Producing Quality Oat Hay

Producing Quality Oat Hay
The market for oat hay, whether for export or
domestic use is driven by quality. High quality
hay demands high prices and depending on the
year growers can increase income by $50 to $100
a tonne for high quality hay. A consistent supply
of high quality hay is essential for the industry to
meet the challenges of increasing competition
from North America, expansion into new
markets and maintenance of current markets.
The purpose of the book Producing Quality Oat
Hay is to provide growers with a practical
management guide to produce high quality,
profitable hay crops. The information is based
on new developments and current research on
growing high quality oat hay.
This publication can be downloaded from our website –
www.rirdc.gov.au
All RIRDC books can be purchased from
www.rirdc.gov.au/eshop
By Pamela Zwer and Mick Faulkner
RIRDC Publiction No. 06/002
Producing Quality Oat Hay contains details that
will help novice and experienced growers evaluate
the viability of oat hay in their system. Oat hay is
often grown for ryegrass control but with good
management it can become a profitable cropping
option. One of the great challenges is to achieve
high yield while maintaining or improving hay
quality. The book contains information on
all aspects of growing, making, storing and
transporting oat hay to meet these challenges.
It explains quality requirements by market and
how these are measured. Chapters include the
latest details on variety selection especially in
relation to disease; row spacing and seeding
issues; fertiliser management; cutting, curing
and baling hay; and storage and transport.
Contact RIRDC:
Level 2
15 National Circuit
Barton ACT 2000
PO Box 4776 Kingston ACT 2604