Alpacas are grazers and browsers. Given the freedom to roam, as on a range system such as the Alto Plano of Peru, they will select their forage from a variety of plants; in some circumstances that may be predominantly from grazing or where grazing is sparse from browsing shrubs or trees. It is important to note that alpacas are very selective in utilising forage and in the UK, where we are most likely to keep our animals on purpose grown pastures, this has implications for our choice of plants that make up that sward under a grazing regime and also has a bearing upon the animals’ utilisation of conserved fodder during the winter. This article looks at the establishment of new grass leys, their utilisation under a grazing regime and the conservation of grass for winter consumption.

Establishment of a new grass ley can be undertaken in spring or autumn. Favoured spring months are March, April and May. That may seem like a large window of opportunity, it reflects the months in which germination of grass seed is viable, but you will have to take into account the soil type, the aspect of the land (facing south or north) and the weather in your region. The soil has to be warm and moist enough to initiate germination with the prospect of at least some rain being likely to maintain early growth. Spring sowing of grass can be problematical and a failure expensive! The autumn is my preferred choice, August, September and occasionally into October, because the soil is already warm from the summer (giving rapid germination with moisture) and as we move towards winter the prospect of rain is more likely to maintain establishment. Cultivation techniques vary but destruction of the old sward by spraying and/or rotovating, followed by ploughing to bury trash and preparation of a fine, firm seed bed followed by rolling to confirm seed/soil contact is my preferred method. Control of weeds in the newly emerging sward is also extremely important if we are both to gain a clean sward and retain the species we have planted for a reasonable period of time.

Seed mixtures available from agricultural merchants or seeds-men are aimed at their primary customers, the dairy or beef farmer. Today’s plant breeding techniques have produced large, vigorous growing plants (mainly diploid and tetraploid ryegrasses), resistant to disease and competition from weeds and that are persistent under both grazing and conservation regimes. They respond well to fertilisers and will provide the bulk that these animals need. A dairy cow will eat 17kg of dry matter a day to our alpaca’s requirement of 1.5kg to 2kg! So we don’t need, nor will our alpacas make best use of this type of plant. Our requirements are in some senses more old fashioned. We need palatable, slower growing but nutritious grass plants. An important benefit of slower growing plants is that their mineral content is likely to be higher. We should, I believe, use ryegrasses but at low inclusion rates in our seeds mixtures and keep to later maturing types with a more prostrate habit. They are nutritious, recover quickly and will provide a base to the sward, which will help to keep out weeds and resist treading under a grazing regime, giving us better longevity. Our slower growing species will then not be at risk from shading out or over competitive growth from the ryegrasses and will provide better minerals and palatability, going a long way towards meeting the selective grazing nature of the alpaca.

The inclusion of legumes in a seeds mixture, such as white clover, lucerne and lupins has to be considered in two respects. Firstly in any seeds mixture legumes have a useful role to play in providing fertility as they will fix atmospheric nitrogen and release it into the soil in a form useful to the plants. A good organic system! Secondly as a group of plants they are generally higher in feed value than grasses, and at different periods of their life alpacas need extra protein and energy in their diet. So they are useful plants but need some careful management. Some soils have an indigenous seed store of clover and will produce clover in a sward even when none is included in the seed mixture. Other soils won’t and the inclusion of some is obviously beneficial. Under a grazing regime, where grass growth is good, alpacas often ignore clover, preference being given to grass. If grass is sparse they will graze the clover but then this can lead in turn to an overgrazing of the grass, which in turn leads to further domination of the sward by clover. The subsequent invasion of weed grasses gradually reduces the nutritional value of the grass in the sward until you are forced to plough and reseed.

In a conservation seeds mixture legumes will be beneficial in two ways: firstly as nitrogen fixers for soil fertility and secondly as protein providers to the conserved fodder made either as hay or haylage. Few of us will have enough land to consider laying up fields solely for conservation purposes but the inclusion of the modern large leaved types of clover to significantly increase the feed value of the crop is worth considering if you are operating this way. Most of us will utilise our swards for both grazing and conservation so the balance of clover to grass needs to be maintained in favour of the grazing system. However by avoiding too much clover under grazing conditions we do unfortunately lower the contribution the clover makes to the conserved fodder made from the same field. However if we make a good hay or haylage we can make up for some of this deficiency by harvesting the grass at a growth stage when its nutrient content and digestibility is still high. This is extremely important and is the main reason, apart from poor weather, why poor hay or haylage is made.

Conservation of grass as hay or haylage is often overlooked in terms of its importance to the winter diet. This is particularly so with alpacas as they are efficient converters of herbage and our objective should be to gain maximum value from feeding forages with minimal inclusion of concentrates from supplementary feeds; so a reliance upon good quality forage demands that we attempt to make it, quite apart from it being the most cost effective feed regime! The consequence of not doing so is likely to be the gradual loss of condition in adults through winter or failure of young stock to make proper growth and costly supplementation to prevent this happening. Remember that the feed value of grass through the winter is reduced by lower rates of synthesis in the leaf and a lower growth rate (grasses stop growing below 10°C) it is thus better to consider winter grazing as a bonus and not include it in any calculation of fodder available to our animals.

Too often hay making is seen only in terms of the job in hand during the summer but the quality of what you make in the summer determines how well fed your animals are through the winter. Most of us, myself included, make our hay or haylage too late in the season when the feed value of the crop has fallen to low levels. Sometimes the weather precludes our making the best hay but with haylage the “at risk from weather” time with the crop on the ground is minimised. Hay made late in the season (July) is usually of low feed value and for example the crude protein value will also be low, maybe as low as 6% CP (crude protein). The target stage for making hay is when ear emergence has just started, even by this stage digestibility will be down to 56% TDN (Total Digestible Nutrients) when our target should be 65%. By the time full ear emergence has occurred the plant has become stemmy and begun to senesce, further reducing its feed value, maybe to as low as 46% TDN; little better than straw! The feed value of grasses is contained in the leafy structure rather than the stemmy structures. Haylage offers us the chance to cut before ear emergence is advanced and thereby preserve the maximum feed value. Obviously later cutting of grass for hay increases yield in terms of bulk but reduces yield in terms of feed value, and remember how little our alpaca is eating at 1.5 to 2kg dry matter per day and looking for an average dietary requirement of about 12% CP. The requirements for maintenance are about 8% CP but rising in lactation to 12% CP and for growth of young animals up to 16% CP. In terms of energy (carbohydrates) the same conditions apply. Late cutting increases bulk but reduces the proportion of energy from sugars preserved in the hay, so cut earlier. Earlier cutting combined with sunny weather maximises the sugar content of the plant increasing its energy value to stock and ensures a better fermentation when we are making haylage.

Lucerne (alfalfa) and lupins require specialist management but can be grown as conservation crops to meet specific needs. Two benefits of legumes are that they are of higher feed value than grasses and don’t lose that value with age, retaining their digestibility at higher levels. Alpacas like eating lucerne and it can be a very useful addition to their diet especially when extra protein is needed, such as in winter when conserved fodder quality might not be high, or as an aid to recovery from illness or stress. We currently feed dried lucerne to some of our stock in addition to a proprietary supplement called Camelibra, which covers their mineral and vitamin requirements amongst some other benefits. Some will eat all the lucerne, stalks and all, whilst others are more selective!

Other fodders to consider buying in for supplementary feeding are fresh fodder beet or dried sugar beet pulp. These materials contain carbohydrates and digestible fibre, which ruminants can utilise effectively, and they can make a valuable contribution to improving the total diet. Lupins, to my knowledge, have not been used with alpacas but are being actively considered in cow diets as a protein source. I don't know how palatable they are to alpacas. Something for the future, maybe!

Below is an example of a suitable seeds mixture, but consult a seed-house for variations upon this in order to take into account location, professional opinion and personal preferences. Sown at 13kg per acre would cost in the region of £28 to £30 per acre.

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