Irrigation farm can do without hay feeding

Press, 26 September 1980, Page 17

Irrigation farm can do without hay feeding

From studies over three years at Winchmore irrigation research station in Mid-Canterbury it has been concluded that it is not necessary’ to use hay as a winter feed supplement on a well managed irrigation farm. This has been reported by Mr J. M. Hayman, a scientist who is now officer in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture’s research station at Templeton.

It is the outcome of the experience on two allgrass farmlets where Romney ewes run at 20 to the hectare were mated to prime lamb sires and all lambs were sold when prime at 30kg liveweight. The sheep were run under a rotational grazing system all year round on irrigated pastures., Mr Hayman says that on one of the farmlets a bale and a half to two bales of hay were made per ewe in the summer

and fed to the ewes at 0.3 to 0.5 kg of dry matter per-head per day in the winter, whereas on the other farmlet no hay was made or fed.

Weights of ewes were observed at mating and of their lambs at weaning and ewe fleece weights were also taken into account. Over three different seasons Mr Hayman said that statistically there were no differences in the production levels of the ewes and lambs on the two farmlets. However, the tendency was for ewe fleece weight to be slightly higher on the farmlet where hay was being made and fed, whereas lamb weaning weight was higher on the “no hay” farmlet. Ewe liveweights' were satisfactory throughout the winter on both, farmlets at 55 to 60 kg, although there was a tendency for them to be higher on the “no hay” farmlet at the beginning of the winter and slightly

lower at the end of the winter.

Mr Hayman said that the recommendation was. therefore, that hay should only be made where there was a genuine surplus of feed over and above what stock could eat and it should only be fed in an emergency? It was still important to have a reserve of hay on hand for feeding in an emergency like snow’ or a flood, as -Southland farmers had found this year.

It does mean with the high cost of making and feeding hay these days that hay need not be fed simply because it is on hand.

But where hay is not used, Mr Hayman says that there needs to be reliable summer and autumn pasture growth, pasture needs to be saved in the autumn and winter, there also needs to be adequate subdivision and rotational grazing of stock, good ewe liveweights at mating and good forward planning.