increase font size
Fertiliser application is still continuing, says Alan Beck.
Fertiliser application is slightly ahead of last season says a Taranaki helicopter company chief.
Alan Beck, of Beck Helicopters, Eltham, says farmers – sheep and beef and dairy – so far are not cutting their fertiliser spread this season. Their emphasis is on growing grass.
“Many of the farmers we work for are well-established and known to us for 20-plus years,” he told Rural News. “Their biggest concern is the need to grow grass. Many say there won’t be a new race, shed or car this year, but they have to grow grass and fertiliser is the cheapest way.”
For Beck’s company it is business as usual. Farmers are mainly applying DAP and high analysis fertiliser; while the fertiliser companies are predicting a downturn, Beck hasn’t seen it.
Beck’s firm has clients in Taranaki, Waikato and Bay of Plenty. He takes a positive view of the dairy industry, saying the final payout will not be as bad as some people suggest.
Despite inclement weather farmers have been at him to get the fertiliser on. Sheep and beef farmers are putting fertiliser on the hills and the word from colleagues in Gisborne, Hawkes Bay and Whanganui is that they are equally busy.
“It surprises me a little, but I suspect a lot was learned from the last downturn when farmers stopped putting on fert and it took them four or five years to recover,” Beck says. “We’re going to see the same scenario on the hills and on dairy farms where there won’t be any capital expenditure, but fertiliser will be a priority.”
DairyNZ has pulled together tactics that will help farmers improve on-farm efficiency and have positive benefits for the environment. These tactics are based on research, data, and lessons from leading farmers.
New Zealand farmers will face higher urea prices this year, mainly on the back of tight global supply and a weak Kiwi dollar.
Ballance Agri-Nutrients is expanding its fixed price offer to help customers manage input costs with greater certainty over the coming season.
Research findings published in Europe support the concept of foliar fertilisation or foliar feeding in improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) while maintaining pasture productivity.
Ballance Agri-Nutrients has launched SimplyFert, an ex-hub and therefore lower-cost offering said to give its shareholders choice and flexibility for purchasing nutrients.
Acclaimed fruit grower Dean Astill never imagined he would have achieved so much in the years since being named the first Young Horticulturist of the Year, 20 years ago.
The Ashburton-based Carrfields Group continues to show commitment to future growth and in the agricultural sector with its latest investment, the recently acquired 'Spring Farm' adjacent to State Highway 1, Winslow, just south of Ashburton.
New Zealand First leader and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has blasted Fonterra farmers shareholders for approving the sale of iconic brands to a French company.
A major feature of the Ashburton A&P Show, to be held on October 31 and November 1, will be the annual trans-Tasman Sheep Dog Trial test match, with the best heading dogs from both sides of the Tasman going head-to-head in two teams of four.
Fewer bobby calves are heading to the works this season, as more dairy farmers recognise the value of rearing calves for beef.
The key to a dairy system that generates high profit with a low emissions intensity is using low footprint feed, says Fonterra program manager on-farm excellence, Louise Cook.
OPINION: The Greens have taken the high moral ground on the Palestine issue and been leading political agitators in related…
One of the most galling aspects of the tariffs whacked on our farm exports to the US is the fact…
