Grazing Crops – My Experience

Scott Welke - Welke FarmingCascades

Welke Farming – Enterprise Overview 12,500 ha - Coomalbidgup to Cascades Cropping 9,000 ha, Pasture 3,500 ha Annual Rainfall 500mm (Coomalbidgup) to

350mm (Cascades) 8,500 Ewes (5,500 Merino, 3,000 Crossbred –

White Suffolk) Improved pastures – Perennials 500ha

(Rhodes Grass with serradella base (Cadiz and Santorini)

Program to introduce 200ha of Santorini per year on the sandplain soils

Why I started Grazing Crops Before 2010 – Opportunistic grazing of poor barley

crops

2010 – Not enough serradella seed to sow planned area of old sub-clover stands

To overcome weed problems associated with those stands, why not crop these areas and graze to achieve weed control and provide needed sheep feed

“More crop area – same sheep No’s”

What I did in 2010 Sourced Wylah grazing wheat Sowed 2 paddocks 8th April following 20mm of

rain 100kg/ha seeding rate into canola stubble

(paddocks continuously cropped for 7 years – grass weeds should have been under control!)

Sown with 90kg/ha MAPSCZ / Urea Blend Trifluralin applied pre-sowing - 1.6L/ha 2 summer weed control applications for

fleabane, melons and flatweed

Paddock 1 – Cascades -1st Grazing After sowing – NO RAIN Crops emerged and grew OK but then ran into

moisture stress at 3-4 leaf (When grazing would normally be considered)

Deferred grazing as concerned about excessive crop damage

THEN – 100mm of rain in mid May Grain & Graze trial paddock - Sheep introduced

a week later - 750 ewes plus 850 lambs on 90 Ha

23 effective grazing days 50L UAN applied 3 days after grazing finished

2nd Grazing 6th July ( 3 weeks after 1st grazing finished)

introduced 1500 ewes plus 1350 lambs (82ha – 8 ha fenced off for Grain & Graze trial)

Initial moisture stress before 1st grazing meant rapid regrowth and accelerated change from vegetative to reproductive – early head development evident in some plants

Held grazing period to 6 days only – concerned for crop yield

50L/ha UAN applied immediately

Post Grazing More rain – another 100mm in June / July

Therefore water-logging became an issue and ryegrass went ballistic – no option to control

Nitrogen losses from leaching / water logging

Let crop run until harvest

Post Grazing Crop showing yellowing from water logging

Poor Ryegrass control in Wylah Wheat

Grazed Ungrazed

Paddock 2 - Coomalbidgup Grazed similar to Cascades

2nd grazing – not enough sheep to crash graze it fast enough

Moved and extra 800 hoggets onto paddock to try to get on top of it

Crop was too advanced – in head in JULY!

Plan B – Graze more cropping paddocks Sheep removed from Paddock 1 (after Grazing

crops field day) – moved onto 270 ha of barley / wheat

Mob stayed on this paddock for 3 weeks - removed in early August

On 2 other farms, similar size mobs moved onto 200ha baudin barley paddocks – June sown

Ryegrass control better – a proper herbicide regime worked

Yield penalty minimal

BEETLES 2010 Grazed Crops

INSERT YIELD MAP - FIELDS

What I learnt – plans for 2011 Any crop can be grazed – doesn’t need to be

termed a “Grazing cereal” Monitoring growth stage essential for

negligible effect on crop yield Spread out sowing dates for planned grazing

crop paddocks 800ha of cereals planned for grazing this year Sheep scour – mineral licks and roughage will

be trialed this year Pea area becoming vetch area – will be grazed