best practice management guide for south-eastern Australia - Grains ...

Grazing and fodder conservation
Growers can recoup some of their costs or even make a profit in dry springs by cutting for hay or silage.
Photo: D. McCaffery, NSW DPI
considered safer than grazing a standing crop.
Care must be exercised at all times to minimise any
potential risks to livestock. Generally animals find canola hay
and silage palatable and they waste very little.
In many cases stock have been fed canola hay as the
sole maintenance ration, with no significant ill effects.
However, it is preferable to use another fodder source, such
as cereal hay, as part of the ration.
Canola silage is made in traditional soil pits or bunkers
or wrapped in plastic as round bales. A problem which can
occur with plastic wrapping is puncture holes or deterioration
of the wrapping, which allows moulds or bacteria to grow.
These organisms can be deadly to animals.
To safely introduce animals to canola hay or silage, similar
guidelines to grazing apply, but also consider the following:
n test the hay or silage for nitrate nitrogen level. If care is
taken when introducing the feed, stock can adapt to
many types of feed, even those with raised nitrate levels;
n do not offer large amounts of canola hay or silage to
hungry stock. Introduce it slowly by replacing part of the
more recent diet, increasing the proportion of canola hay
over a period of days. For contained stock, try to offer a
mixture of fodder types, at least for the first two weeks of
using canola; or
n alternatively, introduce the feed to only a few animals, as
described above, monitoring them closely for several days
before introducing the canola hay to remaining animals.
Pesticide residue risks
Failing to comply with a chemical withholding period for
grazing or cutting for fodder can lead to unacceptable levels
of chemical residues in livestock products such as milk,
meat and eggs. This could have serious implications for the
marketing of these products.
Before grazing or cutting a crop for hay or silage, check
to ensure that it has not been sprayed with chemicals that
carry specific label warnings that treated crops are not to be
grazed or fed to livestock.
Many fungicides, herbicides and insecticides used on
field crops have the following label statement: “Do not graze
or cut for stockfeed for ‘x’ days after application” as well
as the normal harvest withholding period. The withholding
Canola best practice management guide
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