25. Flood damage; Part One – Deciding what to do with flood damaged Supplementary Feeds

With recent flood damage across many New Zealand regions, it’s timely to explore flood-associated nutritional and feed challenges being faced by many farmers. This episode is the first of a two part series that explores topics to do with managing flood damaged feeds for cattle, sheep and deer. We’ll discuss topics to do with flood damaged silage, baleage, hay and straw for ruminant species. Episode 26, part two in this two-part series will carry on with this flood-damaged feed theme by covering aspects of challenges when flood waters damage forage crops, with a specific emphasis on forage brassicas.  

To assist with your navigation through this episode, the following time points provide some guidance for those of you searching for specific aspects of managing flood-damaged supplementary feed – to save you having to listen to the whole podcast if you’re simply too busy just now. NOTE: There is, however, considerable overlap between sections of content within this particular podcast.

Content within this podcast is not intended to replace the advice of your qualified rural professionals and advisors.

2:48 An introduction to what’ll be covered in this podcast.

5:03 How do flood waters damage conserved feeds?

7:08 Focus on flood damage to silage and baleage – changes to feed quality, potential dry matter losses and challenges of contaminants from flood waters.

23:00 Hay and straw damage from flood water including risk of contaminants from flood waters.

23:58 Farm-level subjective assessment of flood damaged supplementary feeds including risks of leachates (silage “effluent”) runoff from flood damaged silages and baleages.

35:00 Will our ruminants want to eat our post-flood damaged feeds? What do the presence of e.g. moulds, yeasts and fungi amongst our supplementary feeds mean?

38:40 Will we see ongoing quality deterioration and loss of dry matter from our flood damaged supplementary feeds?

40:10 The ‘sniff test’ of flood damaged feeds – what does the smell of damaged forages tell us?

43:22 What to do with your flood damaged conserved forages?

46:00 The importance of revising your feed budget when conserved forages are damaged.

48:35 Feed testing of flood-damaged conserved forages.

49:56 Animal health and wellbeing when flood damaged forages are consumed.

52:28 Utilisation of flood damaged feeds by stock – approaches to feeding out these forages.  

54:10 Mycotoxins in flood damaged forages.

DairyNZ Flood resources https://www.dairynz.co.nz/business/adverse-events/flood/

Beef and Lamb Flood resources https://beeflambnz.com/news-views/flood-support