Oaten hay success

Deniliquin based BioAg distributor and agent Ivan Mitchell has been working as a BioAg advisor and supplier since operations commenced in 1999. He has a very loyal and successful customer base and is highly regarded. Ivan doesn’t just advise and supply growers, he also walks the talk on his small farm at Deni.

This year Ivan has grown an outstanding oaten hay crop with mostly organic inputs. His inputs per hectare were 500kg lime; 150kg BioAgPhos; 150kg/ha gypsum; 60kg Winter Roo oats; 2kg shaftal clover; and 10L Soil & Seed. The Soil & Seed was mixed with the seed and then it was all mixed with the solids and spread together. The fertiliser and seed were incorporated with harrows.

At mid-to-late tillering the crop was treated with a foliar mix that comprised: 3L Balance & Grow; 13L CalNitSol and 2L BioAg Zinc per hectare. The hay crop was cut on Monday 28 September and 1.5 hectares produced 26 rolls. With an average weight of 450kg the yield is between 7.5 and 8t/ha.

The interesting thing is the virtual absence of nitrogen fertiliser – about 2kg/ha nitrogen was all that was used to grow a really strong, healthy hay crop. Ivan has been working on his soils for some years so the health and vitality that they now possess is paying big dividends.

At a time when farmers are looking at ways to reduce inputs and in particular the use of pesticides and herbicides, Ivan is leading the way having used no synthetic fertiliser, (other than the equivalent of 10kg per ha of CaNO3), no herbicide, fungicide, insecticide or any other crop protection.