Cavalcade Hay

Cavalcade hay is made from cavalcade (Centrosema pascuorum), a tropical annual legume that is grown across northern Queensland as a pasture and hay crop. It is one of the lesser-known hay types in Australia outside of the regions where it is produced, but it has a dedicated following among beef cattle producers in Queensland's tropical and subtropical zones.

Cavalcade was developed as a pasture legume suited to the hot, wet summers of northern Australia. It grows quickly in warm conditions with summer rainfall, fixes atmospheric nitrogen like other legumes, and produces a leafy, palatable feed that is significantly higher in protein than the tropical grass hays commonly available in the same region.

For beef cattle producers in Queensland who need a protein boost in their feeding program without freighting lucerne or vetch hay from southern Australia, locally produced cavalcade hay is a practical and cost-effective alternative. It fills a gap in the northern hay market that would otherwise require expensive interstate freight for any legume hay.

Browse hay and fodder listings on LocalAg to see current availability. If you cannot find cavalcade hay listed near you, post a free Wanted Ad and our team will find a verified supplier.

Cavalcade hay is a legume, not a grass. This distinction matters for understanding its nutritional profile and how it fits into a feeding program.

Legumes are plants that form a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil. As a result, legume plants accumulate significantly higher levels of protein in their leaves and stems than grass species do. This is why legume hays like lucerne and vetch are the go-to protein feeds in Australian livestock production, and why cavalcade hay, as a tropical legume, sits meaningfully higher in protein than the tropical grass hays like rhodes grass and sorghum that dominate in the same northern regions.

The practical implication of cavalcade being a legume is that it can serve a protein supplementation role in rations where the base feed is a lower-protein tropical grass hay. Rather than feeding tropical grass hay alone and needing to add a protein meal or expensive southern legume hays to lift the ration, cavalcade hay from a local northern producer can do that job more economically for Queensland beef producers.

Yes. Cavalcade hay is a practical and useful feed for beef cattle in Queensland and is the primary reason the crop is grown for hay in the first place.

For beef cattle on maintenance, cavalcade hay provides good protein and energy that goes beyond what most tropical grass hays deliver. It is well accepted by cattle and can support good condition maintenance without the need for additional protein supplementation alongside it.

For growing and backgrounding cattle, cavalcade hay provides the protein boost that drives growth rates above what a tropical grass hay diet alone produces. In northern beef systems where young cattle need to grow through the dry season, having a locally produced legume hay available makes a real difference to growth outcomes without the freight cost of southern legume hays.

For cows pre-calving and in early lactation, cavalcade hay can be used to lift body condition scores in the weeks before calving. The higher protein content compared to grass hays supports calf birth weight and cow recovery post-calving.

For bulls pre-joining, a period of improved nutrition including a legume hay component supports reproductive performance and body condition going into the joining period.

One practical point to note: as with all legume hays, introduce cavalcade hay gradually to cattle that have not eaten it before. Abrupt introduction of high quantities of legume feed can cause digestive upsets. Start with a moderate inclusion and increase over a week or so.

Cavalcade hay is meaningfully higher in protein than the tropical grass hays it sits alongside in the northern Australian hay market. Typical crude protein values on a dry matter basis:

1. Well-made cavalcade hay cut at the right stage: 14 to 20% CP
2. Later-cut or more mature hay: 12 to 16% CP

This puts cavalcade hay in a useful middle ground. It sits well above rhodes grass hay and sorghum hay, which typically run 6 to 12% CP, and approaches the lower ranges of the southern legume hays like vetch hay and lucerne. For a locally produced northern hay, that protein range is genuinely useful for production feeding of beef cattle.

As with all hay, cutting stage has a significant influence on protein content. Cavalcade cut while actively growing and before it becomes too mature will retain more leaf and higher protein than hay cut later or left to mature before baling.

Always ask for a Feed Central NIR feed test result when buying cavalcade hay in volume. The feed test tells you what protein and energy you are actually buying, which matters for ration formulation and knowing whether you need additional supplementation. Arrange independent testing through our Testing service if no test result is available.

Cavalcade and rhodes grass hay are both produced in tropical Queensland and are often used by the same beef cattle producers, but they serve different nutritional roles in a feeding program.

Protein is the most significant difference. Cavalcade is a legume and typically runs 14 to 20% CP. Rhodes grass is a grass and typically runs 6 to 12% CP. For cattle with elevated protein requirements, that gap means cavalcade hay can replace a protein supplement that would otherwise need to be purchased separately.

Energy is broadly comparable between the two, though well-made cavalcade hay with good leaf retention tends to be higher in digestible energy than a mature rhodes grass hay.

Palatability is good for both, though cattle tend to find well-made leafy cavalcade hay very palatable. Rhodes grass hay is also well accepted and cattle familiar with it eat it readily.

Yield and availability favours rhodes grass. Rhodes grass is a perennial that produces multiple cuts per season from established stands over many years. Cavalcade is an annual that needs to be resown each season, which means more input cost and less predictable supply year to year. Rhodes grass hay is more consistently available and traded in larger volumes.

Cost is generally similar, though cavalcade hay may carry a small premium over rhodes grass given its higher protein content and the production costs of an annual crop.

Practical use in northern beef operations: many producers use both together. Rhodes grass hay provides the bulk roughage and energy component while cavalcade hay lifts the protein content of the overall ration. This combination reduces or eliminates the need for purchased protein supplements and uses locally available northern hay rather than relying on interstate freight from southern producing regions.

Cavalcade hay production is highly concentrated in tropical Queensland, which is the only region of Australia where climate conditions consistently support the crop.

Central and southern Queensland is the heartland of cavalcade production. The Fitzroy, Callide, and Burnett regions are known producers. The combination of warm temperatures, summer rainfall, and significant beef cattle industries in these regions creates both the conditions for growing cavalcade and the local demand for it as a hay product.

Southeast Queensland including the Darling Downs and areas with suitable summer rainfall conditions also produces some cavalcade hay, though volumes vary with seasonal conditions.

Northern NSW in the far north of the state, where climate conditions approach those of southern Queensland, may produce some cavalcade hay in suitable seasons, though production here is limited.

Cavalcade does not grow in southern Australia. The plant requires warm temperatures and summer rainfall to germinate and establish, which rules out Victoria, South Australia, southern NSW, and Western Australia. This regional concentration means cavalcade hay is essentially a Queensland product. Buyers outside Queensland wanting cavalcade hay will need to source it from northern producers and factor interstate freight into the cost comparison with alternative legume hays that may be produced closer to home.

Cavalcade is a warm-season annual legume that grows during Queensland's summer wet season, which means its availability on the hay market is tied to summer production timing.

Cavalcade is typically planted from October to December as soil temperatures warm and the wet season begins in Queensland. The crop grows through the summer months and is ready for cutting from around February to April depending on planting date, rainfall, and growing conditions.

New-season cavalcade hay generally comes onto the market from around March to May, after summer cuttings are baled and shed. Because cavalcade is an annual that needs to be resown each season, production volumes can vary considerably from year to year depending on planting decisions and how the wet season has performed.

In years with a strong wet season and good summer growing conditions, cavalcade supply tends to be reasonable. In dry summers where rainfall is unreliable, producers may plant less or crops may perform poorly, limiting supply.

Unlike perennial grass hays like rhodes grass that produce multiple cuts across the season, cavalcade production is typically concentrated into one or two main cuts during the growing season. This means the bulk of available stock comes onto the market over a relatively short window in late summer and autumn.

If you are planning ahead for your dry-season feeding program, keeping an eye on LocalAg listings from February onwards and securing stock early in the season is the best approach. Browse current listings or post a Wanted Ad to let sellers know your requirements before the season's stock is committed to other buyers.

Browse cavalcade hay listings on LocalAg and use the location filter to find sellers in Queensland within a practical freight distance from your property. Every listing shows bale type, quantity, ex-farm price, and an indicative delivered price so you can compare the true cost before contacting a seller. All sellers are verified and transactions go through CheckVault escrow, so your payment is secure until the hay arrives and matches what was ordered.

Cavalcade hay is a niche product with production concentrated in central and southern Queensland. If there are no listings near you right now, post a free Wanted Ad on LocalAg. Tell us what you need including quantity, bale type, and any feed test requirements, and our team will find a verified supplier. Because cavalcade hay supply can be limited and seasonally concentrated, posting a Wanted Ad early in the season before stock is all committed gives you the best chance of securing the quantity you need.