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Spring & Summer Crop Opportunities

With warmer weather approaching, now is the time to plan ahead for Spring and Summer crop options. These crops can not only fill feed gaps but also provide high-quality silage and hay to carry you through the season ahead.

While the traditional summer standbys like forage sorghum and millet remain reliable performers, there are other viable options worth considering to increase productivity, feed quality, and flexibility within your system.

Choosing the Right Crop for Your System

Before selecting a species or variety, it’s important to:

• Match the crop to your livestock’s dietary requirements.
• Assess whether the crop will be direct-grazed, baled for hay, or ensiled.
• Consider your infrastructure: storage, feeding systems, water supply, and paddock access.
• Understand your paddock’s fertility, soil type, and any soil constraints. 

Crop Options for Silage and Hay Production

Forage Sorghum

Strengths: Fast growth, high bulk yields, regrowth potential for multiple cuts/grazings.

Best use: Silage, hay, or grazing (dependent on variety selected).

Tips: Plant when soil temps reach 16–18°C and rising, manage nitrate and prussic acid levels in crops before feeding

Millet 

Strengths: Quick feed, lower prussic acid risk than sorghum, good for hay.

Best use: Grazing or hay; can be used for silage.

Tips: Ideal for lighter soils and areas with irregular rainfall.

Maize 

Strengths: High energy content, excellent for balancing protein-rich pasture silage.

Best use: Silage.

Tips: Needs high fertility and fertiliser requirements, reliable water or rainfall potential, and careful harvest timing for maximum starch content.

Cowpeas & Lablab

Strengths: Legume option adding protein and fixing nitrogen; can be grown alone or in mix with grasses.

Best use: Hay or grazing; also valuable in mixed silage.

Tips: Suited to warmer conditions. 

Mixed Species Summer Forage Blends

Strengths: Combines the benefits of grasses, legumes, and sometimes brassicas; improves feed quality and resilience.

Best use: Direct grazing, silage, or hay, depending on mix.

Tips: Choose varieties with similar maturity to simplify harvest and grazing. 

Pea & Oat Blends

Strengths: Excellent protein and energy balance, producing a leafy, palatable forage. Peas boost protein while oats provide bulk and fibre.

Best use: Hay or silage; also suitable for green chop.

Tips: Time sowing so both crops mature together; ideal for areas with reliable Spring/Summer moisture or irrigation. Early cutting preserves feed quality and prevents the oat component from becoming too stemmy.

Key Management Considerations

No matter which crop you choose, success relies on:

• Paddock preparation: Lime where needed, address compaction, and ensure a well-prepared seedbed.
• Sowing timing: Wait for the ideal soil temperature for the chosen species.
• Fertiliser planning: Base rates on soil tests; apply DAP at sowing to promote establishment.
• Weed & pest control: Use pre-emergent herbicides if possible and monitor regularly for weed and pest pressure. 
• Harvest timing: Cut at the right stage for maximum energy and protein content.