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A close up of a crop of Monty awnless barley

Forage Cereal Harvesting

Forage Cereal Harvesting

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Forage Cereal Management
Forage Cereal Management
  1. Forage Cereal Types & Best Fit
  2. How to Choose Forage Cereals
  3. Forage Cereal Management (WCCS)
  4. When to Harvest Forage Cereals
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When to Harvest Cereal Silage

When making silage from oat crops (GCCS), harvesting should only be done at the booting stage, as this species is not ideal for whole crop cereal silage.

Barley is recommended to be harvested at the whole crop stage, with either oats or triticale providing better leaf yield if crops are cut at the green chop stage.

Triticale can be harvested at either the green chop or whole crop stage. The whole crop stage maximises yield and carbohydrate content of the silage (see graph below), while the green chop stage maximises protein content at the expense of yield and carbohydrate. Harvesting between these stages is not advised as it fails to produce optimum yield or quality.

A paddock of Milton oats being harvested for green chop cereal silage (GCCS)

Whole crop silage is high in carbohydrate (in the form of starch) and fibre, with moderate protein, making it ideal to supplement animal diets when they are grazing brassica crops, or pastures with high water and protein content.

Green chop cereal silage has a good balance of protein and energy (similar to good pasture silage), so can be used as a substitute for a lack of available pasture.

Graph showing the optimum time for harvesting cereal silage for green chop and whole chop
Close up of a Prophet Triticale crop

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Forage Cereal Management (WCCS)
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Forage Cereal Catch Crops
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Forage Cereal Management
  1. Forage Cereal Types & Best Fit
  2. How to Choose Forage Cereals
  3. Forage Cereal Management (WCCS)
  4. When to Harvest Forage Cereals
  5. Forage Cereal Catch Crops
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