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Cockchafer Damage Control In GippslandRedheaded cockchafer grubs have caused severe damage to large areas of pasture across rainfed Victorian dairying regions limiting the amount of stockfeed available. By Department of Primary Industries - 16th July 2009 - Back to News
However, Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Dairy Extension Officer, Greg O’Brien believes that with a bit of homework and a change of tactics, all may not be lost.
"Cockchafers are at their worst in autumn, readily chewing through any newly sown pastures," Mr O’Brien said.
"However, by late winter the grubs don’t feed near the surface meaning spring sowings tend to have a better chance of success.
"As half of the year’s pasture production occurs in spring, sowing badly damaged paddocks with spring forage crops may be an important part of your farm feed plan.
"Timing of the spring sowing is critical because sowing too late will reduce yields and may result in crop failure.
"Depending on the crop, achieving high silage or hay yields from seed will take about 10 weeks.
"In drier regions, the crop should be sown in August, but in wetter regions, the growing season may extend long enough to allow a September sowing. Crops should not be sown if water logging is likely to be an issue."
Mr O’Brien said that a high yielding option is the use of peas mixed with a forage cereal to increase yield.
"To help maximise quality, researchers from Project 3030 found that using a higher ratio of peas worked best," he said.
Kaspa and Morgan peas are good forage varieties and cereal is sown to allow the pea to climb and make it easier to harvest. Ideally, the cereal should be a short-stature, spring variety, for example wheat or oats.
Sow cereal at about 25 per cent of the sowing rate by weight. Depending on sowing time and variety, winter cereal varieties may remain vegetative. This will greatly reduce yields and the ability to support the pea portion of the crop.
Farmers should talk to their suppliers about what to expect. Silage is the recommended conservation option, as the crop may be difficult to dry as hay and much of the dried leaf may shatter during harvest.
Project 3030 also recommends spring sown arrow leaf clover as a potential option. It is an annual that will not flower if sown at this time providing good yields of silage or hay with some grazing through to next spring. Arrow leaf clover is also easier to dry than peas, making it a good hay option. Silage and hay yields will be less than for pea/cereal mixes. Arrow leaf can be drilled with permanent pasture grasses in the following autumn.
Other cropping options include Brassicas and if sown in early September, they will be ready to graze at the start of summer.
Brassicas are a high quality and cheap feed and they will delay the need to start feeding silage or hay. The down side is their susceptibility to damage by pests and the need for soil moisture into the summer. Early September sowing and grazing counters both of these to a significant extent.
Regrowth type brassicas will continue to grow into next autumn/winter while turnips have a higher yield plus the bulbs will guarantee reasonable yield in the face of pests or a dry summer, but no regrowth.
Mr O’Brien said farmers looking beyond spring and summer might also consider chicory, but warned that a clean paddock was needed because broad leaf control was difficult.
"It may be better to grow a grass crop for a year and clean up the weeds first," he said.
"Chicory establishes well after a September sowing and its deep roots tap into soil moisture and grow longer into summer than shallow rooted species.
"Some farmers report that chicory doesn’t appear to be affected by redheaded cockchafers - this is good news because cockchafers have a two year life cycle and will still be present next season."
Project 3030 studies found that cereals can be drilled into established chicory to provide high winter and spring yields. The chicory grows on after the cereal is harvested for silage, providing valuable summer and autumn feed the following year.
"For farmers interested in boosting their spring and summer production, I would urge farmers to start doing their homework now," Mr O’Brien said,
"It takes time to choose the right option, source the seed, spray paddocks and then get a contractor to sow it all.
"Timeliness is essential, particularly if the growing season is short."
Project 3030 is funded by Dairy Australia, the Department of Primary Industries, The University of Melbourne and Gardiner Foundation.
For more information, contact Greg O’Brien at DPI Ellinbank on 5624 2222.
Source: http://gippsland.com/ Published by: news@gippsland.com
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