Hawke’s Bay sheep and beef farmers warned to monitor stock water wells
Sheep and beef farmers in Hawke's Bay are being urged to keep a close eye on the wells that supply water to their stock.
Steps to ensure greater and/or more reliable feed supply in the face of “the dry” were needed much earlier in the season and now, for many, the only option is shopping, most likely for palm kernel. PKE probably will, as before, get us out of jail but what’s really needed is a strategic rethink about water use. It’s well known ryegrass isn’t the most efficient or drought resilient species so a bit more maize, lucerne, fescue or wholecrop cereal would go a long way to buffering our systems against rain or irrigation failure. More pit silage instead of the convenient but costly short shelf-life baleage would be a good idea too.
