Here at Aussie Farms we know and understand that on #realaussiefarms we all do things a little differently. Whatever your preference or your methodology we would love to hear your stories. All of our original posts can only be written from the perspective of the writer, or the source from whence the story came. Do you make silage or hay on your property? And if so how do you determine how much is required? Are you able to make it rain simply by hooking on the mower, the rake, or the baler?! How important do those weather maps and forecasts become at this time of year!? Part 1 SILAGE AND HAY PRODUCTION at Doonagatha. Whilst every farm has its own management system, most will undertake some form of fodder conservation. Every year we lock up 1/3rd of the farm for fodder conservation. This has a two fold effect- it helps us maintain quality of the pasture and also it allows us to utilise the spring flush of feed to fill in feed gaps in those parts of the year where pasture growth is slowed. (Summer, when feed has dried off before the autumn break, and winter where waterlogged pastures fail to produce the bulk required by animals, and where a belly full of silage or hay has the added benefit of warming animals from the inside!) Of the two thirds we lock up one third is done for silage and two thirds as hay. Although silage production is considerably more expensive than that of hay, it has a number of positive benefits. Silage is done in early spring, when the plant is still at its vegetative stage, it is generally higher quality and can be used to fatten animals as well as to maintain feed intake when there is little else. Having recently moved to a pasture assured program it is also used to wean young stock (previously we used a grain supplement to do this). The regrowth following silage harvest is generally of a high quality, vegetative plant. Silage production also ties in with our pasture renovation program, with paddocks that have become pugged during a wet winter, or those notorious for producing staggers in animals (an endophyte present in our ryegrass dominant pasture, which causes animal health issues). The paddocks are earmarked as far as eight or twelve months in advance, and sown with either an annual rye (a cheap source) or a summer crop put in to prepare the ground for re-sowing – a more expensive undertaking. There are a number of methods employed in silage production, we make round bale silage, as we have all the equipment ourselves to do so, as well as for the ease in feeding out round bale silage. We live in a high rainfall region, where it can be difficult to have enough consecutive fine days to allow for good quality hay production. With silage the window of fine weather can be considerably smaller than that required for hay. If we were to not undertake fodder conservation, spring growth would far out strip our capability of utilising the sward, after a short time, shading (caused by excessive grass growth) would open up our pastures, leaving many bare patches, (which in turn would lead to excessive drying of soils,) and eventually to inundation of less productive grasses and broadleaf weeds, undoing the renovation we have undertaken over the years, and seriously undermining our productivity. Silage season (followed hot on its heels by hay season) really is the silly season for us – extending out as it does over the Christmas period. It involves plenty of long hours, and things around the home tend to go to putt. (For those that know me - more so than usual!) So that often a rainy day in the middle is welcomed, as a chance to catch up (or to do a shop). As such we try and get on top of all our animal health protocols before things get too silly! Photos courtesy Doonagatha and Lady Ag
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 08:00:00 +0000
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