Product Used: Moby Forage Barley
A crop of Moby forage barley has filled the early winter feed gap for Graeme Marsh from Colinta Holdings at Singleton in the lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales. Moby barley established rapidly after being planted in early April and allowed Mr March to have feed very early in the season. The forage barley was ready for grazing much earlier than oats and ryegrass which were planted at a similar time on the property. Weaner steers took to the Moby barley well and intensively grazed the area. Palatability was very good with the stock leaving very little feed behind. After grazing the paddock was spelled and during this time grew rapidly to provide further feed opportunities within five weeks. All-up the paddock was grazed three times before being locked up and producing multiple silage cuts through the spring time. Moby had been planted at 100 kilograms per hectare with an application 125 kilograms per hectare of DAP.
The paddock was also top-dressed 200 kilograms per hectare after the second grazing. Corn had been previously planted to a section, with the area worked prior to sowing and the Moby barley planted at 5 inch row intervals. The barley proved a good partner with oats and ryegrass because it was ready to feed earlier but also finished earlier in the season when there was still good feed available from the other crops. By maturing earlier the Moby barley was able to be readied for corn which was a better option than in a ryegrass paddock. In previous years the paddock would have been ploughed through actively growing ryegrass so the Moby worked well as a management strategy.
Graeme Marsh, Singleton, Hunter Valley, NSW
