Gippsland - How Now Gippy Now - August 2010 Edition
It's time to prepare for summer forage crops
Now is the time to be making decisions about summer forage crops.
You might think it is a bit soon, after all it’s still winter. However, many forage crops take more than 12 weeks to mature and you need time to prepare the paddock for sowing. Any feed required for December or early January requires paddock preparation to commence soon.
For example, a turnip crop matures in 14 weeks. If required for late December grazing, it needs to be sown mid-September. Paddock spraying would be the start of September.
The decision to fodder crop should be thought through, it can be a cost to the business or a benefit. Make sure it is a benefit.
There are a number of reasons for forage cropping
Renovating pasture – you can achieve a better kill of undesirable species in a spring cropping program. Early autumn weed control can be problematic with dry soil conditions providing less than optimum weed control. Late pasture sowings, following late autumn spraying for weeds, are slow to establish.
Boost fodder yields – selecting a high yielding fodder crop can help to fill fodder reserves. To be ahead, the fodder crop needs to yield more than it would if it had been left as pasture. Often this is not the case. It is important to correct any underlying problems with the paddock, select the right crop for the situation, know its management requirements and minimise exposure to adverse impacts from variable seasonal conditions.
Provide feed post-spring flush - pasture supply after the spring flush generally doesn’t meet cow requirements. Fodder crops can fill these gaps. Direct grazing of crop reduces costs compared to conserving pasture and feeding back. However, there are costs associated with cropping that can add to the overall cost. Summer cropping is more risky than growing spring pasture for silage. Recent dry seasons have seen many late spring sown crops yield poorly or fail.
Making better use of an out-paddock – yields are often lower on an out-paddock, so pasture growth foregone during a cropping period is much less. So the case for fodder cropping on an out-paddock can be stronger than for the home farm. The reason for lower pasture yield on these paddocks is often species and fertiliser. Cropping can be used as part of a pasture improvement program. It is highly likely that extra fertiliser will be required. Repeat applications of nitrogen will probably be needed to achieve good crop yield. If the crop can’t be grazed, then there are costs associated with conservation and transport back to the home farm that need to be considered.
Do your plans need to be modified for the season?
Use seasonal forecasts together with your own knowledge of your district to put the odds of a successful crop in your favour.
The season can have a huge influence on your forage plans, determining crop yield, sowing time, level of pest damage, crop quality and time of harvest. The need for the feed is strongly influenced by seasonal conditions.
Factor seasonal conditions into your plan. For example - you might prefer to have a grazing crop ready for February/March. So you decide to take a cut of silage to maximise spring yield then wait for the regrowth to spray. The crop is now exposed to a hot dry spell during germination and therefore runs the risk of running out of soil moisture during the growth phase.
A 10 tonne potential crop may yield 4 tonne. Ask yourself if it is better to forego some silage yield and sow the crop earlier, limiting the chances of crop failure and increasing the chances of a high yield. Taking this approach means either the crop needs to be grazed in early summer (the Feburary/March feed gap filled by other means) or the crop must be capable of standing over as a mature crop without significant loss of quality, yield or palatability.
In short, in your situation will it be cheaper and less risky to purchase feed to fill any gaps or is growing a fodder crop likely to be the best option?
For more information contact Greg O’Brien or Frank Mickan on (03) 5624 2222.
