Product Used: Moby Forage Barley
Moby forage barley showed potential in its first planting on the property of Doug French, at Carrick, south-west of Launceston, in Tasmania. French said they put the barley in the same paddock as a Quamby oats crop and the difference in growth was quite amazing. “The neighbours were asking what it was,” he said. “There was more bulk of feed there than the oats. The cattle also preferred the barley.” The difference between the two types was visually very stark, with the Moby barley quite a lot taller and bulkier in the side-by-side comparison.
Moby was used to fatten cattle and the excellent growth of the variety meant more animals would have been needed to properly control the forage. “We had a fair bit of grazing but I think I would graze it a bit harder earlier,” Mr French said. He said Moby looked to have a lot of potential for the area and would benefit from being crashed grazed early in the season by stock to make the most from it. “I was quite impressed by it.” Moby can be sown quite early in the season and Mr French said a sowing in March could provide a range of options through the season.
He said that would allow it to be grazed early and then locked up for a hay or silage harvest in the spring time. If weather conditions are favourable after the forage cut, Moby would continue to grow and provide additional green pick for stock in the lead-up to summer.
Doug French, of Carrick, Tasmania, in Moby barley which produced a bulk of feed for grazing.
