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

Craig Steers - Zulu 2 Forage Sorghum
Zulu 2 forage sorghum proved an excellent option for grazing and hay on the property of Craig Steers at Invergordon, in the Goulburn Valley of Victoria last season. Mr Steers said he planted a 2 hectare trial plot of Zulu 2 in November and was very impressed with the results.“We sowed it dry and had a heap of rain on it,” he said. The Zulu 2 was grown alongside some other grazing options and impressed with its quick early growth and palatability. “I thought it was quite good,” Mr Steers said. “It was growing as quick as the BMRs.” “It didn’t have the real thick stalks. The cows chewed it right down.” Mr Steers said the two hectare paddock would generally provide about six days worth of good grazing. The paddock was divided with an electric fence and the herd of 200 dairy cows grazed the Zulu 2 for half a day before being provided silage in an adjacent paddock. If the cows had not completely grazed the area Mr Steers said he would put young stock in the area overnight to finish the job. After six days of feed, the paddock received an application of 50 kilograms per hectare of urea and irrigation if there was no rainfall. The paddock did go six weeks without watering at one stage and showed excellent stress tolerance under the summer conditions. Mr Steers said it responded very well after grazing and they were able to graze the paddock three times over the season. “Towards the end it got away from us and I ended up cutting it for hay,” he said. “It really surprised me. I will certainly be growing that again.” The hay at the end of the season provided an opportunity to clean up the paddock, which was then rotated through into lucerne. Mr Steers said Zulu 2 provided a lot of bulk with the milkers doing particularly well on the forage. It also provided a range of options with the feed used for both grazing and hay production last season. Zulu 2 could also be used for silage production later in the season.
Craig Steers, Invergordon, Goulburn Valley, Victoria

Matt Napolitano - Zulu 2 Forage Sorghum
A crop of forage sorghum provided an excellent feed option for Tatura dairy farmer, Matt Napolitano, last season. Mr Napolitano was looking for an alternative to buying hay over the summer and planted the Seed Distributors Zulu 2 forage sorghum in November. It was the first time we had put Zulu 2 in and it came up so quickly. The crop received one watering and some follow-up rain before being ensiled in mid-January. It grew to about five to six feet in height and we took 65 dry tonnes off the 27 acres (11 hectares). The crop was cut with the mower conditioner and left for two to three days before being ensiled in a pit. This variety was exceptional. The sorghum got up and choked everything else out. The crop continued to be grazed with the paddock separated with an electric fence and the cows were allowed to strip graze it well into autumn. It’s what saved our herd size. Last year we relied on buying feed in. This year we managed to get them some green feed. With the price of hay, it was a lifesaver as far as saving costs. During the previous season we bought in a lot of hay to feed the cattle but did not have to rely on this more costly option with the addition of forage sorghum to the program. Good summer conditions, with some occasional rainfall events, also meant the crop could be grown with a minimal of water. A 20 acre (8 hectare) paddock needed just 5 megalitres of water over the growing season and still provided good tonnages of silage and grazing. I would highly recommend forage sorghum to farmers who haven’t got a lot of water to spare. It was an ideal option during the drought conditions when the cost of buying in forage became very expensive. The forage sorghum also contributed to good protein (3.3 to 3.4%) and butter fat (4.3%) scores from the milk produced. During the autumn some paddocks on the farm were planted to a rye and shaftel mix with the forage sorghum used as the feed option through until the pasture mix was ready to be grazed. We would steer away from perennial pasture options in favour of using high yielding annuals and coming back into sorghum.
Matt Napolitano, Tatura

Nigel and Daniel Greenaway - Zulu 2 Forage Sorghum
Opportunity rainfall led to the planting of 160 hectares of Zulu 2 forage sorghum on the property of Nigel and Daniel Greenaway, of “Bernarro”, at St Arnaud, in central Victoria last season. Nigel Greenaway said they normally relied on crop stubble, lucerne and grain to feed the sheep over the summer months, but put in the Zulu 2 forage sorghum after four inches of rain. The Zulu 2 forage sorghum was planted in late November and produced an abundance of feed throughout the summer.“We didn’t have enough sheep to graze it.” Mr Greenaway said. “It got away from us. We left the sheep in here and lambed down the ewes on it. Normally we would run out of feed in February but we were able to feed them right through.”
Nigel and Daniel Greenaway, St Arnaud, Vic

Tim Barry - Subzero Forage Brassica
Subzero was an ideal summer feed option on the property of Tim Barry, at Clunes, in central Victoria. Mr Barry planted 32 hectares of Subzero hybrid forage brassica in October last year in an area that had contained pasture. He put 800 lambs on the feed in January and the number was increased to 1200 when it was clear the initial numbers weren’t keeping up with the feed. “Slowly they got on top of it,” Mr Barry said. Merino and cross-bred lambs were born in the spring time and were weaned onto the Subzero forage brassica. They performed well through summer and early autumn. The mob continually grazed the area until there wasn’t anything left in May, at which time the paddock was sprayed out and planted down to wheat. Mr Barry said the paddock grew a magnificent stand of wheat, with the Subzero proving to be an ideal rotational option on the property. He said the rotation would involve a summer of Subzero hybrid forage brassica, followed directly by two wheat crops and a forage oat before the paddock is then planted to a perennial pasture.
Tim Barry, Clunes, Vic

Brenton Wood - Subzero Forage Brassica
Subzero forage brassica has proved an excellent grazing option for dairy cows at the Cadell Training Centre, in the Riverland region of South Australia. The training centre is a low security prison facility and has a range of agricultural enterprises including fruit tree orchards and an on-farm dairy. Brenton Wood, from the Cadell Training Centre, said they were milking 58 cows at the moment and had been buying in the majority of feed in recent years due to reduced water allocations. He said this season there was an opportunity to plant a crop and they elected to put Subzero forage brassica into two padocks totaling 3.5 hectares. The Subzero was planted on April 8 at a rate of 6 kilograms per hectare with an application of fertiliser at 120 kilograms per hectare. Mr Wood said the forage took off and they were able to graze from May 31. An electric wire was run from one fence to the other and the cows were allowed to strip graze the first block after milking each morning. A test conducted on the forage helped determine how much could be consumed each day and the wire was adjusted accordingly. Mr Wood said they estimated each cow was consuming between 7 and 9 kilograms of dry matter from the Subzero per day. The stock also had access to oaten and vetch hay after grazing and the diet meant they were milking well. Milk from the dairy is processed and used by other prison facilities around South Australia. Six weeks after the initial grazing of Subzero the cows were still travelling through the first paddock. Mr Wood said the Subzero had provided a huge bulk of feed and would continue to be grazed through the winter and into the spring period. He said the cows took to it readily and would eat the leaf and stem of the plant if left in the area long enough. Irrigation water was applied using overhead sprinklers during the early stages of the crop, although timely rainfall during the winter months meant it wasn’t needed as much over the period. In the last few years the facility has relied on bought in feed for the dairy cows but the introduction of Subzero has led to less forage being purchased. “Overall the picture is looking very good,” Mr Wood said. “I am more than happy with the Subzero.”
Brenton Wood, Cadell SA

Leigh Roberts - Rebound Forage Millet
A Rebound millet summer crop provided back-up silage to traditional pasture on the property of Leigh Roberts, at Binginwarri, in the Gippsland region of Victoria. Mr Roberts said he planted Rebound millet for silage in November when he knew how much forage had been made from annual ryegrasses. By the end of January the dryland crop was waist high, and received good rainfall and continued to grow until it was harvested for silage at the beginning of March. Mr Roberts said he harvested 155 bales of 4.5 by 5 foot silage bales off the area at a rate of more than 27 bales per hectare. He said the crop was excellent with stems that were about the thickness of a pencil and not too stalky. This proved to be a great alternative to letting the paddock lay fallow over the summer. A quality test conducted on the Rebound millet silage also impressed with a protein of 14.9 percent and a metabolisable energy of 9 percent.
Leigh Roberts, Binginwarri, Vic

Ed Calvert - Bouncer Hybrid Forage Brassica
Bouncer hybrid forage brassica was used by Ed Calvert of Lismore in the Western Districts of Victoria as an option into canola stubbles. Mr Calvert said canola stubbles provided little feed value so he looked at an option which would provide some forage. A 50 hectare paddock of canola was harvested in early January and the Bouncer forage brassica direct-drilled into the stubble in March. The previous canola crop had averaged 2 tonnes per hectare and the Bouncer hybrid forage brassica was sown, without fertiliser, at a rate of 1.5 kilograms per hectare. “After sowing we had 30mm of rain and it germinated and grew quickly,” Mr Calvert said. Six weeks later 650 lambs were introduced to the paddock and had trouble keeping up with the feed. Mr Calvert said the lambs had access to the Bouncer hybrid forage brassica and an adjacent grass paddock and did particularly well when they could move between both areas. “You could see them mow into the summer crop,” he said. “They were first cross lambs and put the weight on quickly.” The lambs were then sent off to market and replaced with additional stock at a later date during the winter. Mr Calvert said the Bouncer hybrid forage brassica would be a good option when planted directly after the canola crop had been harvested. He said this would provide a grazing option earlier in the season and could then be sprayed out and replaced with a winter crop. This quick rotation provides a good break crop over the summer period, some valuable feed and a chance to get on top of weed, disease and herbicide issues.
Ed Calvert, Lismore VIC