Well known Wallendbeen farmers Ken and Charlie Baldry, whose family has been farming in the district for five generations are strong supporters of quality chopped silage. Judicious management by the family over that time, of the premier Wallendbeen country, has been paramount to the success of the venture. Traditionally they ran Merino sheep. Their silage experience goes back 10 years, feeding it out as maintenance feed to ewes and weaners.
These days and into the future, the Baldry livestock operation, managed by brother Ken, is focused on cross bred lamb production, using quality silage as a production input. "We used to breed Merinos for wool production, but now we cross merino ewes with composite sires to produce lambs for meat production." according to Ken. "One of the biggest challenges is feed gaps" Ken says, "The silage gives us back up feed and fills the autumn, winter feed gap. And we're not relying on grain." This gave a real advantage when used with rotational grazing because silage does not require an introductory period like grain. Feeding in autumn allows them to run more sheep and pick up price premiums during the winter period.In addition to lamb feeding, it is planned to use quality silage in a pen system with ewes to provide a maintenance diet rather than having ewes turning the property into a dust bowl. In 2007, Delta Ag, based in Harden & Young worked hard with their customers to assist them to gain maximum value from their silage and failed crops using Si-Lac® Extra silage inoculant. In most years the source of the silage to be used is mixed Lucerne, Clover and Fescue pasture.In 2006, Charlie bought their own gear to provide more flexibility in making the silage and to maximise silage quality. "A major problem in the past had been a difficulty getting contractors in when we needed them, cutting was too late, with a resultant drop in quality" Charlie says .As a major customer of Delta Ag, Charlie became a first time user of Si-LacŪ Extra working closely with the Delta Ag team. Ably supported by Delta Agronomist Chris Duff, and backed up by Tim Condon, Charlie applied Si-Lac Extra inoculant to his pure canola silage. "We were concerned that it was pure brassica silage rather than mixed species, which would have more sugars. So to ensure the best possible result we decided to go with the Si-Lac Extra" Charlie said.The canola was chopped using the New Holland FP 240 precision chopper bought in 2006, after being mowed and conditioned to a moisture level of 65 - 75%. The chopped canola silage is stored in pits, with a deep soil cover to seal it.The Si-Lac Extra was applied through a nozzle above the pickup on the chopper, using an "Air-Tech ULV" applicator mounted on the machine.As part of our season follow up, Grevillia Ag and Delta Ag staff met with Charlie Baldry in November for a debrief to obtain feedback and help us to improve our service in 2008.There were some teething problems with his applicator, with a fault in one of the externally manufactured components. Charlie's experience with the applicator on hilly country also helped our decision to upgrade the units to a round opaque tank with a sump that did not suck air on hillsides. His feedback also provided additional ideas for improvements to the units that have now been incorporated."We plan to open the pit and feed the silage in the next month or so, if it doesn't rain" according to Charlie, "Then we will see how well the Si-Lac Extra has performed." And Ken sums it up. "Pit silage works very well - but people need to be aware, it is important to set up properly and do the job correctly. Silage is a very good aid to pasture management."