Season Averages - 2018/19
- Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Every year there is something different about the hay and fodder season and 2018/19 was no exception.
A record season was registered in 2018/19, with FeedTest testing over 13,000 samples and many differences found compared to last year.
The main item we noticed this year was the number of Canola Hays submitted for testing. Since taking over FeedTest from the Victorian Department 10 years ago we have not tested any appreciable numbers of Canola hays or silages. Going back through the records, 2006 to 2008 were the last years when Canola hay was popular. The Canolas seemed to separate into 2 lots. One was early cut and the decision was made to cut and bale as soon as conditions allowed curing. These hays showed very good results with Proteins in the low 20s and MEs around 10 to 11MJ/kg. However these were liberally interspersed with late cut where hopes for a harvest dwindled to a decision to salvage some value from the crop. Often these hays were high ADF low teens Protein. A number of silages were made that also showed mixed results.
It can be dangerous to read too much into the figures, but it is interesting to look at the differences while reflecting on the season conditions…...This leaves us with the Question.....What will this year bring?