AS the grain harvest draws to a close across the region, sheep producers will be eyeing off the potential value of grazing their sheep on stubble.
A good rule-of-thumb is that the value of the feed equals the amount of residual grain and green plant growth from sprouted grain and summer weeds. In drier years, the stems and leaves can be quite nutritious as less energy and protein has ended up in the grain.
Graze sheep on crop stubble immediately after harvest to gain the most benefit and look to remove the sheep from the paddock no later than six weeks afterwards. Paddock size, stocking density, and how much grain and green shoots remain will be factors in your decision.
Stubble doesn’t contain much calcium, but licks and supplements can make up for this. A simple solution is to provide your sheep with limestone plus five per cent salt to help solve the deficiency. Trace elements, vitamins, urea, and topping up the nutrition shortfall with pellets and grain such as lupins to increase protein intake will help.
Watch out for water belly, grain poisoning, polioencephalomalacia or thiamine deficiency, nitrate and nitrite poisoning from oilseed crops like canola, and lupinosis from a fungus in lupins that produces a toxin, which can be harmful to animals’ health.
Sheep are helpful at reducing high stubble load but be careful not to overgraze the paddock, and leave at least 50 per cent ground cover to prevent wind erosion and help retain moisture in the paddock.
