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Silage Making
Maximising spring silage — Page 3
Harvesting silage — Page 5
6 July 201
Self-feeding silage — Page 8
PAGE 2—‘Silage’, July, 2016
silage making
Producing the best baled silage ➤ Cut at the optimum growth stage (see diagram A). ➤ Cutting during dry sunny conditions provides the best start to the ensiling process. ➤ If forced to bale in the rain, some nutrient losses can be offset by the use of additives. ➤ Cut the crop at a minimum height of 8-10 mm to avoid contamination. ➤ Ideal dry matter (DM) content for silage is 40-50 per cent while for haylage it is 60 per cent.
➤ Pre-wilting is beneficial to obtain the ideal DM content in the shortest time frame. ➤ Raking is very important to achieve even density in the bale (see diagrams B and C).
Wrap bales to achieve the best seal and minimise losses ➤ Always choose a high quality branded wrap manufactured using the latest technology. ➤ When the bale is on the wrapper, ensure centre of the bale is centred to the
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roll of wrap on the dispenser. ➤ Check film application stretch percentage by making two marks on the film 10 cm apart prior to stretching, then slowly commence wrapping and locate these marks on the film on the bale surface and measure the distance between each mark (see diagram D). ➤ Check the neck down on the film applied to the bale. ➤ Always apply a minimum of four layers of wrap (six layers is better) to all areas of the bale for bales of up to 40 per cent DM. For bales of more than 40 per cent DM, use a minimum of six layers to all areas of the bale. ➤ Check the wrap overlap on the bale
is a minimum 50 per cent. ➤ Wrap at stacking area if possible. ➤ Be aware, bale-wrap allows more oxygen to pass through it as the surface temperature on the bale rises.
Minimise losses when moving and handling bales ➤ Never use a spike to stack or move bales and repair any damage to the wrap immediately. ➤ Protect bales from birds and vermin to avoid damage to the wrap. ➤ Bales should always be stacked on their ends to maximise the seal of the wrap.
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Diagram A: Crops harvested in the early stage will have the best balance between energy and protein and have high nutritional value.
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Diagram B (above) and diagram C (below): If the bale is 1.2 m it will have a straight profile and even density if the swath is 1.3-1.4 m wide.
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Diagram D: Check film application stretch percentage by making two marks on the film 10 cm apart prior to stretching, then slowly commence wrapping and locate these marks on the film on the bale surface and measure the distance between each mark.
‘Silage’, July, 2016—PAGE 3
silage making
Plan ahead for spring silage aking spring silage will M depend on seasonal conditions that enable a
genuine surplus of forage to grow or a major problem in cropping areas such as drought, late frost or hail where silage may be a salvage exercise. Soil fertility and weed management are major considerations when we start getting into detail on paddock selection and management. Silage removes large amounts of nutrients including nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and sulphur (S) which must be allowed for and monitored using soil tests. It can be a great way to reduce nutrient build up in effluent disposal areas provided withholding periods are observed to minimise animal health risks. In preparing for spring silage, nitrogen and potassium will need to be managed to ensure good growth and yield as well as feed quality and high quality silage. If potassium is needed, and it often is if silage or hay is regularly taken from a paddock, then split applications early in spring to allow growth and again after silage harvest to replace nutrients will reduce the risk of luxury uptake. This is where the plant absorbs more K than it needs meaning you lose fertiliser while the silage has excess K with possible associated feed quality issues. Nitrogen also needs to be applied sensibly. Top-dressing
early in spring to ensure good growth is usually essential but excess nitrogen can interfere with silage fermentation and nitrate poisoning is a risk. Both are unusual in Australian silage but should be considered. Top-dressing rates for rye-grass will depend on if you take a grazing management priority and harvest at three leaves or want to optimise your yield of high quality silage and harvest at the boot or early head emergence stage of growth. One guide to how much fertiliser should be applied after the grazing prior to silage harvest is to allow for the nutrients removed in the silage which would be 30 kg N/ tonne DM if the silage was 19 per cent crude protein with about 25 kg K/tonne DM. We often underestimate how much N and K is removed in silage and hay. Weed management is also a major consideration in paddock selection both from a silage quality and weed control perspective. Using silage for weed control is highly effective and becoming more important as increasing herbicide resistance issues affect more farmers. Silage will help reduce weeds in two ways. Early harvest compared to hay means that often the weed seed is not fully developed and also the silage fermentation process will significantly reduce weed seed viability if there is any mature seed harvested.
From a silage quality perspective grass weeds may not be a big issue but broadleaf weeds can affect silage quality. Many broadleaf weeds such as capeweed have a high buffering capacity and low WSC levels making it hard to get a good fermentation. Weeds such as fireweed and Paterson’s curse also contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids which cause liver damage. While silage fermentation may reduce the risk of nitrate or prussic acid poisoning, it does not reduce the risk from these alkaloids. When choosing which paddocks to cut for silage, either control weeds early, avoid very bad weed infestations or if the paddock is patchy then it can be baled to clean up the paddock and discard bales from the worst weed patches. Another question which sometimes influences paddock selection is disease or insect damage. This especially applies to rust where the general advice is to make a decision early and avoid badly infested crops because the rust on leaves is dead material which could have a negative effect on fermentation and feed quality similar to any dead matter that is mixed in with silage. — Neil Griffiths pasture production technical specialist, NSW DPI
Nutrients need to be managed in preparation for cutting silage.
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PAGE 4—‘Silage’, July, 2016
silage making
Balancing quality and quantity arvesting silage or hay from H forage cereal crops is a balance between quality and
quantity. The feed quality of forage cereals is generally very good during vegetative growth and will generally remain high at 11.5-12 MJ ME/kg dry matter, until booting. The feed quality of most cereals will decline quite rapidly after emergence and often be around 8.5-9.0 MJ ME/kg at or near maturity, therefore the best quality feed will often be achieved if the crop is harvested early, at or just before ear emergence. Unfortunately, the opposite is true of total yield which will increase substantially from ear emergence to grain filling. The total yield when cut at the early dough stages will often be more than double that at head emergence so the highest quantity of fodder will be achieved if the crop is harvested late. The exceptions to this rule include forage triticale and barley which will drop in feed quality until grain filling begins. During the early stages of grain filling the feed quality increases again. As the crop can be harvested at a later stage with more bulk and a reasonable feed quality, forage triticale is the preferred option for whole crop silage and barley makes good quality hay or silage. Awnless varieties such as Dictator 2 will produce a more palatable hay if the crop is being cut at a later stage. Forage cereals will not regenerate after hay or silage is cut as the nodes
carrying the growing points in each tiller will have been removed. The highest yields of good quality fodder in oats will occur at the late boot to ear emergence stages (Zadoks stages 45-53) and this is the preferred time for cutting unless bulk is the main objective and quality not important. Hay quality can also be influenced by the stem thickness and/or leafiness of the forage cereal variety, with finer stemmed and leafier varieties generally producing better quality hay. Finer stems can be induced to some extent by increasing tiller numbers by any of: increasing the sowing rate, earlier planting, grazing management and nitrogen fertiliser. The best time for harvesting whole crop cereal silage is at the milky to soft dough stages (Zadoks stages 75-85) with a target of 35-42 per cent dry matter for pit silage and 40-50 per cent for baled silage. If the dry matter content is below the minimum levels the crop will need to be wilted after cutting, which can be difficult in heavy cereal crops. Ideally, the crop will be precision chopped for pit silage, or if the silage is to be baled, then a chopper baler should be used. ➤ For more information about forage cereal varieties, phone Heritage Seeds on 1800 007 333 or visit www.heritageseeds.com.au — From Heritage Seeds
Get the balance right between quality and quantity when making silage from forage cereal crops.
‘Silage’, July, 2016—PAGE 5
silage making
Signed, sealed and delivered he preferred method for T harvesting forage cereals might be precision chopping
into bulk storage, but many farmers will use balers. The very short chop length achieved by a precision chopper facilitates the compaction of the stored product, particularly when made at the later growth stage, soft dough. Forage cereals may be baled at the vegetative stage but the crop must be mown and wilted to more than 33 per cent dry matter to ensure a satisfactory (lactic acid) fermentation. The material in any storage system must be compacted densely, sealed airtight as soon as possible after harvesting is completed and be inspected regularly for holes. Whole-crop cereal silage storage systems include forage harvested as bulk storage, stacks above ground, concrete bunkers, pits in the ground and stretchable bags. Baled silage storage systems include individually wrapped bales, continuously wrapped inline ‘sausage’ stretchable tubes, above ground storage under plastic sheets and pits below ground.
Bulk storage
Precision chopped material can be stored in stacks or walled bunkers above ground or in pits in such places as hillsides or along bank walls.
When sealing the stack, ensure it’s well-weighted, well-sealed and airtight. They can also be stored in stretchable sausage bags. ➤ Pits/stacks/bunkers: Precision chopped forage, being very short in length but ideal for compaction, will not bind in a stack compared to longer material. Material harvested at the soft dough stage may ‘move’ when rolled by the compacting machinery.
To minimise this and the danger it may present to operators, stacks with some type of side constraint, such as an in-ground pit, are preferable to rectangular or circular bun stacks above ground. ➤ Compacting the stack: The stack should be continuously rolled with a heavy tractor — some contractors are now using
dual-wheeled tractors or heavy excavators for safety reasons. Spread the material in layers of about 15 cm to allow for improved compaction compared to thicker layers. Aim for a packing density of about 250 kg DM/cubic metre although this may be lower with longer chopped and/or drier material. A stack being filled over several days should be covered overnight with a plastic sheet to minimise plant respiration and heating. Each new day’s harvested material should cover yesterday’s material by a depth of at least 1 m to prevent continued respiration of the earlier harvested material. Keep silage free of contaminants. ➤ Sealing the stack: Once harvesting and the final compaction is completed, seal the storage airtight, using plastic sheets specifically manufactured for silage, then place weighting over the entire surface area of the stack. Car tyres are commonly used, however ‘sausage’ bags from last year’s plastic are an alternative to tyres and are useful on the plastic overlaps for sealing the stack edges on the ground or along the insides of bunker walls. If several sheets are used for sealing, overlap the plastic by at least 1 m, placing tyres along the overlap. ➤ Stretchable bags: These are large stretchable bags or tubes
into which forage is compressed to a certain level of pressure. The bag stretches to a set tolerance and the tendency to contract maintains an airtight storage. Whole-crop material must be chopped very short and well compressed to ensure satisfactory storage conditions.
Baled silage storage
Round and square baled wholecrop cereal silage must be compacted densely and sealed airtight within one to two hours after baling. Round bales should be chopped to aid compaction, fermentation and allow an increase in animal intakes given the extremely long cereal plants. Chopping is particularly important when baling at the later soft dough stage when stems are more lignified and hollow, however, square bales are very dense in nature after baling so chopping is optional. ➤ Individually wrapped bales: Individually wrapped bales must be sealed over their entire surface area with at least four layers of stretch-wrap plastic with 50 per cent overlap, using 55 per cent stretch. Applying six layers provides added insurance against air intrusion into the bale and is essential if the baled crops are stemmy and/or stalks are inclined to protrude.
— Agriculture Victoria
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PAGE 6—‘Silage’, July, 2016
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Silage benefits he reasons a farmer makes silage will T vary between farms and include personal preferences.
The main reasons include: ➤ The need to improve pasture utilisation and increase productivity per hectare. ➤ The valuable role for silage as a pasture management tool. ➤ Reduced reliance on irrigation water and the need to maximise production per megalitre used. ➤ Capacity to cut earlier in the season and produce a higher quality product compared to hay production. ➤ Ability to spread the harvesting period over a longer period than for hay. ➤ Reduced losses of dry matter and quality during field and harvesting
operations and reduced susceptibility to adverse weather compared to hay. ➤ Market demand for consistency of supply and quality of animal product (for example, milk or meat). ➤ Silage can be a high quality supplement for ‘out-of-season’ production. ➤ Ability to grow a variety of crops for silage production (for example, maize, sorghum or cereals). This diversity can increase farm productivity to levels higher than possible with pasture alone. ➤ Suitability of silage for long-term storage of high quality feed for drought or flood reserves. ➤ Potential to salvage high quality forage from drought or frost-affected crops (for example, canola or winter cereals).
— From Top Fodder Silage by NSW DPI
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‘Silage’, July, 2016—PAGE 7
silage making
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A good option ucerne silage is a good L option for weedy or first-cut lucerne, or when
conditions are too moist for making hay. Silage can be stored cheaply in pits or bunkers for on-farm use. Baled and plastic-wrapped silage is more easily transported and can be sold on-farm but is more expensive to make and can only be stored for short periods (12 to 18 months). Careful attention is needed when making and storing lucerne silage to ensure its quality. It must be well compacted and sealed and lucerne silage may benefit from bacterial inoculants to enhance the fermentation process. Lucerne leaves dry three to five times faster than stems and become quite brittle before the hay is ready to bale. The aim of conditioning is to dry the stems as quickly as the leaves, so that the hay can be baled while the leaves are still pliable. Conditioning is useful if drying conditions are not ideal or if the windrow is heavy and can speed up the hay drying rate by up to 30 per cent. Conditioning is usually done as part of the mowing operation and can be either
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PAGE 8—‘Silage’, July, 2016
silage making
Self-feeding silage can be a elf-feeding silage is a S cheap and efficient feed-out option for some farmers, particularly suited to small farms. However, it must be carefully managed to control dry matter intake, minimise waste and avoid animal health problems.
Controlling dry matter intake The stock manager must know what the animal’s silage dry matter (DM) intakes and nutritive requirements are to meet the desired production targets. In a self-feeding system, feed intake can be unduly restricted by having too many animals trying to gain access to the stack face in a given time period. Stock access will depend on the intake desired for the particular class of stock and the target milk production or liveweight to be reached.
Daily removal rate of silage Self-feeding silage must be carefully managed to control dry matter intake, minimise waste and avoid animal health problems.
Silage requires anaerobic storage conditions so a minimum of 15-20 cm depth should be removed
from the face of silage stacks each day to avoid excessive spoilage when the silage is exposed to the air. Once silage is eaten or mechanically removed, that section of the stack should not start heating or showing signs of mould for at least two days.
Silage density in stacks Silage density is the weight of fresh (as fed) silage per a specified volume of the stack. It is measured in kilograms per cubic metre. The top and ends of a stack are less dense than along the walls of a bunker but will be less dense in an above ground drive-over stack. However, density increases substantially with vertical depth (greater than 1 m). Silage density varies greatly depending on species ensiled, silage DM, length of cut, extent of compaction by rolling and stack height. It is best to calculate the actual stack density being self-fed.
Optimum stack height for selffeeding Stack height should be less than 1.5 times the height of the animals being self-fed to avoid the silage being eaten out at the base which would cause the stack to collapse onto the animals and restricting barrier. Stack heights should be no more than about 2 m for mature cattle, 1.5 m for weaner cattle and 1.2 m for adult sheep. Very high stacks will be much denser towards the base and will reduce intakes due to difficulty in silage removal by the cattle.
Spacing Little research is available to indicate recommended spacing for various classes of stock over varying periods of access.
Stack bases A concrete base is best for self-feeding since dirt bases become quagmires at the first rain event and are difficult to keep clean. ➤ Continued on page 9.
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‘Silage’, July, 2016—PAGE 9
silage making
cheap and efficient method ➤ From page 8.
Concrete should be finished with a non-slip surface, and the animals should also have access to a paddock or loafing area.
Minimising wastage The correct design of barrier, its movement and management of the stack face will ensure adequate silage intake and avoid wastage and deterioration of the silage behind the stack face. Only roll back the plastic seal for one or two days feeding to reduce silage deterioration on the stack top. Wastage can be caused by aerobic spoilage, silage being trampled and fouled by animals and slurry near the feeding face and needs to be removed regularly.
Barrier types Barrier types are usually an electrified wire, tombstone (vertical bars) or horizontal bars or weldmesh. The latter three are usually mounted on a frame which is attached at right angles to a floor on which the animals stand. A tractor is usually
needed to keep pushing the barrier forward as required. ➤ Electrified wire: The easiest barrier to manage the animals at the feeding face is an electrified wire. The wire should be mounted on steel posts at a height that allows animals to feed both over and under it easily and pushed horizontally into the stack face. A shallow barrier placed on the floor, just out from the stack face, will help to catch any silage dropped and prevent contamination by excrement. ➤ Vertical bars: Vertical bars are more robust than an electrified wire but are also more expensive. Bars tend to reduce the aggressive or dominant animals from monopolising the stack face and their positioning also controls intakes and collects most of any dropped silage. ➤ Horizontal barrier: Horizontal barriers are preferable for sheep to allow sheep to move sideways to accommodate other sheep coming to the face. ➤ Weldmesh: Weldmesh welded to moveable pipe frames can be used, although some wool may be
rubbed off from around the neck area. Feeder diameter may affect the intakes of younger or smaller animals due to difficulty accessing the inner portion of the bale but a skirt around the perimeter base will reduce losses.
Self-feeding baled silage Round and large rectangular bales of silage can also be self-fed, generally from ring feeders or long rectangular feed troughs with vertical bars or tombstone-type design. Chop length of the silage, silage fermentation, mouldy sections as mentioned above will all affect intakes.
Minimise/avoid environmental damage Many farmers have started to incorporate feed pads and stand-off areas near their dairy sheds and fodder storages. Slurry, possibly silage effluent from the stack itself, and contaminated rain falling on the stack area, must all be managed to avoid contaminating waterways.
The most common method of self-feeding silage is allowing animals to access the face of a silage stack.
— Agriculture Victoria
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PAGE 10—‘Silage’, July, 2016
QUALITY SILAGE IS NOT A COINCIDENCE 3£@&8'99 Ҳ !88-'8 -£1 -9 ! 2'>£@ &'='£36'& -2 -£!+' 3='8 >,-$, $31#-2'9 ;,' ;8!&-ধ32!£ £!$0c ,-;' -£!+' 3='8 >-;, ! 63£@!1-&' <2&'8£!@ )£1W ,-9 <2&'8£!@ )£1 &'£!1-2!;'9 (831 ;,' 3<;'8 $3='8 ;,83<+, -£!+' 13-9;<8' !2& !&,'8'9 ;3 ;,' 9;!$0 9<8(!$' $8'!ধ2+ ! =!$<<1 'ø'$;W ,' 8'9<£; -9 ! 32'f9;'6 !66£-$!ধ32 683$'99 >,-$, &'£-='8-'9 !2 3?@+'2 #!88-'8 -1683='& #@ ! (!$;38 3( ¤ ;3 ধ1'9 3( ! ;8!&-ধ32!£ $3='8W <' ;3 ;,' -1683='& 3?@+'2 #!88-'8T 8'&<$'& ('81'2;!ধ32 £399'9T !2& 1-2-1!£ 13<£& (381!ধ32T ,-+,f7<!£-;@ $836 $!2 #' 68'9'8='& -2 !2 '?$'6ধ32!£ !2& 9<9;!-2'& 1!22'8W
• • barrier (compared with improved silage quality. • Markedly reduced losses of nutrients at edges and surfaces. •
covering process.
• Sustainable product design through new raw material
Need more info? tapex.com.au 03 9361 8100
We improve fodder productivity
silage making
Hay weight is a tricky concept people have an idea of their hay Most bale weights, or do they?
A recent hay bale weight guessing competition by the Australian Fodder Industry Association found only eight of the 200 entries estimating a bale’s weight got even close. The bale weighed 404 kg with the estimates ranging from 250 to 2000 kg, with most ‘guesstimates’ between 500 and 800 kg. To be fair it is almost impossible to have every bale of identical size and weight. Both can vary due to plant maturity at harvest, hay moisture content, bale density and if and how the bale diameter is determined by either the equipment alert system and/or the operator. When cattle are sold by weight or when you buy grain or fertiliser, you expect to pay on their accurate weight as per scales. Yet when dealing with hay, this rarely happens unless the purchased load is put across a weigh bridge which can be awkward, but it is possible to beg, borrow or steal a cattle weighing scale, set them up and weigh a few bales. It may be a hassle but it could save you money. Unlike silage, hay does have reasonably consistent moisture content at baling. However, even if identical bale volume could be produced with any bale size (and form), weights will vary a bit due to the
moisture content at baling, bale density and the maturity and forage type. Hay bought or baled on a per bale basis can be a minefield and if possible, should be avoided, and buying price/baling charges should be on a weight basis, or at least with agreed bale size and reasonable density. However, in practice, variation in bale weight for a given bale size is frighteningly wide. Bale density is influenced by wrap tightness and bale compression and can vary substantially according to the operator’s preference and ability of the equipment used. Most balers have a range of settings that enable wrap tightness and bale compression can be increased or decreased. Mind you, some balers can produce soft centres or the compression backed off for forage which may not be fully cured to allow heat and sweat loss. Density is also affected by plant maturity, leafy pasture being more dense than older, stemmy pasture. Similarly, lucerne is more dense than cereal hay and forage species. The only bale weights that really matter are the ones you measure or on a weight bridge ticket which allows you to assess the real price of the hay.
New Roll-Belt. Change your baling style If you want to boost your output by up to 20% with up to 5% denser bales, the Roll-Belt baler is the natural choice. • Two models Roll-Belt 150 and 180 with the numbers representing bale diameter. • All-new pick-up design featuring a brand new feeding logic guaranteeing clean elds in super-fast time. • Standard dual density systems ensures uniformly dense bales and provides up to 5% denser bales. • Four Ultra-wide endless self-cleaning belts reducing losses while maintaining contact with the crop. • Intutive IntelliView III Colour Touchscreen monitor. • Drop Floor for ease of operation. Ring the sales team to enquire about the use of net replacement lm in the RB balers.
SHEPPARTON RURAL
ECHUCA RURAL
COBRAM RURAL
21 Telford Dve, Shepparton P: 5832 3500
37–41 Cornelia Creek Rd, Echuca P: 5482 2788
92 Karook St, Cobram P: 5871 3333
— Frank Mickan DEDJTR Ellinbank
‘Silage’, July, 2016—PAGE 11
silage making
Hedging forage production he vagaries of seasons in T recent years have taken the blame for many under-
performing summer crops. Yet I weighted off turnip crops and sorghum crops of very good yields this past summer that never saw one drop of rain; and others that truly supported the above accusation against nature. We cannot change the weather, but we can mitigate its impact through our management. Rotating crops was once a common practice. Many farmers can understand nitrogen fixing crops, and there are other less understood gains from rotating crops; but do many of us practice crop rotations on our dairies? Summer cropping must increase to increase tonnes of dry matter per hectare per year over our farms. Current economics of dairy farming are screaming for improved productivity as our only means of survival. Higher yields from both land and cows are the answer. As seasons grow wetter or drier than normal, rotated paddocks will hold their yields while sequential monoculture ones have yield collapse, but always blamed on weather. The above mentioned turnip crop, sown in January in southwest Victoria weighted off at more than 5 tonne/DM and never saw rain. It was part of a crop rotation
Rotated crops can produce better results in forage and silage. system; and grown on an organic farm with no chemical fertiliser. There has also been a countercultural re-pasturing program that grew right through the summer of 2015-16 where rotations are driven by soil types. Some paddocks are well drained, some poorly, and many contain both soil types. We can grow a wide range of forages that will provide the nutrients our cows need to improve their yields. Cows need highly digestible fibre, sugar, starch and protein. Many plant species are capable of suppling these nutrient
essentials. Yields per hectare are our concern. I have a few very entrepreneurial clients who are going to attempt several cropping systems I have seen work overseas. Yes, there are climatic differences, but I think we will learn what adjustments need to be made to make it work. We’ve done this with several feed additives, taking their attributes and applying them to our situation. Rumen Calm being just one. Turnips, sorghums (grazing and forage varieties), cereals, lucerne and red clovers are all capable of
CONTACT YOUR LOCAL DEALER Echuca CIH Sales & Service
John Sanderson Machinery
Cobram Farm Equipment
(03) 5482 1733 43 Sturt St, Echuca
(03) 5794 2272 36–38 Industrial Cres, Nagambie
(03) 5872 1722 3687 Murray Valley Hwy, Cobram
producing high quality nutrition as economically as maize silage. In fact, maize will stop growing above 30 C, whereas sorghum will grow beyond 38 C degrees. Sorghum and summer active lucerne love heat and root down deep in well-drained southern dryland, accessing both moisture and nutrient outside the reach of other plants. We’ve seen pasture continue to grow in southern dryland right through summer when preceded by a deep rooted crop. The assumption is, soil pans cracked by deep rooted crops allow rye-grass to root down deeper than normal. Cows pulling up rye-grass plants is becoming common due to shallow rooting. We need obviously to match specific crops, times and soil types to take advantage of this rotational yield potential. Likewise, tillage/seeding equipment is emerging that can achieve good outcomes at lower costs. Combinations of spray-out/ direct drilling correctly done can give us graze-able paddocks in winter. Winter cereals leave a paddock in early spring with 60 per cent less available water underneath compared to bare ground allowing earlier tillage/seeding of cooler temperature summer crops (turnips). Sorghum under irrigation in northern Victoria will thrive on less
than half the water needed by pasture and produce more tonnes of dry matter than pasture will in 12 months. There is evidence that BMR forage sorghums can produce twice the tonnage of dry matter of maize per 25 ml of water, and match maize on its ability to be converted to milk with the gain of higher protein. Spreading our risk in unpredictable climate is the key to producing highly nutritious feed for our cows to convert to milk dollars over varied seasonal conditions. On well-drained soils lucerne will chase deeper moisture. Poorly drained soils will support good tonnages of red clover. Pasture grasses sown in spring can also do very well both over their first summer and the remainder of the year as they too root deeper after receding soil moisture. Weeds such as winter grass are not an issue in spring-sown pasture. In any cropping scenario, one thing stands supreme: fertiliser; so often the missing link or at least inadequate amounts for the tonnages we are seeking. Fertiliser is always our cheapest feed. — John Lyne dairy production specialist Dairytech Nutrition www.dairytechnutrition.com.au
PAGE 12—‘Silage’, July, 2016