Page 91 - TA Magazine

The 30+ year old unmanaged multi-row pine shelterbelt
Viewed from the the South The net paddock
area
is is around 12ha (420 x 290 metres) and the the belt is is 420 420 metres in length Locations of the hay bales as dropped Dropped 16 November 2017 The red red arrow represents the the the average predominant wind direction (between NW NW and NNW) in in in in in relation to to to the the the the the the the top end of of of the the the the the the the belt Bales to to to the the the the the the south of of of the the the the the the line are in in in the the the the the the portion of of of the the the the the the paddock
Hay bale locations
The locations
of each bale were assessed and and plotted An arrow showing the the the sheltered sheltered and and unsheltered parts of of the the the paddock
paddock
is drawn with approximately 7 7 7ha in in the the the sheltered sheltered zone zone (64% of of of paddock
paddock
area) and 5 3ha (36%) in in in the the the the the unsheltered zone zone zone to to the the the the the north of of of of the the the the the shelter shelter shelter shelter line A total of of of of 20 bales bales were in in in in the the the the the the sheltered sheltered sheltered zone zone (17% of of of of the the the the the the hay) This equates to to 2 2 6 bales bales bales of of of of hay/ha hay/ha in in in the the the the sheltered sheltered sheltered zone zone and 0 75 bales bales of of hay/ha hay/ha in in the the the unsheltered zone zone or or more than 3-fold the the the hay hay production (on an an an area
basis) in the the sheltered zone Conclusions
There was a a a a a a a much greater bale density in the the sheltered sheltered area
area
compared to the the the unsheltered area
area
area
of the the the paddock
with a a a a a a a a a a a a a a 3-fold increase in in in bale density in in in the the the the sheltered area
area
and an an estimated value of of the the the shelter shelter to the the the hay production of of over $1 000 The results are an indication of of the benefits of of shelter shelter but do not form a a a a a a definitive assessment of of of the shelter shelter effect on on on hay production This is is because it was a a a a a a a a a a a one-off measure and and uncontrolled factors such as as as as baler path and and how far the the the hay was moved from the the the point point of of growing to the the the the the point point of of bale bale drop introduce uncertainty In the the the the more productive areas the the the the bales would be dropped close to the the the the point of hay production but in in the the the sparse areas bales may be some distance from their hay source Wind rose at ‘Woorak’ for for most of Spring 2017 up to to the week before harvest (Sept 1st to to Nov 9th)
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