The value of hay in a cropping system

Greg Toomey,
Landmark, Elmore

Take home messages:

• Hay is a profitable crop in its own right
• Hay is a great weed management tool
• Export demand continues to be strong
• Low weed burdens allow flexibility in rotations and time of sowing
• Hay is an excellent risk management tool

Introduction

Having come to the Elmore and Colbinabbin districts at the end of 2000 I have seen the area sown to export oaten hay expand to the point where it is now a very significant part of the farming system in these areas.

The area sown to hay has grown on the back of the profitability it has added to the growers in my district. Demand for Australian hay on the export market continues to be strong and prices are still quite strong despite the high dollar.  I have also seen the other benefits hay has added to the growers’ whole farming system.

Doing farm plans with my growers and then following up and doing their actuals I see first- hand (via the gross margins,) the dollars hay brings into their bank accounts.  In a decade which was characterised by numerous below average rainfall years, having a crop which didn’t require any rain or stored moisture beyond head emergence has been very beneficial.

In fact, in almost all cases since I started seeing the actuals in 2006, export oaten hay has been the most profitable crop, by gross margin, for my growers. The one clear exception was 2010 when constant deluges through the spring did see many of my farmers burn hundreds of hectares of hay which had become so weather damaged that it was deemed not worthwhile to bale. As it turned out those that did bale this “black gunk” did get rid of it this year at a price which did make it worthwhile doing.

Hay gross margins amongst my growers are commonly $500 - $1200/ha, and that is over a wide variety of GSR years. In the very wet spring of 2010, a loss of $250/ha to a profit of $300/ha was the range.

Now that I have made the point of why my growers have got into hay, I will go on to explore why, as an agronomist, I see it as an integral part of the long term overall viability of a cropping system.

With a portion of this year’s update looking at life beyond Select®, anything that can reduce ryegrass numbers and delay the loss of Select® and any other herbicides that still work in your area is worth looking at (i.e. hay).

For hay growers in my area, ryegrass is not much of a problem at all. I would see many wheat and barley crops in my area with less than 1 ryegrass/m². Many of these would have had no ryegrass pre emergent herbicides applied beyond Logran® in wheat and Diuron and Metribuzin in barley. With a lot of disc seeders (almost all are the John Deere Biomax type) in my area, incorporation of Trifluralin is impossible and the safety of Boxer Gold® and Sakura® a bit compromised. By having no ryegrass problems in my area, disc seeders are a viable seeding option.

If we do see rye numbers creeping up in a paddock we will put it into oats for hay to knock them on the head. When numbers are high you really do need consecutive years of oats for hay to drive rye numbers right down. Spraying any regrowth after the hay is cut is a must, if you are serious about getting numbers down. The hay must be out of the paddock first so as not to have any concerns about herbicide residues drifting onto the hay.  

It’s not just rye that will be controlled by hay cutting. With a 5% weed tolerance level allowed in export hay; brome, wild oats and any broad leaf weeds which sneak through can all be cut and sent overseas!  If you find weeds an issue in wheat, there are also markets for export wheaten hay. Or if the season turns dry and you are looking for a risk management tool, cutting wheat for hay is a viable option. Of course you need to be checking with your buyer before making a decision like that, to ensure you have an export/domestic sale for the hay.

Paddocks which have very low weed burdens, give growers a lot of flexibility also. As we all know, early sowing - or dry sowing - is likely to enhance the yield potential of a paddock. If you have your weed numbers well down, waiting for a rain and a knockdown of weeds becomes less of a necessity.  You also avoid the requirements for expensive pre-emergent ryegrass herbicides if you have next to no ryegrass to control.

The dry season risk management tool that oaten hay represents was demonstrated in a trial Landmark did at Elmore in 2008 when we looked at disease and nutrition management packages for oaten hay. With over 180mm of rain in Dec 2007 and Jan 2008 we started sowing in mid-May with a good amount of stored soil moisture. We then only had a GSR of 178mm versus the Elmore average of 305mm. Hay yields ranged between 6.9t/ha and 8.7t/ha. Grain yields ranged between .9t/ha and 1.16t/ha. While significant rains in November and December 2008 may have affected grain yields somewhat, it nevertheless demonstrates that it is always going to be easier to grow just biomass than to then fill that crop through to grain!  

Frost is not an issue in hay given that the crop is cut at, or just after, flowering. Heat or dryness after flowering is not a problem either as that’s when you’re trying to cure and bale.

Mixed hay and grain growers are generally never happy, regardless of what happens in October. If it rains, the hay quality is being affected, but the grain crops are benefitting. But if it doesn’t rain the hay will be good, but the crops will be missing out on vital grain filling rains. It does indicate what a good risk management tool hay can be. In my case, I have actually had problems with growers wanting to go so heavily into hay production that I think their reliance on hay was too high and had to convince them to have more grain crops and less hay!

Oats are also a cheap crop to grow, given that feeding the crop nitrogen is generally limited to a little, or none, to encourage high quality hay by not growing too great an amount of biomass. Most of the costs in growing hay are in making hay and at least by this stage you know what you are likely to get.  You may chose to put some Dual®/Diuron down for some early rye and broad leaf weed suppression and need an in crop Chlorsulfuron (in low pH soils mostly) or a chemical such as Precept® for wireweed and other broadleaf weed control.

Many of my growers have now invested very heavily in hay making equipment. Self propelled mower conditioners, balers, rakes, telehandlers, sheds, trucks and flat trays add up to a significant commitment.  They have seen the value in owning equipment to save on contracting costs and to also make sure they can do things in a timely fashion. Timeliness of cutting and baling is crucial to quality, and quality determines price. So in general, most growers want to be in control of these important tasks. Having your own equipment also allows the grower the flexibility to go and cut crops sown with the intention of running them through to grain if dry weather or frost has likely knocked grain yield potential.

Oats are also a break crop from the most common type of take-all which affects wheat and barley.

The short 10cm worth of stubble which is left behind after cutting and baling is ideal for sowing any crop you wish the next year.  The stubble  provides enough cover to avoid wind erosion, but enough bare ground for whatever pre-emergent herbicide you want to use.

Of course it’s not all beer and skittles.

• Nutrient removal will be more. The two nutrients which are removed in very high amounts by hay compared to grain are potassium (K) and calcium (Ca). Fortunately in the Elmore/Colbinabbin area, K is present in quite luxuriant amounts except in a couple of small patches. K would be a significant cost in some other areas. Ca needs to be replaced, and as we have mostly low pH soils we tend to be using more and more lime to improve our soils in a number of ways.

• Hay not making export, or supply beyond your contracts, has to find a home too.  Selling into the domestic market can have its challenges.
• A dense crop is important as stem diameter is an important determinant of quality and price. So, the narrower the row spacing, the higher the likelihood of getting the best quality. Our observations are that a maximum of 25cm (10”) spacings on the seeder are required to sow oats. For many growers who have gone to 30cm (12”), or wider, this is obviously a problem. I have heard of someone going wider than this and just spreading 25-30kg/ha in front of the seeding operation, which may work to fill in the gaps? 
• You can’t use Lontrel® incrop in export hay at all.   
• Not everyone is near an export hay receival point. Get your grower to talk to suppliers; as they are keen to get more hay from a greater diversity of areas, and therefore, they may be keen to deal.
• You must have paddocks suitable for growing hay, basically no rocks.
• Be careful with Sakura® as there is a recropping interval beyond the next year.
• Your grower may not want to be stressed and busy from mid October until the end of harvest.

Conclusion

As an adviser, I am sure many of you are facing some tough ryegrass situations threatening the ability of your clients to continually crop? Well I am too, but they are only the ones who don’t, or can’t, grow hay. Other than that my growers probably spend less per hectare than the average on herbicides and most have come through the last 10 years in a pretty strong financial position and have been expanding their land holdings. Hay as a part of a robust farming system is seriously worth considering.

Contact details

Greg Toomey, Landmark Elmore
0427 104 484
greg.toomey@landmark.com.au