Innovative practices in oat hay agronomy

Summary

Profitable returns to farmers are a fundamental goal of the export hay industry. Margins for growing export oats hay have declined and profitability per se has been maintained by increasing price. However, price has stabilised linked with the positioning of oats hay in the diet, principally of dairy cows, the relative price of competing sources, the drive for least cost rations and the role of oats hay in methane outputs. In addition, input costs have increased markedly to produce hay in Australia.

It is apparent that hay yield is being left on the table because of fear of quality decline impacting price. Oat hay yield has not increased for at least 30 years and there appears little genetic gain to change this in the foreseeable future. Management and environmental response are key to higher yields.

There are two distinct market-based opportunities to increase Australian export hay profitability. The first is to increase hay yield destined for traditional markets and the second is to capture new markets based on producing specific quality that is understood and sought after by end users. This second market requires detailed understanding of quality parameters of oats hay and how it can be included in rations to increase animal performance outcomes.
This project will investigate increasing hay yield by innovative practices and determine the impact of current and research practices on oat hay quality. A key part of the project is to increase the understanding of oat hay physiology provide structure and direction for future research.

Program

Export Fodder

Research Organisation

Agrilink Agricultural Consultants (Australia) Pty Ltd

Objective Summary

The project objectives are:

To investigate the change in yield and quality over time for 4 oat cultivars and compare them with other cereals
To investigate practices to increase yield and provide modifying interventions to reduce the risk of lodging and quality decline
To determine the influence of crop management strategies on structural and non structural carbohydrates
To manipulate structural fibre carbohydrates
To determine responses of 4 oat cultivars to treatments to enhance emergence of the panicle from the boot and to determine if there is any impact on yield and quality