Quality, not quantity key to success for this fifth-generation farmer
When it comes to award-winning crops, plant health is everything, as these Kyabram brothers can attest.
SAM Thompson is a cut above the rest when it comes to making hay.
The hay and grain grower from Kyabram, in northern Victoria’s Goulburn Valley, has always aimed to produce top quality hay, and was last year recognised as growing the best in Australia.
The fifth-generation farmer, who works alongside brother Jake on their family farm, won both the Victorian and national titles for the best Lucerne hay visual test in Feed Central’s 2019-20 National Hay Quality Awards.
They also took out the Victorian lucerne feed-test category.
“Before supplying Feed Central, we had clients through the feed industry and we supplied chaff mills and our lucerne hay would go to various parts of Victoria,” Sam said.
“We have always known we have grown pretty good stuff, that’s the feedback we have been getting.”
However, this year has been a challenge with a cooler finish for Sam, who owns about 202ha of the family’s 485ha farm.
“Hay has been relatively good for us, it has been bit cooler this year so it has been a bit harder to get the quality,” he said.
“With heat last year, we were getting the hay to cure pretty quickly and that was giving us good quality.
“All hay generally speaking in the area will be down for quality, but rain hasn’t affected our hay yet, but for a lot of people it has.”
Sam had his first cut of lucerne this year and says he’s happy with the results.
“If you haven’t looked after things properly in the winter time, that’s when you get the weeds,” he said. “Because we used best practice there we were relatively weed free.”
THE FINEST CUT
WHILE this season has presented its challenges, Sam’s first cut realised Feed Central’s top grade of FCAA – with about 100 tonnes headed to Queensland.
“So far lucerne is continuing to perform well and yields have all been slightly higher than what we would normally produce.”
Off five cuts of hay, Sam’s lucerne generally averages 15-20 tonnes/ha.
The crop was planted on new country in autumn four years ago with the first cut this season in November — a month later than normal due to dry conditions.
“Last year we got about 16 tonnes a hectare and this year is trending above that,” he said. “The first three cuts are normally the best and then next two a bit lighter.”
For Sam, growing hay is all about quality over quantity.
To achieve this each year, he said it was essential to look after the plants and to spare them any damage with machinery.
“Wherever you lose a plant it leaves space for a weed to grow,” Sam said.
“Lucerne has a fine, delicate leaf that is easily damaged and a hard, robust stalk. The more leaf and finer stalks are the name of the game.
“We aim to have the Lucerne hay in a bale looking like it’s been in a flower press.”
The Goulburn Valley has ideal hay growing conditions, with “nice long days in the summer” and “relatively dry heat as well as the availability of irrigation water”.
Sam reckons they use about eight megalitres of water per hectare each season to grow the crop.
Correctly setting up hay machinery was also “crucial” to the season’s success, Sam said, adding that any mistakes “can have quite a detrimental effect”.
He said hay needed to be cut at exactly the right height or it would affect the next cut.
“It’s not just agronomy — it’s thinking about the process the whole way through,” he said.
STAYING AHEAD
SAM said he made an effort when it came to research and staying on top of the latest agronomy information.
“It’s not difficult to get a hold of good information and just take time to sort through it,” he said.
When it comes to the storage of his hay, Sam ensures his sheds are kept pristine with conveyor belts adapted from the mining industry helping keep the floor of the hay shed clean.
As well as lucerne, Sam grows dryland and irrigated wheat and canola.
Sam said it had been a stellar year for his crops, with the season being nothing short of “phenomenal”.
“We have had a really a perfect year,” he said.
“Both of our wheat and canola crops did exceptionally well.”
The oil content of Sam’s crop of canola realised an impressive 46.6 per cent this year.
“Once you go above 42 per cent they start to pay you a premium, so that went really well,” he said, putting the canola’s performance down to the season’s ideal weather.
Rainfall last year was above average, Sam said, with about 400mm falling.
“Then we finished crops off with irrigators,” he said.
“We had a good wet break in the autumn. We had rain to finish it off as well in the spring.”
Harvest was also a success, with crops getting over the line without any damage.
“We are always worried about harvest until it is done, winter conditions were good and we didn’t get any frost damage,” Sam said.
“This year’s harvest across Australia will be good economically for the country with everything else going on with the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is a big boost for farmers who can cash in and start spending in regional towns.”
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