HAYMAKING is in full swing across SA, but growers are facing a ‘mixed bag’ of yields.
In the Mid North, some oaten hay crops may yield as little as 2 tonnes a hectare and have become livestock feed, but there is plenty of bulk in paddocks in the South East.
The area of export hay contracted in 2017 is well down, with processors still handling carryover stocks from 2016.
Balco significantly reduced its contracted area after a fire at its Bowmans plant in late January.
Despite this, demand for new-season hay has been limited.
Australian Fodder Industry Association executive officer John McKew says southern Australia will produce “more than enough” hay, despite yields being down.
He says production areas have been highly variable.
“It is still a very strong production year in the SE of SA and into western Vic, and south-west Gippsland (Vic) are having a pretty good year, but further east (in Gippsland) it is very dry and the season is going to be very truncated,” he said.
“The Bega area (of NSW) is quite dreadful. It is the start of spring but it looks like it could be mid-January.
“We will not see the level of production as last year, which is not such a bad thing with the quality up.”
Mr McKew said there was a “hiatus” of buying activity in the market.
“Some hay has been moving into the very dry-affected areas for a number of weeks and while it is not raining, they will need to feed their stock,” he said.
According to AFIA, cereal hay prices in the SE are $90 a tonne to $140/t and similar in the central region of SA, while lucerne hay is steady at $250-$300/t across the state, but little is being traded.
“Prices are lower than a lot of growers would like to see, but there is an expectation the price for new-season hay will increase, so we may see two different price points and we should see demand improve the longer it stays dry,” he said.
In the Mid North, Kerin Landmark Rural agronomist Steve Richmond, Jamestown, says many of his clients, who use export hay in their rotation for ryegrass control, are facing significantly lower yields.
“We are seeing some instances of hay under contract which has been pulled because there is not the density to cut it with the lack of rain and heavy frost during the season,” he said.
“We are seeing processors say they don’t want it and the sheep being put in. You can also see the crops imploding by the day with the flagleaf browning and rolling up.”
Landmark Riverton agronomist Andrew Parkinson estimates the area’s cereal hay yields will be down 1-2t/ha, but says they are much better off than other areas.
“We had a slow start to the season with sowing in mid to late May and then a dry June, but have had just enough rain at the right time to get us through,” he said.
“There is a reduction with the lack of moisture, but it is not massive with reports still from 5t/ha up to 10t/ha.”
The quality has also been very good with hay clients achieving the top three grades.
“There are not many that are too worried about lower yields,” Mr Parkinson said.
“They would rather have better quality with less bulk, than yields without the quality.”
Jolpac Rural Supplies director Jamie Weatherald, Bordertown, says SE growers are enjoying an exceptional season, but they are being selective with which paddocks are being cut.
“There is still a lot of hay lying about and the markets seem to have dried up with farmers struggling to find a market even for this year’s hay," he said.
“Volume-wise, last year was the biggest I have ever seen.”
Mr Weatherald says lucerne and good clover-based paddocks are being cut, but anything with too much grass or struggling to make quality is being left on the ground.
“If you cut it down and bale it, you want to use it, he said.
Callington farmer Mark Jaensch finished his 2017 haymaking this week with pleasing yields.
His hay crops consist mostly of oats, with some barley and vetch.
He keeps the barley and vetch for sheep feed, and sells the oaten hay, mostly to Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula residents who run horses.
"The oaten hay averaged 8.8t/ha, and the barley and vetch 4.5t/ha, which is fairly similar yields to other years,” he said.
Mr Jaensch was surprised by how good his crops looked, given he has had only half of the 500-millimetre rainfall that fell last season.
"Luckily most of the rain came in late winter, so that's helped get the crops through," he said.
