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Western Victorian lamb producer, Shane Powell, had a taste of success this year when he tested out a new forage crop. Pallaton, a hybrid between kale and radish, is setting new standards among graziers for its high yields, persistence, grazing flexibility, water use efficiency and insect tolerance.
Shane started small and sowed just eight hectares of Pallaton in October 2021 alongside 28 hectares of his usual forage rape and 28 hectares of irrigated lucerne. By the end of January, Pallaton’s vigour and results in the paddock were shining through, with average weight gains in his lambs in the order of 350 grams/day.
Shane farms with his wife Lucy and father Chris on 240 hectares at Windermere, west of Ballarat in Victoria. They produce up to 1300 lambs a year from cross bred ewes, targeting the heavy export market. Lambing runs from May to August and they usually need around 70 hectares of summer grazing crops to provide enough quality feed for finishing
“The best thing about the Pallaton was its vigorous growth, both in tough conditions and after rain, and the fact that it was ready to graze only 56 days from sowing,” he said.
On the advice of his local agronomist, Shane sowed the crop on 20 October 2021 with 100 kg/ha of DAP. The paddock had been sprayed out with a knockdown herbicide and he also used trifluralin to combat wireweed.
(Pallaton is sold by the hectare and sown at a rate of 8 kg/ha).
An intense 80-day grazing period was monitored and recorded to give an insight into the crop’s performance. A stocking rate of 25 lambs/ha was calculated by his agronomist based on the dry matter feed available at the start of the grazing period and the target finishing weight of 65 kg. Shane used rotational grazing to maximise utilisation of the feed, dividing the crop into three cells.
On 15 December, 210 young shorn lambs entered the first cell at 49.5 kg. Each cell was grazed for 12 to 14 days before the lambs were moved to the next cell. At the first weighing on 23 January 2022, the lambs averaged 63 kg, very nearly meeting Shane’s weight gain target in just half the time.
This equated to average gains of 346 grams per day over the first grazing rotation. The lambs continued grazing the Pallaton through a second rotation. They also received 300 grams of barley per lamb and silage. At the end of the second grazing period on 6 March, they left the paddock at 71.2 kg.
The end result was especially pleasing for Shane because the Pallaton was stocked at a higher rate than his forage rape crop, at 25 lambs/ha compared with 15 lambs/ha.“I’ve also never grazed a crop that way and the lambs definitely utilised the feed a lot better by being confined to a smaller area for a shorter time,” he said.
“There was no wastage like you can get when the lambs have the whole paddock to trample over.” He added that the Pallaton only needed a short recovery time between grazings. “After five days you could see the leaf emerging to about a 50 cent piece size, and I’d say it was at least twice as quick to regrow as the forage rape.”
Isaac Berry, DLF Seeds Product Development Manager, summed up the great results Shane has achieved with Pallaton so far. “With an average of 26 lambs per hectare grazing the Pallaton for 81 days, lambs gained an average of 21.7 kgLWT over that grazing period,” he said.
“As such, approximately 559 kgLWT was produced per hectare, and with lambs at a value of $4/kgLWT, Shane returned $2236/ha before input costs.”
Shane said that Pallaton’s response to rainfall was impressive, but he was also surprised by how well it grew without rain.
“Some crops stop altogether when there’s no rain, but not Pallaton.”
After the intense grazing period, Shane direct drilled annual ryegrass and clover into the paddock in early April to ensure ongoing feed through winter. However, the Pallaton was still going strong in early winter.
Insect pressure was low in the Pallaton and no sprays were needed.
This helped reduce costs compared with forage rape crops, which can need one or two $60/ha sprays in a season to deter diamondback moths, Shane said Pallaton was still a high input cost option.
Assuming a highly productive Pallaton crop costs around $1200/ha to grow, Shane returned a profit of $1036 from just two grazings of Pallaton. “This has well and truly covered the increased seed cost and is well on its way to providing a strong return on investment after the third grazing,” explained Isaac.
Shane is interested in growing it under irrigation, especially after seeing what it can do when it rains.“After rain, the Pallaton grew twice as much as the forage rape in the next paddock, so it would be great to make it rain and get the benefits of carrying a higher stocking rate.”
“The true advantage of Pallaton is its ability to be grazed five plus times, and this is where the added value compared to a forage rape stands out. Shane is currently grazing with ewes and lambs and is on his fourth grazing. Coming into spring, he should expect a few more bumping up the overall profit of Pallaton.” Concludes Isaac.
Pallaton is available from accredited retailers and is a fantastic option for experienced brassica growers. For your nearest stockist, contact your local DLF Seeds Sales Agronomist.
Pallaton is available through accredited retailers only and is sold at 8kg/ha.
