Product Used: Q75 Lucerne Winter Active
Q75 lucerne is being utilised to produce high quality hay and grazing through winter on the property of Ryan Jeffree, at Wagga Wagga, in southern New South Wales.
Mr Jeffree has two 30 hectare irrigation pivots which were sown down to Q75 lucerne in April of 2013 and is predominantly being used to produce high quality hay.
He said they harvest small square and round bale hay from the areas across the summer and sell it to local customers as well as produce stores as far afield as Sydney.
“To supply produce stores is impressive as far as the hay goes,” he said. “It is very leafy and is holding up well.”
Q75 is normally cut every 28 to 32 days and will have its final hay harvest in late March or, if weather conditions are favourable, in early April.
Mr Jeffree said after the hay harvest they would normally give the lucerne a spell for an eight week period to allow it to regenerate and then shut down.
The winter activity of Q75 does allow some growth in the cooler months and that is taken advantage of with mobs of ewes or lambs allowed to graze the area from June onwards.
“We like to steadily graze it,” Mr Jeffree said. “I don’t like to knock it around too much.”
The stock take to the lucerne well and also have cereal hay available in the paddocks to supplement their diets.
A grazing option at that time of year was very favourable and provided a good lead in to the winter weed herbicide program which occurred just prior to spring.
The herbicide is applied in August and the stock reintroduced to the paddock to clean it up after the withholding period has passed.
Hay cuts will depend on the conditions during the year and the grazing opportunities and will vary from September through to November.
Mr Jeffree said they had three excellent seasons of growth from the Q75 areas and expected them to persist for some time.
“This is its third season and it hasn’t dropped off at all. It looks the same as that first year.”
He said Q75 held on particularly well when the weather was a bit unsettled and they had to wait a few days to cut for hay.
“We keep the water up to it and it hangs in really well.”
Photo
Ryan Jeffree, of Wagga Wagga, NSW, uses Q75 lucerne for high quality hay across summer and as a grazing option in the winter.
