Gippsland - How Now Gippy Cow
November 2010 Edition
Making high quality hay in a La Niña year
A La Niña spring/summer has been forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology this season. In other words this is likely to be associated with higher than average rainfall, so making hay may be even more difficult than in most years.
What can we do to increase our chances of high-quality, well-cured hay and reduced danger of spontaneous combustion or mouldy hay?
High quality
Farmers who have successfully implemented the Feeding Pastures for Profit program will have determined which and when paddocks were to be ‘banked’ for silage and will be now continuing to do the same for hay. If the grazing pressure has been maintained through spring, the amount of tillers sending up seedheads in paddocks locked up for hay will be greatly reduced, but by no means completely stopped. The bottom line is that the more leaf and less stem, the better the hay quality. Applying nitrogen fertiliser at lockup also improves the leaf-to-stem ratio and hay quality.
Table 1 shows the quality of ryegrass at its various stages of growth. Unfortunately, conditions required for making well-cured pasture hay dictate that this occurs when most pastures are into the heading phase, hence the lower quality unless it contains a high proportion of clover.
Table 1. Ryegrass quality at various stages of growth
| Description | ME (MJ/kg DM) |
|---|---|
| Leafy tiller | 11.5-12.5 |
| Stem starting to develop, nodes <5cm height from ground | 11.5-12.5 |
| Flag leaf appearing, nodes >5cm height from ground | 10.5-11.5 |
| Seed head developing, 1cm long | 10-11 |
| Seed head starts to emerge | 9-10 |
| Seed colour changes, seed starts to fill | 8-9 |
| Seed shedding | 6-8 |
Although the heading date of ryegrass will vary according to its maturity date, most cultivars will be well in head by the time they are cut for hay. However some varieties with good ‘aftermath’ or vegetative regrowth after a silage cut, may be conserved as medium to high quality hay if a second cut is taken.
Many farmers wait for hay to bulk up before cutting, which it does, however this is due to mainly a build up of fibre and often a loss of the valuable, higher-quality leaves. So how can we get better-quality hay?
Time of cut
Harvesting slightly earlier than normal can result in higher-quality hay but the harvesting process will need some assistance to achieve this. How?
Time of day
Wait for the dew to lift, then mow. Although the sugars will be higher in the afternoon, this is much less so in these more-mature plants compared to vegetative plants cut for silage. Allowing the sun to dry off the morning dew before cutting is a more important guideline to follow and will slightly increase the rate of curing.
Tedders/Conditioners
These are used to good effect in silage making. They are also very useful for hay making as they can substantially increase the rate of curing for the first day or so at least. However, be aware that hay will dry faster, so be ready to bale earlier. Some believe bleaching might be a problem but if the material is raked and baled earlier than normal, this should not be an issue.
Preservatives
Although an added cost to hay making, there is now a range of hay preservatives with various modes of action (buffered acids, sulphur-based and amylase, some inoculants) which will allow baling to begin in a shorter time frame (eg if rain is threatening). Rainfall risk is increased in a La Niña year or if trying to bale early in the hay season, therefore hay preservatives might be handy in these situations. Some manufacturers claim that hay can be baled up to 30 per cent moisture using their products. However, the bales will be very heavy to handle and will still dry down well below this level, resulting in very loose strings, unstable stacks. So it’s better not to have too much moisture in the hay.
Salt?
the layers of hay to absorb the moisture. Research into this practice indicates that it is neither a viable nor effective option to reduce moisture or the risk of mould or spontaneous combustion. A very large amount of salt is required to have any affect and this can cause problems if too much is consumed by cattle when fed out. The layer of salt may aid in absorbing some of the moisture between the layers, but won't have a great affect within the bales where the problem starts!
In short, there is a range of options to help make high-quality, well-preserved hay in a season that could be wetter than normal.
Contact: Frank Mickan at DPI on 5624 2259 or frank.mickan@dpi.vic.gov.au
