Student Focus - Year 10-12 Agriculture
Silage Baling at Francis Farm
Last week one of our past students and now Agricultural Contractor, Stewart Witchard, baled up a multispecies fodder crop into Silage. Our Agriculture students across Year 10-12 were able to witness parts of the process. The crop was composed of Setaria Grass, Clover, Lab Lab, Sunflowers, Chicory and other common summer growing grasses such as Paspalum.
The total crop yielded 28 x 450kg bales of silage, which is an average 12.2 bales per hectare. One paddock yielded 22 bales per hectare. These bales will be used to feed our livestock during periods of dry or cold weather when pasture production slows and a reserve will also be kept for flood events.
Once the crop had been removed, our Year 12 Agriculture students took soil samples to be sent away for analysis. This will be used to guide our fertiliser plan for the paddocks as we transition to winter dominant species.
