THE east coast floods, in particular in Victoria, have changed the dynamic within the nation’s fodder industry.
With the so-called ‘inland sea’ currently sitting over a vast chunk of north-west Victoria falling over an area with substantial fodder stocks, the industry is closely monitoring how much hay and silage will be ruined.
“It’s a bit too early to tell too much,” said Australian Fodder Industry Association (AFIA) industry development manager Nick McClelland.
“Certainly, there’s the potential for damage to stocks, both in the paddock and even in sheds, but to what extent we don’t yet know.”
Mr McClelland also said the other factor which would influence the fodder market would be seasonal conditions over coming months, especially once the weather cools down into winter.
“Currently, there is very little demand for fodder. Those who have not actually been physically flooded have seen an improvement in their pasture production so they do not need extra fodder stocks.
“However, the issue will be if it comes in hot for the rest of the summer and then we don’t get a break until late, when people need fodder, will the supplies be there?”
Currently, the fodder market is flat, with only limited amount of enquiry for high protein hay and silage, and virtually no market on the east coast for cereal hay.
Mr McClelland said the dynamics of the livestock industry, combined with the poor fodder season had contributed to the lack of demand.
“First of all, we’ve seen a lot of cattle stay out on grass that in previous years may have come in to be lotfed, as there is so much more paddock feed about this year, while the quality of the hay and silage around this year is generally lower.”
He said he expected the floods to damage fodder in the Kerang and Swan Hill districts, both which have dairy industries traditionally storing large amounts of fodder.
“With any paddocks that had water laying in them, the bales on the bottom will absorb water from the ground, while the top ones will be damaged by the rain itself.”
“We’ve also heard of stacks toppled over as the bottom bales rotted.
“Hay in sheds has also been impacted by the general flooding, and of course, all the moisture means that haystack fires from combustion will be more of a threat.”
Mr McClelland said the damage placed further strain on the limited stocks of quality hay.
“There was very little hay without rain damage to start with, now we will be relying even heavier on the later cuts of lucerne hay from now on.”
However, the lack of demand, particularly from Victoria and NSW, where fodder users generally have adequate stocks of their own, means the situation is unlikely to truly evolve into a full-blown fodder shortage unless there is a long wait for the break.
