SA’s haymaking season has begun in earnest, with big tonnages expected, albeit of mixed quality.
Many areas had their wettest September on record, delaying cutting by at least a fortnight. Even getting on paddocks is a challenge for some in the South East.
Australian Fodder Industry Association chief executive officer John McKew says despite the delayed start, there is still a “window of opportunity” for making hay.
“Everything is up to what Mother Nature serves up in the next couple of weeks,” he said.
Mr McKew said there were reports some farmers were taking hay crops through to grain, but there would still be good volumes of hay made in southern Australia this year.
It was too early to predict prices with little traded.
“Our best estimates are prices will be off, with the robust supply and substantial pasture growth, but to what level will depend on the volume and quality,” he said.
“There is not excessive amounts of supply from last year about and if we see hot, dry weather, demand can change very quickly.”
Feed Central managing director Tim Ford said hay quality was “well back” on last year with more tall, bulky crops.
“Our feed lab is seeing 7.5-8.5 megajoules of metabolisable energy per kilogram of dry matter consistently in the past fortnight, down from 9-10mj last year,” he said.
Mr Ford said with weak demand, most hay sellers were doing their sums on storage and cash flow.
“Dairy is still very subdued and there is plenty of feed in the paddocks for livestock, but going forward we know it is extremely unlikely wet conditions will continue forever,” he said.
“Instead of flogging off bales into a soft market, they will progressively market it in autumn and winter.”
Keith contractor Glen Simpson said the moisture in the ground and significant rainfall had made it a challenging hay year, but expected to make his first bales this weekend.
“A few have pushed over to silage to get it off quicker, especially cover crops over seedling lucerne,” he said.
Mr Simpson expects it will be the highest production year in the Upper SE in a few years, with yields up to 12 tonnes a hectare.
“We have been praying for a good spring for the past five years, but now we have got one, it is hard work making hay,” he said.
“People are using squeezers and lifters, which they have not had to do for the past five to 10 years.”
