Thick green stalks. Quack grass free. 12% moisture. These are the three requirements for premium grade timothy hay at the Sunridge Forage plant at Russell, Manitoba.
Direct seeded. A stand viability of 5 years or more. The ability to store great amounts of soil carbon. These are the characteristics of timothy grass that are of interest to the SSCA.
Another crop to add to the rotation, extend the rotation and the potential to make some money. These are the reasons producers are interested in timothy. Since the Sunridge plant began processing hay for shipment to Japan and other Pacific Rim countries last November, the interest in timothy hay in the East Central region has been increasing.
Sunridge is a branch of Transfeeder Inc., with its headquarters in Olds, Alberta. Transfeeder has been in the business of selling densified Canadian hay to Asian countries for 12 years because Japan and many other Pacific Rim countries don't have a large enough land base to produce forage for their growing livestock industries. So they look to other countries, in particular Australia, the United States and Canada for high quality forages, especially timothy hay. And who produces the most palatable timothy hay? Canadians! With the opening of the Sunridge Forage plant at Russell, the opportunity now exists for producers in the East Central Region to seed between 25,000 and 40,000 acres of timothy grass over the next few years.
While many producers in this region have experience with alfalfa or alfalfa in a mixture with grasses, little is known about timothy. At informational meetings held in February, producers had many questions about how to successfully establish and maintain a stand of timothy.
The key to successfully establishing any forage is to seed it into a firm, moist seedbed. Those conditions exist in a field with standing stubble. The seeding rate for timothy should not exceed 2.5 lbs/acre. Seeding at such a low rate shouldn't be a problem for newer model air delivery systems. The general rule of thumb is that if you can seed alfalfa at 5 - 6 lbs/ac, then you can seed timothy at 2.5. Proper trash management of the previous crop is essential! The straw should have been chopped and spread and the chaff spread evenly over the width of the swath.
Timothy is highly sensitive to residues of herbicide such as Avadex, Fortress, Pursuit and the trifluralins (Treflan, Rival, Advance and Bonanza). It should be seeded into fields that haven't been treated with these herbicides for at least 2 years.
Weed control is very important in timothy. Grasses, such as brome grass, foxtail barley and all the wheat grasses, including quackgrass, are not tolerated by the Japanese because these grasses can be hosts to the Hessian fly -- an insect that can wreak havoc on rice crops. One of the best ways to clean up a field infested with quack and brome is to apply Roundup at 1.0 l/ac preharvest. Fields that received a preharvest treatment in 1997 can be seeded to timothy in 1998. Seeding should be delayed until 1999 in untreated fields. Like every other direct seeded crop, a shot of Roundup at 0.5 l /ac should be applied prior to seeding. Once the stand is established, 2,4-D will keep a check on the broad leaf weeds. When older stands begin to get a little quack grass moving into them, it's suggested the new quack grass patches be cut and baled separately.
There is a debate among forage specialists about whether or not a cover crop is required when seeding forages. Very often a cover crop, especially one seeded at full rates, will compete with the forage thereby reducing the forage stand. On the other hand, many producers like to harvest some kind of crop in the year of establishment. Experienced timothy growers have used a variety of crops to provide cover for the little timothy seedlings. Because oats do not host the Hessian fly, they are very popular as a cover crop. To avoid too much competition from the oats, the oats should be seeded at less than 60% of their normal seeding rate. Wheat is another possibility although it is a little more risky in that the Japanese don't want to see any wheat straw in their timothy hay bales. Garry Halwas of Russell has underseeded wheat with little difficulty but every fall after harvest, he aggressively harrows the stubble hoping to encourage enough germination of any volunteer wheat that it won't be a problem in the spring. Art Pask of Esterhazy says that he likes to seed timothy into a canola crop that is just about to bolt. He says the canola bounces back from the timothy seeding operation and once it closes its canopy, it keeps the ground nice and moist for the little timothy seedlings. Seeding canola and timothy together could prove a problem, especially in very weedy fields, as the herbicide control options are very limited. Cereals that are underseeded to timothy can be cut for green fed in the year of establishment.
As do most grasses, Timothy requires some nitrogen in both the establishment year and during the life of the stand. Always do a soil test prior to applying any fertilizer. Generally, the grass doesn't require more than 50 - 60 lbs N/ac. Higher rates of fertilizer can cause "brown leaf". A bale with too much brown leaf will receive a lower grade.
Ideally, timothy hay should be cut at the pre-bloom stage. But Sunridge advises that the hay always be cut around the weather. That's why Sunridge recommends growing later maturing varieties such as Drummond and Bottnia II that mature in late July - early August, a period that is generally hot and dry. Sunridge recommends the swaths not be larger than 16 - 18 feet. Once cut, curing can be speeded up by putting the swath through a disc bine (such as the New Holland 411) that has had the cutting bar removed. Rakes and tedders don't work very well because they pick up too much trash from the ground.
For the densified hay market, the hay must not have more than 12% moisture. Sunridge finds the Delmhorst moisture meter to be the most accurate.
The round balers most cattlemen have on their farms won't see any service when it comes to putting up hay for the densified product market. The plant at Russell prefers mid sized square bales that measure 31" x 34" x 8" and are tied with 4 plastic twines. Even the old little square bales are currently being accepted for processing.
Will timothy hay be the next Cinderella crop? Only time will tell but the future looks bright. Fair market prices and the ability to improve and extend rotations are all in timothy's favour. If the East Central region receives any moisture this spring, there's bound to be many fields seeded down to this tough little forage. It's good for Japanese cows. Hopefully, it will prove to be good for the prairie farmer.
For more information on timothy contract and pricing, contact Sunridge at Russell (204) 773-2013 or e-mail: sunridge@mb.sympatico.ca