With growing season rainfall (GSR) in parts of the Mallee at decile 1, there’s not much in the bucket.
If faced with making the decision between cutting paddocks for hay or harvesting for grain, Landmark agronomist, Greg Toomey, advises growers to focus on economic benefit.
“Growers should be thinking about what the most profitable outcome is, then if they choose to cut for hay, have a plan,” he said.
With 30 years’ experience as an agronomist, Mr Toomey was influential in developing the Elmore region as a major oaten hay producer.
“Planning includes doing your sums, looking at GSR and stored soil moisture, assessing biomass and then estimating grain yield and comparing it to hay yield,” Mr Toomey added.
“Talk to your advisors and take your own cuts and weights, it helps to make a more informed decision.”
Another important element is the mental preparation.
Grain growers are, understandably, geared to take their crop through to harvest and cutting crop for hay can be disheartening for some producers, however Mr Toomey offers a different perspective.
“No one goes broke making a profit and there is such a demand for hay at the moment, with robust prices, it’s worth non-traditional hay-makers considering another end use for a crop. Exporters may be interested in alternative products such as wheaten hay,” he elaborated.
Utilising existing farm equipment could help keep costs down and growers should consider if it’s possible to use their header to cut the hay and find some way of conditioning it. When seeking contractors, they should be carefully priced out and their availability is crucial.
And growers don’t have to go all out.
“Growers could identify a paddock or two with a weed burden to cut them for hay,” Mr Toomey noted.
Mr Toomey points out that in tough conditions, a more challenging, but potentially profitable, action is to cut the better-looking crops, rather than lighter ones.
“In a dry finish, the bigger crops are likely to have a poorer harvest index and to be the most efficient to make hay out of.”
Mr Toomey will be joined by Prairie farmer and experienced hay grower, Russell Hocking, at the BCG Main Field Day to present ‘Hay or Grain? Understanding the pros and cons of each to make the right decisions’.
The BCG Main Field Day is on Wednesday September 12 at the BCG main research site at Narraport, on the Nullawil-Birchip Rd. For more information about the event visit www.bcg.org.au/events or phone 03 5492 2787.
This article was published in the Stock and Land, 6 September 2018.
