Growing pasture or crop to the point of harvest is the key first step to success and is underpinned by good planning and preparation well in advance.
Getting the composition right, feeding it, weeding it and choosing when to lock it up is where the hard work is done.
The group is focusing on the process of harvesting and storing the product. It is this part of the process where the race is won or lost.
Getting the timing right and knowing when to cut is like sprinting for the finish line, the quicker you can get the plants dried, cured, harvested and stored, the more likely you are to lock in feed quality.
From the time of cutting, feed quality is only going one way and that’s down.
The most efficient and effective method of fodder conservation is one that minimises your losses right to the end, including feeding out and wastage.
If you would like to be part of this program, contact Ashley Paech on 02 6036 3181. The feed testing project is supported by funding from the Australian government.
