Product Used: Outback Forage Oats, Moby Forage Barley
Outback forage oats and Moby forage barley are producing good yields of quality hay on the property of Greg Geysing, at Byee, in the Burnett region of Queensland. Mr Geysing, who also runs Doublebar Limousins, produces hay for internal use and sells it as small square bales to horse and cattle producers. He said Outback oats has been grown for the past two seasons and produced an average of 120 bales per acre under the favourable conditions of 2012. 2013 was marred by flooding early and so the oats were planted in the aftermath and produced yields of around 80 bales per hectare.
The oats are generally harvested when the crop is fully in head and produce bales that are popular with a range of customers. Mr Geysing said some of the bales were also sold to a chaff producer. Last year the forage cereals were planted in May and harvested for hay in October, with the dry conditions of the year and high quality of the forage ensuring that almost all was sold by the end of November. Moby barley was also grown on the property and impressed with the hay quality it produced.
“Moby makes lovely hay,” Mr Geysing said. “It is miles in front of Dictator. People have commented how nice the Moby hay is. It stays nice and soft.” Dictator was the forage barley that had been grown on the property and has now been replaced because of Moby’s excellent hay quality and white seed. The white seed is important if seasonal conditions mean the hay cannot be harvested until later on. “If you can’t get at it early it doesn’t have those black specs in it,” Mr Geysing said. The forage cereal option has proved a good one because it fills a gap through the year.
Other hay options, such as lucerne, don’t start growing until September and so the excellent quantity of forage available from Moby and Outback is a good option. “One big cut tidies the paddock and you get to start again.” The forage cereal paddocks from last year were rotated into soybean for hay.
Greg Geysing, of Byee, QLD has had excellent results with Outback oats and Moby barley for hay.
