CHAFF carts have been doing a great job in the battle against herbicide-resistant weeds and are finding a valuable niche, particularly in mixed farming enterprises in western and southern cropping regions.
AgPro management consultant Ed Riggall has been validating the anecdotal evidence of the value of chaff heaps as a stock feed option for the past three years and has proven that there is money to be made from using chaff heaps (and probably chaff lines) as a summer feed source for sheep.
“Using paired paddocks on farms in different regions, we measured the changes in sheep weight over a period of six weeks and compared the performance of sheep grazing paddocks with chaff piles with that of sheep from the same flock grazing paddocks where the chaff had been spread,” Mr Riggall said.
“Data was collected in canola, wheat, oats and barley fields in eight locations in Western Australia over three years.”
Mr Riggall analysed the feed value of the chaff heaps from different crops and while the results varied considerably, canola was a consistent performer.
This is due mainly to the higher protein level compared to cereals, which enables the chaff piles to be better digested.
The cereal chaff heaps were all similar in feed value with about four per cent crude protein, indicating that provision of additional protein, such as lupin grain, would be required for the sheep to make full use of cereal chaff piles.
“The results showed that sheep on chaff piles gained an average of two kilograms in the first three weeks – 500 grams more than sheep grazing stubbles (no chaff heaps),” he said.
“At the end of six weeks grazing the sheep with access to chaff piles had gained about 100g while sheep without access to the chaff piles had lost almost 2kg compared to their starting weight.”
In Merino flocks this small positive net gain per head for sheep grazing chaff heaps is worth a serious amount of money, spread across the whole mob, in the form of improved condition score, increased lambing percentages and reduced summer feed costs.
When you add in the value of chaff management as a weed seed control measure to combat herbicide resistant weeds, the return quickly pays for the investment in a new chaff cart.
Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) is currently funding a three-year demonstration site with the Gillamii group based in Cranbrook, WA to further evaluate the value of grazing chaff heaps.
