THE MUCH talked about kittyhjawk grazing wheat will be tested for the first time by the Graham family at “Wandella”, north of Cowra.
Ross Graham said he sowed 15 hectares as a seed crop on March 15 but would put his first cross ewes with Poll Dorset lambs to graze it in seven to eight weeks time until July after finishing his lambs as suckers, then lock up the paddock for harvesting the seed.
The kittyhawke was sown at 60 kilograms per ha of seed with 90kg/ha of MAP in 22.5 centimetre rows with a K-Line CropCommander.
Mr Graham operates the property with his wife Rebecca, and his parents Lex and Lee, and this season will sow dual-purpose canola and oats, then later in April main spring canola and naparoo wheat.
“The benefit of grazing crops gives my pastures a bit of an opportunity to bulk up before we get into late winter and early spring,” Mr Graham said.
“It’s easy to base my lamb growth margins on DSE per hectare grazing.”
Optimising crops with stock
PRIMARY producers in the South-West Slopes country “really have their cake and eat it too”, according to Cowra agronomist, Peter Watt, as the winter cropping season begins after ideal autumn precipitation.
The well-versed (agronomically) Elders’ senior agronomist reckons the mixed cropping and livestock farmers can get “two bites” out of their paddocks.
“The absolute focus now is to get fodder crops – dual purpose crops, in the ground,” he said.
“The big story is getting grazing canola planted, plus the dual-purpose wheats and barleys and of course, oats and even forage brassicas.
“All that sort of gear that will grow meat.”
Mr Watt said a significant component of all cropping rotations in his agronomy region is dedicated forage crops or dual purpose crops in the “overall scheme of things”.
For him, the southwest slopes country takes in from Cudal to Young, west of Grenfell and the ranges from Carcoar to Boroowa.
“It’s a similar story these days right down the Olympic Way to Wagga Wagga,” he said.
“You now find this change in diversification just to feed this rampaging lamb and cattle enterprise.
“If people have stocked up, they need to feed them – it’s all about flexible farming and cropping systems now.”
This integrated livestock and cropping system is very much what we do here now, he said.
“People make a lot more income out of grazing days per hectare.
“They can make extra money in grazing benefit out of early sown crops that produce enough biomass that they can sacrifice it through a meat animal and still recover very acceptable grain yields, if not equivalent to grain only crops.”
Mr Watt said growers should also not forget chickpeas.
“I’m a bit of an advocate for chickpeas – it’s about putting money into your rotations.
“We can grow these crops south of Dubbo.”
He said canola was “very much on the lips of everyone” due to being a higher anticipated commodity.
“And there is still good money in wheat.
“Sow early, graze the pickhandles out of it then wrap string around it at the other end to gain a triple end.”
“You have to be set up for it and it’s a costly exercise to maintain, but returns for well made beardless wheaten hay will be $200/ha,” he said.
“You can produce eight to 10 tonnes per ha, a good bottom line and growers can do it on the back of grazing.”
Mr Watt said grazing and hay recovery was “probably” one of the strongest gross margins.
Deep soil moisture would be linking to that of recent rain and make for a tremendous start to winter cropping.