Product Used: Moby Forage Barley
An innovative mix of Moby barley and Outback oats has produced long-term grazing on the property of Huon & Colleen Smith, who run ‘Boonara Performance Horses’ at Goomeri in the Burnett region of Queensland. Mr Smith said the mix of the two different crops in a 50 / 50 blend had worked well on the property to feed their horses. “They eat the barley and then eat the oats,” he said. Moby barley is very quick out of the ground so provided the first available feed after being sown in the autumn of 2011. The barley provided excellent grazing options at a time when the feed was most needed. Mr Smith said brood mares preferentially grazed the Moby early in the season, but switched to the oats as they matured towards spring. In another paddock Moby was planted as a standalone variety and was initially destined to be cut for round bale silage. Instead it was left and cut for hay and produced forage of good quality which was was taken up well by the horses.
Huon & Colleen Smith, Goomeri QLD
