Stubble: what's in it for sheep?

Authors: Butler R
Publication: Proceedings of the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) Annual Conferences, Volume 2014 AVA Annual Conference, Perth, Issue Cattle / Sheep / Industry, May 2014
Publisher: Australian Veterinary Association

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Abstract: In agriculture, stubble is the term used to describe the plant material left in a paddock after a grain crop has been harvested. It consists of spilt grain, grain heads, leaf, leaf sheath, stem and cocky chaff, plus any weeds, alive or dead. Without grain, these crop residues are useful only for short-term weight maintenance - at best - in adults. Weaners will lose weight on crop residues that contain no grain.1,2,3 For some years it has been suspected by some farmers and advisors that crop stubbles have become less valuable as a source of sheep feed because weed control and the efficiency of headers have improved. However there has been little field data to confirm this suspicion. Therefore, following the harvest of crops grown in 2002 and 2003, field assessments were made of the grain residues in a total of 91 un-grazed stubble paddocks across the Western Australian wheatbelt.

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