As previously reported Craig and I sowed 70 acres of forage oats in mid April 25 acres on the sloping land at the northern boundary next to the Tarlo River and 45 on the eastern side around the contours of the hills. Using Craig’s direct seed drill was easy enough but it still took two full days on the tractor in between fencing repairs and general maintenance.
We sowed Graza 50 about 80mm deep in 20 cm rows at a rate of 40kg seed/acre and used 3mt of MoSuper fertilizer across the two paddocks. All up that works out at about $10 per ewe which is well worth it as the oats will be grazed from August on and will help finish the sheep prior to shearing in September. The seedlings had shot by early May and so far it looks great with the recent rain.
Graza 50 is a later maturing variety that has broad leaves with good vigour and dry matter yields. It is also tolerant of moisture stress and recovers well after grazing so the sheep can be put through the crop several times. It was released by Pioneer, a division of Du Pont, in 1994 and followed by Graza 68 in 1998 and Graza 51 in 2005.
We would not ordinarily be supporters of large (American) multinational agriculture companies. However, with a degree in Agricultural Botany majoring in (crop) plant breeding, I am not a Luddite either. We will never plant GM seed and are committed to sustainable (perm)agriculture with minimal usage of pest- and herbicides and as organic farming practices as possible. We are making our living from the land though so if Graza is best we will plant it until we can save our own seed with all the patent and copyright issues that raises.
But here is a cautionary observation – humans have eaten 80,000 plant species in our history. By the year 2000 three-quarters of the food eaten in the world will come from just 8 species and it is predicted that by 2025 that will be down to only three (corn soybean and canola). That is really frightening!! We will continue to be loca-vores and eat a rich diversity of home-grown or local, seasonal food.
As Miss Piggy said, “Never eat more than you can lift”.
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