SOUTH East farmers Cameron and Kylie Grundy never intended to grow hay on their property 25 kilometres north of Naracoorte, but the crop shift has since turned them into award winners.
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“Initially we first put our pivots in for white clover seed production, not for hay,” Mr Grundy said.
“But then I was approached by a prominent SA horse stud to supply them with hay and I suppose that was the catalyst.
“Since then we’ve gone on to supply other outlets.”
Mr Grundy was one of three South Australians to win a national award in the 2015 Feed Central National Hay Quality competition, along with state prizes.
He won state and national titles for the best lucerne hay visual appearance and the state title for the best lucerne feed analysis.
“Essentially when we submit hay to Feed Central they test the sample and see how it’s being stored and they prioritise it and give it a score,” he said.
The score takes into consideration test results as well as visual aspects.
“Last year there were about 1000 samples of lucerne hay submitted and we were fortunate enough to collect a couple of the awards,” Mr Grundy said.
“It turns out that the water here, along with the soil and our outfit is quite suited to growing this sort of hay.”
Grundy Pastoral Co uses Q31 lucerne from Heritage Seeds.
The hay is baled by neighbouring business Miles Hay Baling, owned by Nick and Fiona Miles.
“My immediate neighbour is Nick Miles – he baled the hay that won the award and he received an award for the baling,” Mr Grundy said.
“He’s a contractor that we rely on and we’re fortunate to have him so close.
“He’s also a lucerne hay producer, as well as other hays, so we tend to work together.”
Mr Grundy retains the majority of the first cut of hay for his own use, and the balance is marketed to high-end users such as studs and chaff mills.
“They tend to like the varieties that we use and the style of hay,” he said.
Mr Grundy expected there to be a lack of supply of protein hay this season, but the demand was not as strong as he had expected.
“This is perhaps due to the fact cereal hay has been of very high quality so generally graziers and dairymen have been able to buy cereal hay cost effectively,” he said.
“I think there will be more demand for protein hay as autumn sets in, particularly when dairymen set their cows up for lactation.”
Mr Grundy enjoys being a producer in the South East, reporting between 550 millimetres and 600mm of annual rainfall in an average season. On-farm irrigation is made possible by the secure underground water aquifer.
“Naracoorte is a good area, it’s well-serviced with the likes of retailers and service industries out of Naracoorte such as the saleyards,” he said.
“We’re centrally located in the SE, which is helpful.
“Sometimes we find spring lacking, but in general we always have a pretty good season.”
- Details: www.feedcentral.com.au
