This week the Grain & Graze project held five successful workshops in South Australia – two on Eyre Peninsula. The workshops, Grazing crops, aimed to help farmers make the most of the current high returns from crops but still maintain a strong livestock enterprise. Farmers feel that livestock have an important place in the risk management of their business.

If you missed the workshops, contact the Grain & Graze team at Minnipa Agricultural Centre for a copy of the Grazing Cereals booklet.

In dryer areas of EP it is risky to graze normal crops because the season can cut off so early. Instead farmers could sow a cereal into some of the areas that are normally pasture.  Often they can sow dry – before the rush at normal seeding.

This cereal/pasture mix has been shown to produce much more bulk than normal pastures.  This benefits the stock greatly but also increases organic matter in the soil. If the season turns out well, the paddock could be shut up and baled for hay, left as a standing crop or reapt.

Neil and Brenton Smith, of Calcookara Merino Stud, Cowell, have been sowing crops for feed for many years. They usually sow about 160 ha of either oats or barley.

They start preparing designated paddocks in February. They are mostly sown in March, or April, with the first good rain.
 
Usually oats is sown but, if it fits in with the rotation, barley is used. “Barley gets away quicker and stools better and if the season is good it recovers well and can be reapt for grain” Neil said.

The oats, especially the better paddocks, are often cut for hay. “There have only been 3 or 4 years when we have not been able to cut some hay. Last year, a bad drought, we cut 200 medium square bales from 80 ha. While it’s a low yield, this will be a very valuable resource later this year” Neil said.

Peas and/or vetch are sown with the cereal. “This helps supply a little nitrogen and gives us the opportunity to spray out grasses later in the season, if necessary” Brenton said. Peas are now sown with barley and wheat for hay as it increases the protein level of the hay.  Barley and wheat seem to have less grain in the hay than oats so are less prone to mouse damage. It also allows us to spray out wild oats or ryegrass.

Grazing the crop can reduce weeds such as brome grass. If the crop is also baled for hay early this is another removal of weed seeds.

“Last year (2007) we direct drilled 28 ha of Sloop barley in late March. By the 20th of May it was about 300mm high and we grazed it with 250 Merino rams until mid August. From then on we had about 120 rams in there until December – in a drought year! Another 45 ha held 350 hoggets until about mid September.

These paddocks were almost weed free the entire time because the barley got away before most of the winter weeds germinated. When they did germinate they could not compete.

The Smith’s main enterprise is their sheep as they sell over 200 rams a year. Now that they have the wool micron down, on plainer sheep, and have sheep with “bare bums”, they are getting enquiries from all over Australia. The aim is to increase ram sales to over 300 a year.

For more information on Grazing Cereals, or Grain & Graze, contact the team at Minnipa Agricultural Centre on 8680 6233.

AUTHOR:  Brian Ashton, Senior Livestock Consultant, Rural Solutions SA, Pt Lincoln

CONTACT: For more information on Grazing Cereals, or Grain & Graze, contact the team at Minnipa Agricultural Centre on 8680 6233.

Brian Ashton, Livestock Consultant
Rural Solutions SA
E-mail ashton.brian@saugov.sa.gov.au
 Ph    08 8688 3403
Fax   08 8688 3407