Harveys' hay day

Mr Harvey and his wife Jan operate Cunningham Pastoral Company at Tarome, near Cunninghams Gap.

Their 280-hectare property consists of 58ha of cultivation and the rest is quality grazing land.

Mr Harvey said he regularly planted his preferred lucerne variety, Wrightson 925.

"It's tough, it grows and handles every condition we've got here," he said.

"We have our own dam water and at the moment we are watering constantly - we just move from one piece to the next piece.

"There's no other lucerne on the market that grows like it, but you've got to look after it - it costs me $26/tonne to water it."

Mr Harvey said he grew silage because it was easier to manage on his own.

The lucerne is cut throughout the year and Mr Harvey said he chased volume, not extremely soft quality.

"I've got a new piece that I planted last May - I've had four cuts off it and each cut I get 30 tonnes of silage off 13 acres [5.2ha]," he said.

A 24ha crop of Hayman soybeans which was planted over the summer will be harvested before full maturation and used as silage.

The soybeans were planted in two lots in late November and in the second week of January.

Mr Harvey said it was the first year they had grown the Hayman variety but it had performed excellently so far.

"We grow soybeans every year because it outgrows everything else and we get terrific yields," he said.

Mr Harvey said he did not know of anyone else who harvested soybeans for silage.

In 2013 they produced 450 bales, all of which sold.

He said there was only a small window of opportunity to cut soybeans but he had managed to get it so far.

"You've got to wait for the plant to grow just to the right stage and cut it before the beans are fully formed and the plant starts to deteriorate," he said.

"You've got to get it while the leaf is still green and the stem is still soft."

The Australia Day 2013 floods had an adverse effect on his business.

Mr Harvey said it left a $150,000 hole in his pocket, but there were plenty of people worse off.

Damage included lost fences, topsoil losses and erosion.

Mr Harvey also backgrounds cattle for feedlots.

The dry conditions, oversupply of cattle and depressed prices have all had an impact on his business.

This season they are carrying 200 head, but can carry up to 400 to 500 head in a good year.

All of their silage is sold as hay through Feed Central, Charlton, on the Darling Downs.

Feed Central quality assurance and supply manager Ian Wickham said they sold Lucerne hay by the truckload.

Mr Wickham said Lucerne hay at present cost $550/tonne, delivered to Southern Queensland.

Mr Harvey's target for each year is to produce 2000 round bales in order to remain viable.

“We only got 1750 last year because of the flood but without the flood this year we might get there,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter what you grow, the most important thing you need is a customer.”