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Feeding the future

Sustainability is more than just a word to us. Barenbrug believes true gain lies in sustainable management and responsible decisions. The key to a prosperous future? Long-term commitment!

How can we reduce energy use, help feed the world, bring out the best in our people, and make a difference to the less fortunate of this world? These questions are top of mind for us as we do business. By offering sustainable turf and forage solutions we strive to make the world a better place.

Forage

Producing roughage will become more important. At the moment, achieving higher roughage production on your own land is key due to the high costs of concentrates. In many cases, it even pays to increase the proportion of roughage at the expense of milk production.

Pasture Grasses

Pasture grasses forms the basis of most irrigated pastures and each specie will have a specific purpose within a fodder flow system. Seasonal growth, dry matter production, persistence and quality are the key factors that differentiate these species from each other. Most of these species grows well together in mixtures but also performs well with legumes like clovers and lucerne. These species do have the ability to be persistent, but frequent pasture evaluations should be done to make sure you rectify any restrictions on production. We recommend the best sowing time to be autumn on well drained soils.

Legumes

Legumes drive pasture production by producing nitrogen. They must be carefully inoculated to ensure success. Adequate pasture nutrition is important for maintaining the dominance of improved species in a pasture. Nitrogen is one of the most important elements of pasture nutrition. Protein levels and the digestibility of pastures are improved by legumes, resulting in improved livestock performance.

Agronomy Crops

Agronomy is the application of plant and soil science to crop production. As a science it considers how to grow crops effectively and profitably while conserving natural resources and protecting the environment. Agronomy emphasizes staple food crops, such as maize, beans, wheat and oil seeds like canola which are produced on a large scale and represent the foundation of our human food supply. Forage plants and hay crops are also considered agronomic crops and are the feed base for the ruminant livestock industry on pastures and rangeland.

Saia Oats

Black Oats or Saia Oats is one of the worlds oldest cover crops. Planted specifically for its high production of biomass both above and below the soil, it is vitally important in increasing the organic and carbon content of your soil. Best planted April/May and interplanting of vetch will produce some of the largest volumes of biomass that can be used as a green manure, mulch or as feedstock. Due to its high tillering ability it also serves as an excellent weed suppressor. It has a long growing season with very good disease resistance. Saia is a hardy oats that is well adapted to sandy soils. Sowing rates should not exceed 60kg /ha.

Forage Oats

Forage oats is a winter forage crop and is very popular due to its ability to produce good-quality feed when most pastures are dormant. Many farmers rely on oats to fatten livestock during the period from autumn to early spring. It is a fast establishing autumn-winter growing fodder crop with high feeding value and a high leaf to stem ratio. It is most popular for silage, hay or grain production, but can be used for grazing as well. The ideal sowing time is March to May at seeding rates of 80 – 100kg/ha.

  • Medium height, erect specialist hay and grazing oat
  • Mid – late maturity
  • High forage quality and total yield
  • Dark green broad leaves
  • More rapid establishment, shows excellent seedling vigour
  • Better moisture stress tolerance
  • Ideal for hay production and grazing
  • Suited to a wider range of soils
  • Excellent frost resistance
  • Fantastic late sown option to provide high quality feed through winter with a late spring/early summer maturity

Forage Barley

Barley is an annual cereal that is often used in semiarid areas because it is more drought resistant than other cereals. Barley has a fibrous root system. The deepest roots are of seminal origin, whereas the upper soil is usually explored by adventitious roots. It has a slightly larger leaf area than other spring grains. Barley does not do well in humid areas where there are many disease problems. Overall, barley is a crop that is best adapted to cooler, drier areas. For best quality feed and good regrowth potential crops should be cut or grazed at 30-40 cm height. After each cut the crop should be fertilized to ensure good quality regrowth. Barley can be susceptible to crown rust. Risk of disease can be reduced by: sowing resistant varieties, sowing clean treated seed of good vigour, and not sowing out of season. Forage barley Tolerates poorer soils and lower temperatures better than wheat does. It is widely used as a livestock feed and sowing rates of 60kg/ha should not be exceeded.

Moby Forage Barley

Moby is an early maturing, 6 row, white seeded awnless barley with excellent winter growth and rapid establishment. Leaf size varies according to environmental conditions and is more comparable with oat varieties than traditional barley types. Moby will tolerate multiple grazings until the production of the first node. Being winter active, Moby offers an extended sowing window compared to forage oats from mid autumn to mid winter.

  • Developed for high vegetative dry matter production
  • Very fast establishing variety
  • Exhibits good cold tolerance compared with other barleys
  • Excellent winter growth

Triticale

It has been developed to incorporate the high yield potential and quality of wheat and the adaptability of rye and is adapted to a wide range of soil types and environments. Triticale has an aggressive root system that binds light soils better than wheat, barley or oats. It is primarily an energy source having moderate protein content with high starch and other carbohydrates, giving it high energy content. Depending on seed size the
seeding rate should be 75-120kg/ha.

US2014 Triticale

Multi end-use cultivar suitable as:

  • Cover crop in vineyards to enhance moisture retention and weed control;
  • Grazing during first 40 days after emergence;
  • Silage production towards milky dough stage; and
  • Grain production for animal feed
  • Excellent biotic tolerance, including Stem rust; Leaf rust; Powdery mildew and Aphid damage
  • Dark green broad leaves
  • Reduced fertilizer need while maintaining high protein levels in combination with above average starch content
  • Excellent adaptation to the whole of the Western Cape production area
  • Long season grower that maximises available moisture
  • Easier harvesting then older generation triticale cultivars
  • Medium height (typically 110 – 120cm)
  • Above average hectolitre mass (75kg/hl) when compared to older generation triticale cultivars
  • Lower seeding rate required while maintaining excellent biomass

Rye

Secale cereale is the hardiest grain and is grown the world over, for human and livestock consumption. It grows well in many climates and soils, and is frequently used as a rotation crop. It is tolerant of poor soils, high latitudes and altitudes. Rye is mainly used in making bread, but when fed to livestock, it is generally mixed with other grains. It also serves as grain cover crop. The recommended sowing time is April to May and at a sowing rate of 50kg/ha.

Canola

Canola is a winter crop that requires relatively cool, moist conditions for the best results, particularly in the flowering, pod-development and seed-setting stages. Canola can be cultivated in South Africa in virtually all the areas where wheat is cultivated, but does not produce the same good results everywhere.

It is mainly used as a rotational crop with wheat, especially with the advantage of herbicide resistant varieties.

Benefits of a crop rotation system are:

  • Reduction in diseases
  • More effective weed control
  • Improved root system (biological ploughing action)

Hyola 559 TT

  • New Hybrid Triazine Tolerant variety
  • Released in 2015
  • Plant Maturity: Medium
  • Days to physiological maturity: 160 – 164
  • Blackleg rating: Resistant
  • Oil potential very high
  • Seedling plant vigour: 8/10
  • Plant height: Medium
  • Plant flowering uniformity: Excellent
  • Plant standability: Excellent

Hyola 559 TT has shown to be one of the most adapted and popular Triazine Tolerant varieties across the Western- and Southern Cape of South Africa. It is characterised by high yield and high blackleg resistance.

Hyola 577 CL

  • New Hybrid Clearfield variety
  • Released in 2016
  • Plant Maturity: Medium – Long
  • Days to physiological maturity: 165 – 170
  • Blackleg rating: Resistant
  • Oil potential very high
  • Seedling plant vigour: 9/10
  • Plant height: Medium – Long
  • Plant flowering uniformity: Excellent
  • Plant standability: Excellent