Farmers consider giving frost-hit crops the chop

Farmers have started cutting and baling crops, especially canola and barley, for hay after the devastating frost two weeks ago.

Farmers have been weighing up their options about whether or not to cut frost-affected crops for hay.

Some parts of NSW and Victoria experienced three frosts in a row in the week starting September 16.

The damage is now showing, and large amounts of canola and barley are being cut for hay.

At Winchendonvale in southern NSW, Dermot McCormack said his crops experienced large-scale damage due to the frost.

He has cut the canola and has now moved to barley.

“It wasn’t a 100 per cent loss, but it is very difficult to put a yield on,” he said.

“I have made the best assessment I could at the time and decided to cut for hay.”

Picture taken north of Marrar in southern NSW. After frost farmers are now dealing with aphids. Picture: Supplied

Mr McCormack said he was able to lock in some sales for the hay early on, and that helped cement his position to cut the crops.

He finished cutting the canola on Saturday and said it would now be made into large square bales.

“It’s not an easy decision, and there are a lot of factors to consider, such as potential markets and whether or not you have storage for the hay,” he said.

“It’s too early at this stage but you would expect the price of hay to drop significantly in the next couple of weeks,” he said.

Dermot McCormack at Winchendonvale. Picture: Nikki Reynolds

It is still a case of wait-and-see to assess the full extent of damage to wheat crops in his area. He said there was some damage showing up already.

Agriculture Victoria dairy extension officer Michele Jolliffe said now was the time for farmers to make decisions about whether cutting crops for hay or silage was economically viable following the frost.

“With canola, the optimal balance between yield and quality comes when cutting canola at late flowering,” she said.

The amount of metabolisable energy and protein in canola can decline after flowering.

She said canola would also lose leaf and pod material faster than cereal crops.

“Ideally, crops need at least 2.5 tonnes per hectare of dry matter to avoid any excessive hay harvest losses,” she said.

The dry matter needed to be measured at the ground level and not cutting height.

She said dry matter could be lost during baling and one NSW study showed that 45 per cent of canola hay was lost during harvest when it was at 1.5 tonnes/ha dry matter. However, the loss dropped to 19 per cent when dry matter was at 3.5 tonnes/ha.