Dairy farms are the main users of silage in Australia.
The fodder industry is one of the most important agricultural industries in Australia.
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Australian farmers produce hay and silage valued between $800 million and $2 billion each year, making the fodder industry larger than the barley, sugar and poultry industries.
The availability and distribution of reliable quantities and quality fodder throughout the year is critical for the competitiveness of Australia’s multi-billion dollar livestock industries.
The value of the Australian livestock industries, to which fodder is a substantial input, contributed $17.6 billion to GDP in 2018-19, with exports valued at $16.3 billion according to Meat & Livestock Australia’s State of the Industry Report 2020.
AgriFutures Australia says around one third of all Australian commercial scale farms (38,000 properties) make hay or silage each year.
So, while some farms specialise in growing and selling fodder specifically, most produce fodder as one component of their overall farm enterprise.
While farmers may consider themselves primarily a grain grower or a dairy farmer, they are often also fodder producers too.
The increasing incidence of climate variability such as drought drives domestic demand for fodder, with many farmers planning ahead with production, so they can rely on fodder stocks and build capacity to buy in additional fodder if needed.
According to ABARES, almost 1.2 million tonnes of hay was exported from Australia in 2020, with exports valued at $584 million in 2019-2020.
This represents considerable growth in the industry since 2006-07 for example, when exports were valued at $242 million.
What is fodder?
Fodder is used to feed domesticated livestock. The Food and Agriculture Organisation defines fodder crops as those crops that are cultivated primarily for animal feed.
By extension, natural grasslands and pastures are included whether they are cultivated or not.
Fodder crops may be classified as either permanent or temporary crops.
Permanent fodder crops relate to land used permanently (for five years or more) for herbaceous forage crops and includes grazing lands throughout Australia.
Temporary crops are those that are grown intensively with multiple cuttings per year. They can be broken into three groups:
Grasses, including cereals, that are harvested green.
Legumes, including pulses, that are harvested green.
Root crops that are cultivated for fodder.
These crops are fed to animals, either as green feed, as hay (crops harvested dry or dried after harvesting) or as silage products.
The main fodder products are hay and silage.
Most hay and silage is used on the farm on which it was produced, however there is significant trading of hay, and some trading of silage and crops for silage production, particularly in the beef feedlot sector and the dairy industry, according to the NSW Department of Primary Industries.
Hay can be classified into four general types: legumes (lucerne, vetch), grass, cereal (oats, wheat) and mixed.
More about hay
Hay is the most common method of fodder conservation. Most crops and pastures can be made into hay of varying quality.
Hay making involves wilting cut pasture to a moisture or dry matter level where it is dry enough not to ferment but wet enough not to shatter when baled. This is usually at about 12 per cent moisture.
If hay is baled with too much moisture it can ferment leading to heat generation, feed quality decline and a potential fire risk.
Chopped ryegrass silage.
What is silage?
Silage is made by ensiling or fermenting pastures. It generally produces better quality feed than hay.
This is due to the reduced interval when making silage between cutting and conserving the feed — the longer the time, the more the feed nutrients degrade.
Pasture should be cut for silage when at its most vegetative stage with no more than 20 per cent of the pasture showing seed heads.
This is then wilted to about 30 per cent dry matter before being chopped and ensiled in an airtight environment.
Early cut silage will have higher quality, but less quantity, according to Meat & Livestock Australia.
Silage production and storage is reliant on an air-free environment to promote fermentation processes and inhibit undesirable processes and decay.
It is critical that this air-free environment is made for the whole life cycle of the silage — from when it is made until it is completely utilised.
According to Successful Silage, a publication by Dairy Australia and NSW DPI, factors driving the increased adoption of silage include:
A need to improve pasture utilisation and increase productivity.
Capacity to cut earlier in the season, produce a higher-quality product and spread the harvesting time over a longer period than with hay.
Improved silage-making technology that make the process more reliable.
The suitability for long-term storage for a drought or floods.
Crop, hay or silage feed?
The choice of fodder, crop, hay or silage by livestock producers is determined by factors such as production targets for growth or weight gain, and/or to make up seasonal gaps between feed demand and supply during periods of drought, for example.
On-farm, the choice of fodder crop may also be considered in the context of fixing nitrogen in the soil, maintaining ground cover and preventing erosion.
Other factors producers will consider in choosing the best fodder for their farm and feed needs include:
The feed quantity and quality requirements of on-farm stock if any.
Market supply and demand if they are trading the end-product.
Rotation needs, such as nitrogen fixing.
Weather conditions, such as water availability.
Soil type.
Pest and disease pressures.
Weed management.
Sowing time
Research has also been undertaken in relation to the conservation and sustainability benefits of hay production.
For example, researchers from Western Australia’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Agriculture and Food, outline the numerous benefits of hay production, including that it fits into most of the accepted cropping rotations, helps reduce weed seed banks, overcomes herbicide resistance because it provides a break from traditional chemical regimes, and gives growers an alternative cash crop.
Specifically, they note:
Oats are more competitive with weeds than barley, wheat, canola and pulses.
Oats are much more tolerant than other cereals to frost events that occur during vegetative growth and flowering, so growing oaten hay on frost-prone paddocks minimises the frost risk as it is cut soon after flowering, avoiding the frost-sensitive period.
As oats rejuvenate well, they can be grazed before they are cut for hay or harvested for grain.
Cutting oats for hay effectively reduces the risk of annual ryegrass toxicity (ARGT) as ryegrass plants (and other hosts) are removed from the paddock before they become toxic.
Oats have a greater tolerance to waterlogging than other cereals.
Who uses fodder in Australia?
Fodder is used to feed domesticated livestock such cattle, sheep, pigs, horses, chickens and rabbits.
According to a report published by AgriFutures Australia, hay for Australia’s domestic market is produced in the southern region of Australia largely for the dairy and beef industries.
Figures from Dairy Australia show pasture, hay, silage, grains and forage crops such as lucerne, turnips and oats making up the diet of the country’s dairy herds
A Dairy Australia farmer survey showed that nearly all dairy farmers engaged in some level of supplementary feeding — incorporating grains, hay and silage into their feed ration.
Sheep and beef cattle farms and feedlots are also significant users of fodder.
– From the Australian Fodder Industry Association (AFIA).
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