Easy Tool to Determine Total Dry Matter Pounds/Acre
Many producers are finding the STAC Forage Assessment a valuable tool to determine Animal Days per Acre (ADA), but what if you are wanting to determine pounds of dry matter available or even total dry matter per acre? With a little more additional math, you can get that answer to help you determine gross profit potential for hayfields or for other uses. Here’s a little more information about how to do that from HMI Certified Educator and Grazing Naturally Consultant Dick Richardson of Australia.
As noted on HMI’s STAC Forage Assessment worksheet, the SDA/ADA calculations are as follows:
STAC ADA in acres
Sole = 12 ADA
Toe = 24 ADA
Ankle = 36 ADA
Calf = 48 ADA
Thigh = 60 ADA
If you want to know how that translates to pounds of dry matter per acre or hectare for grazing, you use the correction factor of 24.75/acre or 12.25/ha.
So, in the case of pounds/acre the pound reading would be:
Sole = 300 pounds/acre
Toe = 600 pounds/acre
Ankle = 900 pounds/acre
Calf = 1,200 pounds/acre
Thigh = 1,800 pounds/acre
For example, a STAC reading averaging 50 will give you 1,237.5 pounds per acre of forage to graze with adequate residual left over.
To convert that number to total dry matter/acre you would multiply the pounds/acre by 4. Using the example above, you would multiply 1,237.5 X 4 to get 4,950 pounds total dry matter per acre.
Dick further notes that “Good hay, cut early, i.e., not in a reproductive state, can be cut really short and responds back beautifully while still building soil. In this case, use the STAC method for pounds/acre and multiply the outcome by 4. This is true for a mature cereal hay cut short as well. If it is mature hay, (hay that rips nutrients from the soil and is cut at 4 inches to try and keep it alive), then you would only multiply the outcome by 3. The Grazing Naturally STAC method only calculates what stock can actually eat out of a paddock. Total Dry Matter is about 4 times the STAC figure dependent on biome. Take a look at my website naturesequity.com.au to see how it works. It’s on the free training list.”
Download your STAC Forage Assessment Worksheet here.
The post Easy Tool to Determine Total Dry Matter Pounds/Acre appeared first on Holistic Management International.
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