Seed Distributors - Science Based Pasture®

LUCERNE FEEDBACK
• 54Q53 LUCERNE FEEDBACK
• L56 LUCERNE FEEDBACK
• Q75 LUCERNE FEEDBACK
• L90 LUCERNE FEEDBACK
• L91 LUCERNE FEEDBACK
• MULTILEAF® ML99 LUCERNE FEEDBACK

• CLOVER FEEDBACK
• MEDIC FEEDBACK
• RYEGRASS FEEDBACK
• LEGUMES FEEDBACK
• FESTULOLIUM FEEDBACK
• FORAGE CEREALS FEEDBACK
• SPRING OPTIONS FEEDBACK
• SOWSMART BLENDS FEEDBACK
• ESTABLISHMENT GUARANTEE FEEDBACK
• GOLD STRIKE

Mick Myers - Yukuri Forage Triticale
Mr Myers grew the Yukuri Forage Triticale variety as a dryland option alongside wheat and oats and was impressed with its yield. The triticale was cut for silage and yielded higher than the wheat and oats and also recorded better quality figures. A silage forage sample was analysed and recorded energy levels at 11.5% ME and protein at 16 to 16.5%. Mr Myers said it was the first time he had grown Yukuri, although other triticale varieties had been tried in previous years. He said the energy and protein from those triticale varieties had been around the 9 and 9.5% so this year’s result was very impressive.
Mick Myers, Naneella, Victoria

Tim Cochrane- Yukuri Forage Triticale
Mr Cochrane planted 50 acres of Yukuri Forage Triticale in two blocks with an expectation of producing around 400 tonnes of silage. “We weren’t really sure what yield to expect from the triticale crop as we haven’t grown cereal silage before”. The two Yukuri paddocks yielded approximately 600 tonnes of silage that tested slightly lower in energy than the Cochrane’s maize silage but had similar protein and higher functional fibre levels. The extra yield was both a feed bonus and a good reduction in overall production cost for the silage. “I was really happy with the Yukuri Triticale” Mr Cochrane said.
Tim Cochrane, Nowra, NSW

Mark Brisbane - Yukuri Forage Triticale
Yukuri forage triticale a good alternative to oats. Yukuri forage triticale provided a good alternative to oats for silage on the dairy property of Mark Brisbane, at Murchison, in the north-east of Victoria last season. Mr Brisbane said he decided to plant 12 hectares of Yukuri forage triticale last season to see how it would perform on the property. It was sown on May 11 last season as a silage or hay option and survived well through a tough season. There was good moisture early but dried off in the spring. Mr Brisbane said the Yukuri triticale demonstrated excellent growth in late winter and early spring and produced high yields when taken for silage in October. “The yield was just as good as a crop of oats,” Mr Brisbane said. “We harvested more than 300 large rolls of silage off it. I was very happy with it.” Good yields of silage from the triticale and other crops meant approximately double the amount of silage was harvested from the property than in previous seasons. Mr Brisbane said he was looking at different options for forage, and crops such as triticale and forage barley were worth considering. The Yukuri paddock grew as a dryland prospect, although it could have been watered late in the season to finish it off. It was decided to save the water and utilise it on another crop during the summer months. Mr Brisbane said the triticale and oats silage would be given to the cows during February and fill the traditional feed gap that occurs in late summer and early autumn. The quality of the triticale forage should be very good as the crop was harvested at the ideal time of development. “We cut it at the right time,” Mr Brisbane said. “Just prior to the heads coming out, to keep the protein high.” He said silage was an excellent option with the cows taking to it quickly and milking well off the forage. The property also contained a Seed Distributors pasture demonstration and evaluation site (TDE) featuring a range featuring a range of different forage cultivars which was planted in May last season. Mr Brisbane said it was interesting to see the performance of a wide range of forages in the one paddock. The trials will be repeated next season. Last year, the Yukuri triticale was not graz ed early in development, although this would be an option in the future. There is an opportunity to graze the forage early in the season before locking it up to be used for silage or hay. Yukuri forage triticale can also be used to produce grain with high yields and excellent quality.
Mark Brisbane of Murchison, in the north-east of Victoria

Steven Heath - Yukuri Forage Triticale
Triticale provides more bulk for cattle property. Steven Heath, of Noojee, near Mt Baw Baw on Victoria’s snowfields used Yukuri triticale silage for greater bulk in hay and silage production. Triticale was used to produce more bulk on the property of Steven Heath at Noojee, near Mt Baw Baw on Victoria’s snowfields. Mr Heath said they had previously used ryegrasses but switched to Yukuri forage triticale two years ago for more production to feed the cattle on the Corrabora Angus property. The 10 hectare paddock was sown to Yukuri triticale in May, 2008 at a rate of 100 kilograms per hectare with DAP also spread at 100 kilograms per hectare. In a year of good rainfall, the first cut of silage was taken in early October and yielded 100 round bales with an estimated weight of 650 kilograms. Mr Heath said warm weather and good rainfall conditions meant a second cut was possible in early summer and the paddock produced 150 rolls of silage in mid-December. Further rainfall in December allowed the crop to regrow vigorously and was subsequently harvested for hay in January of the following year. Approximately 300 small square bales, at an average weight of 30 kilograms, were taken from the paddock. “It produced very good hay,” Mr Heath said. “I was very pleased with it.” The property ranges from between 300 and 440 metres above sea level and can get extremely cold during the winter months. At one stage the crop received snow on it and turned slightly yellow under the cold conditions but responded well soon afterwards with excellent growth. Urea was broadcast on the paddock after each cutting to encourage further growth. The hay and silage was used to fill feed gaps during the colder winter months with the Angus cattle achieving excellent weight gains on the triticale. Mr Heath said they ran 300 breeders and would also have up to 150 young stock on the property at any one time. He said the steers were kept to a weight of 450 to 500 kilograms prior to sending them to a feedlot. The good quality silage achieved from the triticale was mainly used for the cows and calves. “We found the silage really got the milk going,” Mr Heath said. “The cows did well on it.” Yukuri forage triticale was also grown in the same paddock on the property in 2009 and produced a similar result with the first cut during the spring yielding 100 bales of silage. The use of triticale has allowed for greater bulk per paddock than grass options and good quality silage and hay. Yukuri forage triticale also offers very good grazing returns.
Steven Heath, of Noojee, near Mt Baw Baw, Victoria

Ross Kemp - Moby Forage Barley
Potential of new forage barley seen on Riverton property. The potential of a new forage barley variety was seen on the property of Ross Kemp of Riverton, in South Australia, last season. Mr Kemp grew Moby forage barley as a late-planted seed crop last season and said he could see its suitability as a grazing, silage or hay option in future years. The crop was sown on June 6 last year into a paddock that had contained pasture for the previous three seasons. Mr Kemp said the crop could be planted dry prior to the autumn break, and could possibly be grazed two times before being taken through as a silage, hay or grain option. “I will be looking at sowing one early and one in June as a comparison.” Last year, the paddock was sprayed with RoundUp in May, then ripped up, before it was sprayed with 2 litres per hectare of Treflan and sown in early June. A planting rate of 52 kilograms per hectare and DAP was applied at 75 kilograms per hectare. The crop was rolled the next day and Boxer Gold at 2.5 litres per hectare was used for grass control. Mr Kemp said rainfall in June and July kept the paddock quite wet in very cold conditions. Five weeks after sowing, the crop was 40cm in height and was treated with 40 kilograms per hectare of urea. It also received an application of supertrace elements and sulphate ammonia in mid-August. Mr Kemp said there was certainly the potential to graze the barley as it provided a bulk of feed through the year. He said once it got away it outgrew the ryegrass and wild oats in the paddock and produced a large amount of bulk. By September the crop was 1.2 metres in height and exhibited good standability. “It stood up really well compared to other barleys in the district,” Mr Kemp said. “The barley shows huge promise as I would estimate the dry matter at between 10 and 12 tonnes per hectare.” Mr Kemp said. He said the Moby forage barley would make an ideal hay option with its good standability and quality. “The stems looked so succulent and fresh when squashed between fingers. The heads had an average of five nodes which were also soft compared to oats.” He said the stems were not much thicker than a pencil and also compared favourably to oaten crops. “The oats in this district were like bamboo,” he said.
Ross Kemp of Riverton, South Australia

Matt Gledhill - Moby Forage Barley
A crop of Moby barley was grazed six times and then cut for silage on the property managed by Matt Gledhill at Undera in northern Victoria. Mr Gledhill sowed the Moby barley into an 8 hectare paddock in the first week of March and was impressed with the early vigour of the crop. “It jumped out of the ground and we were able to get the first grazing when it was about a foot high,” he said. The area was grazed by a mob of 30 cows and calves with an electric wire used to move the cattle across the paddock. It took about four days for the cattle to graze the paddock before it was spelled to regrow for the next grazing. “They strip grazed it very intensively and brought it back to nothing,” Mr Gledhill said. “It was there to be flogged.” After the initial grazing the cattle were re-introduced to the paddock at least once every month at a time when the crop was approximately knee-high. “It just kept coming back,” Mr Gledhill said. After six good grazings the paddock was locked up and then harvested as round bale silage in October. A yield of approximately 15 bales per hectare at sowing was achieved. Mr Gledhill said he was amazed at the feed from the paddock over the six month period. Moby barley was sown at a rate of 85 kilograms per hectare into six inch row spacings. It received an application of DAP at 100 kilograms per hectare. The paddock had contained pasture previously and was worked up prior to the Moby barley being sown dry. It received an initial irrigation after planting to germinate the seed and then one subsequent watering prior to the first grazing. Good seasonal conditions through the year meant there was no need for any further irrigations and the barley responded well to the in-crop rainfall and available moisture. Separate applications of urea at a rate of 100 kilograms per hectare, were placed on the crop after the first grazing and at the second-last grazing.
Matt Gledhill, Undera VIC

Trent Adams - Moby Forage Barley
A crop of Moby forage barley produced excellent lamb weight gains on the Chatsworth House property at Chatsworth, in the Western Districts of Victoria. Trent Adams, of Chatsworth House, said they traditionally grew a lot of oats on the property and were looking for a complimentary option to break up the cropping rotation. He said he put in a 25 hectare paddock of Moby barley in mid-May to see how it would perform as an alternative to oats. The crop was sown at 70 kilograms per hectare and received 100 kilograms per hectare of Megaeasy fertiliser when planted on May 14. Approximately 1000 lambs were introduced to the paddock in early July and grazed the 25 hectare area for the next two and a half weeks. The lambs were weaned onto the paddock at ages seven to eight weeks and were sold aged 12 to 14 weeks. “At that time the lambs seemed to hit their peak and put a lot of weight on,” Mr Adams said. They achieved an average carcass weight between 22 and 23 kilograms each. On average each lamb achieved a weight gain of 3.5 to 4 kilograms per week or between 500 and 580 grams per day. Mr Adams said the growth of the Moby barley was very good and they were able to graze it when the crop was just six to eight weeks old. He said the Moby was between shin and knee height and then grazed down to just above ankle height. Outback oats has been the major forage cereal grown on the property in recent seasons and has performed particularly well. Moby barley and Tuckerbox triticale were introduced this season to fill a feed gap in the middle of winter.
Trent Adams

Phil Ronalds - Outback Forage Oats
Outback Forage oats has proved an excellent clean-up crop and a feed source through the winter for beef farmer Phil Ronalds. Mr Ronalds said it was the first time he had used oats for that purpose and was very pleased with the result. “You can’t get grass to grow like oats through the winter,” he said. “It gives you a crop you can fatten bullocks off.” Mr Ronalds said it exhibited extremely vigorous growth and was able to be grazed just six weeks after planting. “The leaves on the oats were 25mm wide,” he said. “It was just unbelievable. If you want tucker during the middle of winter it’s just fantastic. I couldn’t be happier with the Outbacks.
Phil Ronalds, Jindivick, Victoria

Dean Mitchell - Outback Forage Oats
Outback Forage oats proved a good option in the dry 2008 season. Mr Mitchell said he needed some forage options to fill a couple of holes in his feed program so planted one paddock of Outback forage oats . Mr Mitchell said the paddock averaged 9.6 tonnes per hectare. There was very little rain received through the growing season and the oats did particularly well under the conditions.. Forage oat varieties, such as Outback, have been bred with wider leaves and delayed heading, so stock can graze through the winter period and then the paddock could be locked up for silage or hay production.
Dean Mitchell, Lockington, Victoria

Ron Hann- Outback Forage Oats
Mr Hann planted Outback forage oats, it was pre-watered and then was able to be grazed three times over the winter period with agistment dairy cows and some beef cattle. Mr Hann then locked the area up for silage and produced a mountain of forage from the crop. The Outback oats yielded just below 44 rolls of silage per hectare with each roll estimated at 650 kilograms in weight. “There were massive windrows. The bales were basically sitting on top of each other.” After the silage was taken from the area the oats produced a further three grazings into the late spring and summer period. “It is tough stuff,” Mr Hann said. “It only received one water.”
Ron Hann, Lockington, Victoria

Trent Adams - Outback Forage Oats
Outback Oats ideal for early grazing at Chatswood House. Trent Adams, of the Chatswood House property at Chatswood in the Western Districts of Victoria, had excellent success with Outback oats. Outback forage oats planted straight and also with a range of pasture species provided an excellent early winter option for Trent Adams, on the Chatswood House property at Chatswood in the Western Districts of Victoria. Mr Adams said they planted the Outback forage oats to approximately 200 hectares at the end of April with 45 hectares as a straight crop and the remaining area into lucerne and other pastures. He said the oats provided good feed in the six to eight weeks after planting with the 45 hectare paddock of straight oats grazed three times during the season. The paddock was sown at a rate of 60 kilograms per hectare and provided feed for 350 ewes and their lambs during the season. It was also locked up after the third grazing and carried through for a grain crop. The excellent growth meant silage and hay were also options late in the season. Mr Adams said once the sheep had lambed down they went straight onto the paddock for a two week period before being rotated to another Outback oats-based area. “We tried to keep their diet the same,” he said. The Outback oats-based diet proved an excellent option with many of the lambs weighing between 21 and 22 kilograms within 12 weeks. “By 14 weeks we had 80 percent of the lambs sold,” Mr Adams said. An excellent lambing rate of 120 percent took advantage of the good forage available during the season. The lambing program was intense with three distinct intervals between March and August, with the Outback oats forming the basis of the diet. As well as the straight oat paddock the property also contained Outback oats that were planted in a blend with a range of species including tonic plantain, lucerne, arrowleaf clover and ryegrass. A reduced planting rate of 50 kilograms per hectare for the Outback oats was used within the various blends. Mr Adams said the oats was an excellent option to use within the pasture mix because of its early growth and the way the sheep adapted to the feed. He said the sheep grazed the oats evenly and allowed the other pasture species to get their roots established. “By the time the oats were finished we were left with the new pastures,” he said. The permanent pastures will provide valuable feed during the autumn and winter through 2010 and beyond.
Trent Adams, of the Chatswood House property at Chatswood in the Western Districts of Victoria

Jordan Zerk - Outback Forage Oats
Outback oats proved a great success on the property of Jordan Zerk at Lyndoch in the Barossa Valley of South Australia this season. Mr Zerk sowed 25 acres of Outback oats back in early May which produced four good grazings throughout the season. Sixty breeders and calves grazed the Outback oats from August and again every three weeks for the remainder of the season. The area of Outback oats were planted side-by-side with a crop of Winteroo and Mr Zerk said there was quite a difference between the two varieties. “The Outbacks had a lot bigger leaf and it took a long time for the heads to come out,” he said. “The cows actually pushed through an electric fence from the Winteroos to get to the Outback oats.” Outback oats are delayed heading so were able to provide more feed over longer under the good seasonal conditions of the year. Mr Zerk said while the other oat variety finished relatively early in the spring the Outbacks remained green and even took advantage of rainfall in November to produce even more feed. After four grazing the Outback oats came back again and were more than 30cm in height going into the hotter months. The crop was sown at a rate of 50 kilograms per hectare with some DAP for nutrition. It also received a boost with a dose of ProGibb after the second grazing which assisted the crop development. “The Outbacks came up really thick and just wouldn’t stop growing,” Mr Zerk said. He said success of the crop started with good preparation with the soil
worked to get rid of the weeds.
Jordan Zerk, Lyndock, Barossa Valley SA

Wayne Cunningham- Outback Forage Oats
A late planted crop of Outback oats provided three grazings and a cut of silage on the dairy of Wayne Cunningham of Swan Reach, in the east Gippsland region of Victoria. Mr Cunningham, who milks around 150 cows at the organic dairy, trialled the oats in a 4 acre paddock to see how they would perform on the property. He said there was some initial rain in February but nothing of substance until June, so the oats were planted at a rate of 60 kilogram per hectare later in the month. “Ideally I would have planted it in February but the season was a bit spasmodic so I was a bit nervous. When the oats were eventually put in they established well in some very cool conditions and produced the first grazing early in the spring. Mr Cunningham said approximately 100 cows were allowed to strip graze the paddock and moved over the area in three to four days. The paddock was then locked up and responded quickly before being grazed a further two times over the spring. Cows were introduced after calving with the final area of Outback oats being grazed by 130 cows late in the season. The oats were allowed to reach a height of approximately one foot before being grazed to produce a product of good quality. A total mixed ration system is operated on the dairy with grazing and silage options from a range of different crop types. Mr Cunningham said the oat paddock will be direct-drilled with sorghum for feed into summer. He said the silage from the oats would be utilised in the winter time by the dry cows and heifers. The success of the Outback oats this season has meant it will be utilised more in the coming years as a grazing and silage option. It can be planted from February through until June and provide valuable supplementary feed in conjunction with the total mixed ration on the farm.
Wayne Cunningham, Swan Reach VIC

Craig and Teresa Hanrahan - Outback Forage Oats
A forage wheat option performed particularly well on the property of Craig and Teresa Hanrahan at Hillside in the East Gippsland region of Victoria. Mr Hanrahan said he planted Wrangler wheat last season in preference to a ryegrass option because it could be sown earlier in the season. The six hectares of wheat was in early April in a strip under a centre pivot which had been pre-irrigated. Seasonal conditions were dry early and the crop received two further waterings at the start of the growing period. Mr Hanrahan said they grazed the area three to four times through the season and then locked it up in early August for silage. A mob of 80 to 100 dry dairy cows fed off the area for a week at a time and provided valuable feed through the winter months. When the Wrangler wheat was ensiled at the end of October it produced 186 (4 foot x six foot) round bales at an average of 31 bales per hectare. “The contractor was amazed at what came off it,” Mr Hanrahan said. It was the first time forage wheat had been grown on the property and had been chosen after speaking to people and reading about the product. “It looked as though I could get more grazings and a good cut of silage and have the option of planting it earlier in April.” Triticale has been planted on the property in the past although has normally been sown later in May so has not provided the same yields. Mr Hanrahan said it was a perfect year for silage with the crop receiving 100mm of rain just after being locked up. “It really took off and there were some very big heads on it.” The crop was originally sown at a rate of 90 kilograms per hectare into seven inch row spacings. After an early soil test it was top-dressed with urea, potash and trace elements. The cows were placed into the whole strip at grazing and allowed to eat the forage wheat down before being moved to another paddock. “I was that amazed at the amount of feed we had,” Mr Hanrahan said. “It came up really well.” He said Wrangler wheat looked like a good option because it could be planted earlier in the season than other options such as ryegrass. “It will cope with a hot day early where ryegrass can suffer a bit,” he said. After the initial dry spell the seasonal conditions were very favourable and certainly assisted in helping produce the excellent result from the Wrangler wheat. Mr Hanrahan said he thought the Wrangler wheat would also make a good dryland option in the future.
Craig and Teresa Hanrahan, East Gippsland VIC

Wesley White - Wrangler Forage Wheat
A new forage wheat variety produced excellent grazing and an opportunity for hay on the property of Wesley White, at Bingara, in northern New South Wales. Mr White said it was the first time he had planted the Wrangler forage wheat variety and it performed well in comparison to
other types he had grown. “It outgrew them early and was very quick to come back after grazing,” he said. Forage wheat is planted on the
property each season as a companion to forage oats. Mr White said the two types worked well in conjunction with each other and would generally make the most of whatever conditions the season presented. The Wrangler wheat was put in after good rainfall in February but
received very little help until June. “We had good moisture to sow then it struggled with very little rainfall but it seemed to hang on well,” Mr White said. After the rain in June, the pasture responded well and a 60 hectare patch was grazed by 300 steers for ten days at the end of July. The paddock regrew quickly when the cattle were removed and provided another week of good grazing later in the season. Mr White said the growth of the Wrangler wheat matched the oats and produced a good broad leaf for the cattle to eat. “The advantage over oats is that it is a bit longer (in maturity) and we can get a bit more season from it.” He said the wheat could also handle a bit more water if the season went well. The Wrangler wheat was planted at a reduced rate of 28 kilograms per hectare to accommodate undersown lucerne which went in
at 7 kilograms per hectare. Grazing throughout the year was conducted with the establishing lucerne in mind and the Wrangler paddocks were also locked up during spring for different options.
Wesley White, Bingara NSW