GRAEME Hamilton is "fairly confident" he will be able to get a second cut of silage this season.
The dairy farmer from OB Flat, near Mt Gambier in South Australia cut his first lot of pit-silage about a fortnight ago.
Cut from his dry land, he made 220 dry tonnes of annual ryegrass silage, equating to about 3.5 DM/tonnes/ha, the quantity was what he expected and he described the quality as "excellent".
While volumes were down a little compared to the previous season, due to less area being cut, Graeme said he had accumulated a lot of silage last season, so this year he specifically focused on fodder quality.
"We split calve cows so we are dry in August which allows us to get a headstart and grow some extra for silage," he said.
"We got it off early with the hope of getting some more fertiliser out and getting another cut of hay or a second cut of silage."
Last week the Mt Gambier region received 30mm of rain - it was "just in time", according to Graeme.
The timely watering allowed him to delay irrigation for another week and also provided some respite for his dry-land crops.
He was also 75-80 per cent certain of getting a second cut of silage in the near future.
"We are fairly confident we will be able to make all of our forage requirements this year," Graeme said.
"We are hoping not to have to buy anything in, in the next 12 months."
Graeme and his wife Michele calve 450 cows a year and supply Murray Goulburn.
So far, they have managed to keep enough pasture in front of the cows, however, pasture growth rates have only been "moderate".
