S&W: spring sowing forage brassicas Award-winning Gallagher water tool perfect for small farms

S&W: SPRING SOWING FORAGE BRASSICAS

A growing number of producers are taking advantage of forage brassicas to fill seasonal feed gaps and provide a high-quality, economical feed option for their livestock.

This article presents some of the benefits of incorporating forage brassicas into a pasture system and how it can add real value to your farming business. Forage brassicas bring many benefits to grazing systems. Firstly, with a sowing rate of 3-5 kg/ha, they are a cheap way to accumulate a large amount of feed. With growth rates similar or quicker than most forage cereals , they can rapidly accumulate biomass. However, the real strength of brassicas is their superior feed quality and their ability to retain this quality throughout the season. Quality parameters are often in the range of 11-12.5 megajoules of metabolisable energy (ME) and 15-22% crude protein with a low fibre content1. This makes them a suitable feed source for lactating dairy cows, finishing lambs, growing steers, or improving the condition of breeding stock. A further strength of brassicas is their wide adaptation to different environments and soil types, from sands to heavy clays. They do, however, require good levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and boron and rely on accurate seeding depth (5-10mm) for optimal establishment. Combining this broad adaption with a flexible sowing window from late winter right through to autumn makes forage brassicas an excellent option for most systems. There are different types of forage brassicas on the market, including bulbed and leafy turnips, forage rape and hybrids, kale and radish. Each has a unique fit depending on your requirements. If super quick feed is what you are looking for, S&W’s Bouncer Forage Brassica is a leafy turnip ready to graze in as little as 5-6 weeks. Bouncer provides multiple grazing opportunities without the maturity requirement. It is well suited to dairy systems or more intensive beef and sheep enterprises with high soil fertility and rainfall. Bouncer can lose palatability if grazing is deferred for longer than 8-9 weeks, so if you require bulk feed later in the season, S&W Subzero Forage Brassica is the option for you. Subzero is a quick maturity forage rape and kale hybrid. It has the flexibility to be ready to graze early, 8-10 weeks post-sowing, with good regrowth potential, while also maintaining quality for a bulkier graze later in the season. Subzero is a tough variety handling both periods of moisture stress and cold, frosty conditions exceptionally well. This makes it suitable for large, extensive grazing systems or more intensively managed beef, sheep, and dairy enterprises. If S&W forage brassicas have a fit in your system, contact your local agronomist or S&W Territory Manager to help you plan your crop this spring.

Calculating crop requirements and making it pay! Scenario:

I have 100 young steers that I want to feed from December to February on a crop of Subzero Forage Brassica and Rebound Millet. What area do I need to sow, and will I make a return?

Assumptions:

A 250kg steer, gaining 1 kg/day has a DSE rating of 9. Maximum daily feed intake = 0.8 x DSE (or use 1.2 X liveweight ÷ NDF%) The crop provides the energy, protein, and fibre requirements for this class of stock and has grown 8 t/ha of Dry Matter (DM). Allow 30% wastage in a set stocked grazing system.

Calculations: Step 1: How much crop?

Intake = 0.8 x 9 = 7.2 kg DM/head/day 7.2 kg + 30% wastage = 9.4 kg DM/head/day 9.4 kg x 100 head = 940 kg DM/day 940 kg x 100 days = 94 tonne to fully feed all steers 94 t ÷ 8t/ha supplied = 11.75 ha required

Step 2: What’s the cost?

Knockdown herbicide/insecticide $16 Lime & fertiliser $350 Cultivation/contractor $300 Seed $84 Total cost = $750/ha

Step 3: What have I made?

Stocking rate = 100 steers ÷ 11.75 ha = 8.5 steers/ha Gaining 1 kg/head/day for 100 days = 850 kg/ha 850 kg x $4.00/kg = $3,400.00/ha Total potential income = $3,400/ha

Please note the above numbers are a guide only and should be based on your individual costs, target crop yields and weight gains.

AWARD-WINNING GALLAGHER WATER TOOL PERFECT FOR SMALL FARMS

Water is a precious resource, so losing any through leaks wastes not only the water itself, but time spent in trying to find the leak. The new Gallagher Water Flow Indicator offers the perfect solution to finding water leaks faster.

Gallagher marketing manager Ben Winter said, the Gallagher Water Flow Indicator, which was developed by former farmer Murray Jones in conjunction with Gallagher, is well suited to small-acreage farms.

“If farmers think there’s a water leak on their property, they can often spend quite a bit of time looking for it. It’s really like the proverbial ‘needle in a haystack’ – where do you begin? It’s necessary to find the leak, but the time spent is completely frustrating.

“This water-monitoring tool offers an easy way for farmers to see what is going on inside their pipes. That was actually one of the main comments that came up in our on-farm research: farmers said how handy it would be to be able to see inside their irrigation pipes. Is water flowing through when it should be? And conversely, is water flowing through when valves or taps are not turned on?”

Mr Winter said by installing the Gallagher Water Flow Indicator at important junctions in water lines, the tool enabled farmers to find leaks easily because they can visually check for abnormal water flow.

Easy visual guide

The device comprises a clear piece of piping with an orange impellor in the middle, which spins as water flows through the system, thus plainly showing any irregular water flow, water direction and speed.

“If there’s no water flowing through the line, the impellor won’t spin, so you know your lines are full and you don’t have a leak. It’s a pretty easy visual guide. “If you identify there is a leak, then it’s a matter of isolating that block or the affected water lines while you fix the leak.”

The Gallagher Water Flow Indicator is compatible with standard pipe fittings and fits most water lines. It’s available in 32 millimetre (one-and-a-quarter inch) and 50 millimetre (2 inch) sizes. The high quality, UV-resistant, engineering-grade plastic is easy to install and clean.

“Gallagher has easy-to-follow videos on the website, which show step by step how to install the watermonitoring tool.

“For Gallagher as a company, the innovation award celebrates the very essence of who we are and what we do: we are customer inspired and work closely with farmers to develop clever, yet simple solutions to their problems. In this case, it’s a highly frustrating problem, albeit common.

“Conserving water makes both economic and environmental sense, and in some regions, this tool may also help with compliance.”

Mr Winter said, “Like all Gallagher solutions, the Gallagher Water Flow Indicator is designed to improve farm productivity and thus profitability, and like many of our tools, it gives a quick visual assessment and instant peace of mind.

“We’ve found it’s been particularly popular for use on small-acreage farms.”

THE POWER OF DATA ON A NEW LEVEL, INDIVIDUAL ANIMAL DATA - EVERYDAY

Tru-Test Remote Walk Over Weighing products collect individual animal data to give producers power on a whole new level.

What’s the big deal about individual data? It’s a fair question. Data on every individual animal means powerful insight across the whole herd. Producers reap the short-term gains of real-time live weights from hasslefree automatic weighing as well as setting themselves up for long-term profit.

Some remote weigh solutions provide farmers with a mob average. Mob averages can provide a great quick snapshot of the group, but that’s where the detail ends. A mob average of 50kgs could be an evenly weighted mob or it could be a mixed mob of heavy units and lightweights. Farmers are therefore back to the eyeo-meter to determine who the poor performers are. Individual animal data provides so much more. Data collected by the Tru-Test Remote Walk over Weighing solutions lets farmers really see what is going on inside the mob and herd.

At any moment Remote Walk over Weighing can show:

• the true gap between top and bottom performers • how long the tail of stragglers stretches back • a sudden weight drop in one or two animals across the mob

• the heads up when cattle aren’t growing along the expected growth plane • the earliest point when feed input to growth begins to plateau.

Powerful data means powerful decisions. Individual animal data reveals a level of detail which drives powerful targeted decision making for culling, breeding, and market readiness. With continuous individual data, producers can track the impact of their decisions to see if an intervention has worked – or not. Knowing makes all the difference. The choice is then - build on success or try something new. Effective interventions mean lower input and labour costs, increased productivity, and increased profit. Not knowing could mean throwing good money after bad.

Powerful planning

Extensive and intensive producers can harness the power of Tru-Test Remote Walk over Weighing. With a granular focus, farmers can work towards developing the most efficient herd, increase their business sustainability and invest in feed, nutrition, and health treatments only when it’s most effective.

With the current state of high global beef prices, there is no better time invest in a Tru-Test Remote Walk over Weigh system, drive up your kilo/animal ratio, focus on your poor performers and maximise returns. To find out more or book in a demonstration talk to your Elders representative.

STOCK WATERING SOLUTIONS MADE EASY WITH PHILMAC

Water is precious and so is your livestock, selecting the correct float valve is a crucial link to delivering quality water to maintain the health of your livestock. Philmac’s float valve range has the reliability you expect from Philmac, a company that has been designing and manufacturing valves for Australian conditions for over 90 years.

Water is the single most important input in any livestock enterprise, and it is critical to regularly check over your stock watering systems. Trough valves that are not opening, or not shutting off, that are corroded, showing signs of stock damage, or simply are just not delivering a sufficient volume of water to meet your livestock demands will need to be replaced. Ideally, float valves should be matched to meet the water demand of the stock. Rather than considering the maximum flow of the valve, selection should be based on the pressure the float valve operates at the trough. Quite often this may only be around 100 kPa (15 psi).

Dealing with a variety of water pressure on the one property is a common problem. Farmers are faced with having a range of different float valves on hand to enable them to deal with the high and low water pressures they encounter. The Philmac MegaPHIL High Flow Float Valve solves this problem as it comes with a high pressure adaptor. This float valve delivers very high flow at both high and low pressure, meaning you only need to carry the one float valve with you no matter what the pressure at the trough you’ll have it covered.

To assist with float valve selection, Philmac publish the flow at different pressures. This is normally measured as the number of litres a valve discharges in a minute (L/min). As the inlet size of the valve increases we can generally expect a higher flow rate. But some valves, such as the MegaPHIL High Flow Float Valves, have been designed for high flow rates. For example, a MegaPHIL with a 2” inlet operating at 100 kPa has over double the flow compared to a UltraPHIL Brass float valve with the same inlet size.

It is also important to choose a float valve that will shut off and not leak. Float valves at the bottom of hills or on mains water supply will probably need to shut off against higher pressure. Shut off pressure is measured in kiloPascals (kPa) and is the maximum inlet pressure at which the valve will remain closed. Above this pressure, the water at the inlet will overcome the force being applied by the lever and float, and begin to open.

Many farmers are now installing additional troughs to ensure stock do not have to walk as far for water, but also to optimise feed utilisation within a paddock.

Your trough valve maintenance program should start with checking that the lever arm moves freely up and down. If there’s any “stickiness” it could be due to debris, a bent pivot pin or, in the case of a sleeve valve, a dry O-ring.

If the valve weeps, it is likely the seal is worn or clogged with debris.

Once the valve is disassembled, it’s easy to check for wear in the seal, and that the valve is clean. Fitting a new seal to a Philmac MegaPHIL float valve is as easy. Simply prise it from the flapper, in most cases, you can turn the seal over and reuse it. When replacing a Philmac VersaPhil float valve seal, it is recommended that the O-ring on the plunger be re-greased with rubber grease.

Philmac float valves have proven designs and are made from high quality materials that provide strength, reliability and high performance, as you expect from Philmac, a company that has been designing and manufacturing valves for Australian conditions for over 90 years. Don’t put your trust in unreliable or low flow trough valves to supply the most important resource to your livestock. Now is the time to update your float valves around the property to ensure reliable, trouble free, fast fill of your troughs leading into the warmer months.

THINKING WITH YOUR GUT? THE ROLE OF MICROBES IN RUMINANTS

The gut plays a critical role in health and wellbeing and accommodates a vastly complex community of micro-organisms. Inoculation of micro-organisms occurs after birth, with diversity and complexity increasing until it has reached a relatively steady state. Diversity is crucial to the gut’s function and provides resistance to colonisation of pathogenic organisms.

Most mammals have little ability to digest fibre. Ruminants (e.g. Sheep, Cattle) are the exception to this rule due to their relationship with various micro-organisms in their digestive tract. The foregut of ruminants houses an ecosystem of microorganisms that breakdown plant cell wall. It allows the animal to obtain nutrients from both the plant material and the microbes themselves. Rumen microbes (Bacteria, Fungi, Protozoa) are a valuable protein source and can supply 60-70% of the animal’s protein requirement. This relationship allows ruminants to produce products useful to humans (milk, meat, wool) from human-inedible feed (forage).

Form determines function

The digestive tract is the largest body organ with the highest metabolic turnover (gut cells get replaced 3-5 days). It is also the only organ that functions in non-sterile conditions. Transport of nutrients from the gut into the body occurs across a single layer of cells called the epithelium. In the small intestine, the epithelium cells form finger-like projections called villi, increasing the surface area available for absorption. The epithelial cells responsible for absorption are called enterocytes, and they move as if on a conveyor belt up the villi. Once they reach the top, they get replaced. Enterocytes are closely packed to form a barrier. If this barrier is compromised, the gut becomes permeable and susceptible to pathogens, described un-ironically as “leaky gut” syndrome. Symptoms include bloody or slimy diarrhea. The development and protection of this single layer is critical for not only the growth of the animal but also its health (fig1). This is where importance of microbial diversity comes into play.

Role of Microbiota

In the small and large intestine the population of microbes is called the gut microbiota. Microbiota and its diversity, or lack thereof, can impact the ability of the gut to absorb valuable nutrients required for growth and production. Animals are born without an effective gut microbiota but immediately pick up microbes, usually from their mothers after birth, to start inoculation and colonisation of the microbiota in the young animals’ gut. Colonisation prepares the immune system and its reaction to antigens. It also provides nutrients such as vitamins, amino acids, and short-chain fatty acids used for energy. A diversity of microbes help keep the populations and conditions within the gut stable. Without any one group dominating or having exclusivity to nutrients or attachment sites on the gut wall through competitive exclusion. Factors that reduce microbiota diversity, increase the risk of disease and gut damage.

Factors affecting gut health

Many challenges cause damage to the gut and/or the microbial population living within it. • Feed – Sudden changes in feed or feed quality (mycotoxins, mice contamination) will affect microbial populations. For example, feeding higher grain levels will increase the number of starch digesting microbes, reducing rumen pH, increasing the risk for acidosis and limiting fibre digestion. • Stress – Any physiological stress caused by extreme weather events (heat stress, floods), management or feeding practices (weaning, de-horning or feedlot induction) will affect the integrity of the gut epithelium and result in a poor immune system. • Antibiotics – Antibiotics reduce the diversity of the microbial population (fig.1) and creates the opportunity for pathogenic (Salmonella, E.coli, Clostridium bacteria) or resistant bacteria to become the dominant population causing disease and infection. • Biosecurity – Poor biosecurity increases the risk of animals being contaminated with disease-causing micro-organisms.

Pay attention to stock handling equipment, transport, feed and water troughs, young stock and/or sick pens, irrigation.

Managing microbes:

Management practices can reduce feed challenges, stress, and/or biosecurity related factors on animal gut health. The main goals of any gut health strategy should be: • Promote the development of a healthy and functional digestive tract • Enhance microbial diversity • Reduce Pathogen load or challenges Alltech Lienert’s Blueprint range is formulated with these goals in mind. With over 42 years of experience in promoting gut health, and optimising rumen efficiency with groundbreaking technologies. Alltech Lienert understands that when it comes to ruminants you have to feed the bugs that feed the animal. Speak to your local Alltech Lienert Sales Representative for information on management practices.